Emma and Robbie Richards

Miss Emma Richards
SENDCO and Assistant Principal

About yourself

I began my school journey as a 1-1 SEN support assistant. I increased my hours to become and class teaching assistant and then decided to take the plunge and complete a BA (Hons) in Primary Education. I qualified as a teacher in 2013 and then joined Inspire Academy in 2016 where I became SENDCO and a member of the senior leadership team.

About your dog

Robbie is a six-year-old, black Labrador retriever. Robbie started coming into school when he was just 8 weeks old to have a sniff and to say hello. He then joined fully when he was around 14 weeks old back in September 2018.

Robbie loves to explore and will spin around during the ‘zoomies’ which is his signature move. Robbie loves to swim and would spend hours going in and out of the sea chasing his ball. Robbie’s two favourite things are snuggling and eating – he will eat anything!

Robbie doesn’t want to miss out – he often sleeps in between the children’s chairs or if we pause for a movement break he will join us at the front of the class for a dance. Robbie loves to pull the stuffing out of toys – he thinks that is the aim and will then carry around an empty toy. He loves going on walks and will make eye contact with people until they stroke him when we are out.

About your school

Inspire Academy is a very special place to work. We are a two-form entry primary school and we have around 440 pupils on roll. We are based in Ashton-under-Lyne which is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester. 

Our school only opened in 2015 and we added a new year group each September, growing year on year until we were finally full. This was an amazing experience to be a part of because it helped us to bond and develop the relationships between the staff, parents and children.

We are part of the Victorious Academies Trust which currently has around 13 schools in Tameside. We have a vision for education that builds pathways for all, focusing on personal progress, academic progress, character development and progress to employment. Lifelong learning, professional development and community involvement are core to our purpose. 

Why did you decide to get a school dog and how did you go about this?

The school senior leadership team attended a speech and language conference and there was a therapy dog there. The therapist spoke about how engaging it was to have a dog and the positive impact that it had on the children’s development.

We all joked and said that we wanted a school dog for Inspire Academy. However, the more we thought about it the better an idea it became – it stopped being a joke and we began to research properly. 

 

We researched dog breeds and settled on a Labrador due their affectionate, loyal and loving nature. We discovered that many specialist schools had animals and dogs but that it wasn’t as common in Mainstream settings. We managed to find and make links with a couple of schools who had dogs and discussed best practice with them. I presented my research and findings to the school Governors and Trust Senior Leadership Team to get the final seal of approval.

Once everything had been agreed officially I began my search for a reputable breeder. We discussed the plan for the dog and the breeder helped us to choose the most appropriate pup. I then attended a 2-day course with Archie Therapy – a successful school dog and his owner in Blackpool – and gained invaluable knowledge and experience surrounding how school could benefit from the human-animal interaction and how to implement it ethically, safely and effectively.

We wrote to our parents to let them know that a new member of the Inspire staff team would be joining us in September 2018 and created a Twitter page so that the school community could follow Robbie’s story from the moment that we collected him.

What are your current achievements eg examples of successes with pupils Things that work well

  • Robbie loves to go on the school gate in the mornings and greet the children and parents.
  • Robbie is good at helping children come into school if they are feeling unsettled and struggling to separate from their parents.
  • Robbie attends local trips with pupils (e.g. over to the local park or nature walk).
  • Robbie can help pupils to settle when they are feeling dysregulated. We take him for a walk or just sit with him.
  • We have stickers printed with Robbie’s picture on – children will bring their work to show Robbie and he will give them a tail wag and a smile.
  • Robbie meets guests when they visit school – he has met Olympians, dinosaurs, scientists and authors.
  • Robbie’s twitter page is really successful – I think it’s a real honest reflection of his time in school. The children like to see what he gets up to and the parents can follow his journey too.
  • Robbie spent a lot of time with Year 6 during the SATS period and gave lots of snuggles to keep everybody calm and settled.
  • The children always find ways to include Robbie which is lovely – Easter egg making competition their were entries of Robbie. We had a ‘dress as something you love’ day and a child came dressed as Robbie which was lovely.
  • Other schools within our Trust now have school dogs and we try to meet within the year for doggy play dates.

Things that I think are important to mention:

  • We have the Blue Cross charity come into school each year to deliver a dog safety assembly. They discuss dog behaviour and how to interact with a dog. I also mention how to interact with Robbie during assemblies and all staff reinforce this when children interact with Robbie.
  • The Headteacher and entire staff are very supportive of Robbie – they all love him and he really is one of the team.
  • I have general pet insurance for Robbie and then the school pay for third party liability insurance.
  • Robbie has a crate in the classroom that he is based in, the crate is left open and he can go in and out as he pleases – the children know that if Robbie is in his crate then to leave him to have some space.
  • Robbie doesn’t always do a full day in school – most of the time he spends the morning in school and goes home for the afternoon – this balance works well for him and doesn’t over stretch him.
  • When we have special events on (e.g. we have a festival day) we will judge how Robbie manages so that we don’t overwhelm him and decide how much to involve him in.
  • The dog needs a base – Robbie has a crate in one of the classrooms that we use when he needs a snooze. We also have a bed that can be moved into the offices.

What do you hope to do next? (future aspirations)

Emma and Robbie Richards

At the moment, I tend to be the one always with Robbie. It would be brilliant if the pastoral team or other members of staff could do more with him without it relying on me – this is my anxiety around ensuring that Robbie is safe and behaving appropriately.

We are a big school – I would like to find new ways to ensure that Robbie can see as many children as possible within the day without overwhelming him.

What are your thoughts on the contribution the NSDA can make to schools?

I would have found this really useful when we first looked into a school dog. Since getting Robbie, lots of other schools have come to visit him and to ask us about his journey so to have advice from others all in one place would be brilliant.

It’s so important to balance the dog’s wellbeing with the work that they do in school. We are such a big school and I know that all the children don’t get to see Robbie every day but I also know that I don’t want him to burn out and it’s having the confidence to put the dogs needs first rather than the pressure of school.

A short bullet point summary of your key points or main messages

  • Put the dog’s needs first
  • Put the time in to teach the children how to behave around the dog
  • Try not to compare with other school dogs and where they are up to in their journey

 

Robbie at school NSDA
Scroll to Top