Introducing Ratcher
We are pleased to introduce a new member of our school staff; Ratcher the
Reading Dog.
Ratcher is a 10 week old border terrier and he is going to be working alongside
the children to help with reading.
Research into dogs in classrooms has found that as well as being a therapeutic
aid for teaching children about kindness and empathy, they also offer great
reading support. They won’t laugh or criticise when a child makes a mistake and
they provide motivation and an incentive for reluctant readers to start reading
for fun. Some research actually discovered that children’s blood pressure and
stress levels actually decrease when they read to a dog!
If you are interested to find out more then visit the Bark and Read website
which has lots of information about dogs in classrooms.
As Ratcher is still a puppy he will be spending most of his time sleeping and will
need training for this important role. He will always be supervised when he is
with the children.