Today we were EXTREMELY excited to welcome Baxter, The PAT dog, and his handler Julie, into Newfield for the very first time.
Pets As Therapy is a non-profit organisation that trains animals and their owners so that they can volunteer to bring joy, comfort and companionship to many individuals who appreciate being able to touch and stroke a friendly animal.
Our Pets As Therapy dog is called Baxter and will be visiting school once a fortnight and spending time in classes with some children.
Today Baxter and Julie walked all over both school buildings and met lots of children and staff - everyone was very pleased to see him and it was like having a celebrity in school!
Baxter was very friendly and interested in everyone and enjoyed having some of the children stroke him, some of them wanted to talk to him and some of them even fed him carrots! Our children all reacted in different ways and it was very interesting for us to see how a friendly animal can help children to develop communication and social skills.
He was very well behaved and was not at all bothered by being in a busy, noisy environment, so we are very confident that Baxter and the children will really enjoy his visits each fortnight.
Next time he comes, he will be going into two classes and spending time with the children who will be following the learning program we have developed to make the most of having our very special visitor. He will be helping the children to learn as well as benefitting their wellbeing.
We want to say a massive thank you to Baxter and Julie and we can’t wait to see them again soon.
