Mr. Pádraic Gilmore & Ms. Annette Hopkins with Yeda
COMMUNITY DOG PROGRAMME
On Monday last PCH had a visit from Eimear and Shauna of the Irish Guide Dogs with two beautiful dogs Edie and Yeda. There was a real sense of wonder and excitement amongst both students and staff and the dogs lapped up the attention they received on the corridors and classrooms of our school! The Guide Dogs have their headquarters just outside Cork City on the Model Farm Road. The work they do is truly incredible in improving the lives of people with visual impairments and for children with ASD. They train 30 guide dogs and 40 assistant dogs a year relying, in the main, on fundraising and donations from the general public. The assistant dogs go to the families of children who are living with autism.
Since the beginning of last year the IGD began the process of trialling community dogs in schools and they came to PCH last Monday to assess the suitability of our school to be part of this exciting new programme. Nine schools to date have received dogs throughout the country.
So what exactly is the role of a Community Dog in a school?
The Community Dog, along with their trained handler, becomes part of the essential learning process within the school. The dog and handler work alongside the educational staff and in the school to help reduce stress and increase the learning potential of the students by goal directed interventions. Together, the trained dog and handler participate in classroom activities and work with individual students and groups. Our hope in PCH is that the Community Dog will work primarily alongside students in Seomra Seoda and also students dealing with anxiety, bereavement and those finding school life challenging. We are all familiar today with the term ‘wellbeing’ and our hope is that this initiative of having a Community Dog onsite will enhance and support our current structure of care in Presentation College Headford.
Last May following a visit to a neighbouring school in County Galway to witness first hand the benefits of this wonderful initiative, our principal Ms Gallagher applied to the IGD for PCH to be accepted onto the Community Dog programme. Numerous Zoom calls ensued with Eimear Kenneally, the Co-Ordinator of the Programme . Subsequent to these virtual meetings two members of our teaching staff, Ms. Hopkins and Mr. Gilmore spent three days in Cork training with the IGD. Joining them in Cork was Donncha Mc Carrick and his dog ‘Travis’ of St. Peters College Dunboyne in County Meath, the first recipient of a School Community Dog. Donncha explained the numerous benefits to students of having Travis accompany him each day in school and how it has impacted so positively on the whole school community.
Following their site inspection and suitability assessment of our school, Eimear and Shauna returned to Cork to discuss the next step of our application with the Community Dog Team in HQ. Reluctantly we said goodbye to Edie and Yeda! We wait in anticipation and hope that we will add a special new member to our staff in the not too distant future!
