Kids love a shaggy dog story
PRIMARY schools are helping children to build their confidence when reading out loud by getting dogs to listen to them.
The novel idea has helped kids at Langfaulds Primary School in Drumchapel, Glasgow, who are visited every week by an Old English sheepdog and a Border collie.
Therapets Willow and Skye have been helping pupils at Glasgow schools for around 18 months.
At the beginning of a reading session, the dogs settle down on the floor – and children know they are listening when they rest their heads on their paws.
Reece Cameron, a P7 pupil from Dalmuir, West Dunbartonshire, loves seeing the two dogs come in to the school.
The 11-year-old said: “It’s relaxing and fun and it has improved my reading a lot.
“It makes you more confident because it’s not that the dogs are going to judge you and sometimes I do worry in class that I will be judged.
“The dogs are really good and don’t jump around.
“Everyone in school loves seeing Skye and Willow.”
Willow, eight, has been a Therapet for four years while Skye, nine, joined the team two years ago.
The highly trained dogs are constantly supervised by their owners, Sharon Fergus with Skye and James Macdonald with Willow.
Langfaulds headteacher Vhairi Cochrane said: “The children have greatly benefited from having the dogs in school and their reading is really coming on.
“You can see them grow in confidence.”