Albert and Teddy, father and son dogs, are dramatically helping pupils with their reading ability at The Russell School, in Chorleywood.
Albert, ‘the reading dog’, has been going into classrooms at the school for over a year now in the hope to help the less confident pupils with their reading ability.
And recently has been joined by, his 9-month-old son, Teddy.
Owner of Albert and Teddy, David Bailey, is the schools site manager and said both of the dogs have helped children at the school massively.
Research shows that some children become nervous and stressed when reading in front of others. With this in mind, both Mr Bailey and head teacher, Claire Pitt, jumped at the chance to try and improve it.
Mr Bailey said: “Albert helps massively. The kids now look forward to it. They are all over the moon when they see Albert coming into their classroom.
“It encourages them and it’s really rewarding to see. We walk in and I see all the hands shoot up so they can be the first to read to Albert.”
Albert, who is very placid with the children, enjoys it just as much as the children do, says David.
He added: “Albert loves every minute of it. He walks in and just relaxes. He is so good with the kids.
“It must run in the family, as recently Albert has had a son called Teddy, who now joins us in the classroom and is following in his dads footsteps.”
David said he thought of the idea when he was researching about the impact that dogs can have on people with dementia.
He said: “My mum has dementia and research shows that bringing in the right dogs can really help them. It made me think about how Albert could help in schools, which he has done.”
Head teacher at The Russel School, Claire Pitt, said: “Having both Albert and Teddy there for the children to read too had developed the confidence of the children which is fantastic for the pupils and is an amazing thing to see.
She added: “It’s been a real pleasure to see the impact that the dogs have had on the children and they fit into our school and future plans perfectly.”
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