Winnie - Working Wonders

Our Lady of Dolours School at Mitchelton has welcomed a new staff member to its ranks – Winnie, a therapy dog.

Winnie is owned by School Chaplain, Mrs Rachel Stigter, and has recently completed her final accreditation.

“Winnie has always been a very calm and gentle dog”, said Mrs Stigter. “People would often say that she’d make a wonderful therapy dog and that started me thinking about the potential for introducing her as a support animal in our school environment.”

“Winnie was in training for over six months before she received her certification”, said Mrs Stigter. “We had regular visits to O.L.D. to get her used to the school and to help students and staff get used to interacting with her.” “She achieved her accreditation just before we celebrated wellbeing week at Our Lady of Dolours”, she said. “This meant we were able to start wellbeing week with Winnie’s presentation at a fully-fledged therapy dog, which was wonderful! The children were so invested in Winnie’s success; it was a perfect start to the week.”

Principal, Mrs Tricia Howard, is a great advocate of the benefits of therapy dogs at school.

“The education system has certainly evolved over the years”, said Mrs Howard. “We are much more attuned to individual student needs. At Our Lady of Dolours we are very committed to meeting students at their level, and providing appropriate supports to help all children meet their full potential.”

“The benefits of a therapy dog in an educational setting are well documented” continued Mrs Howard. “They provide significant social-emotional support and lower the stress levels of young people.”

“Therapy dogs have been shown to improve the physical wellbeing of students, decrease anxiety, ease social isolation, and help children learn social skills.”

In particular, therapy dogs are credited with impressive results in supporting young people in improving literacy and reading skills.

“We are definitely focusing on using Winnie for literacy support at O.L.D.”, said Mrs Howard.

“Research suggests that reading with a therapy dog can bring about significant improvements in reading”, she said. “Therapy dogs, like Winnie, help children focus. They provide a non-judgemental environment, which increases self-confidence, and encourages a love of reading and of learning in general.”

“At the core of what we do at O.L.D. is an understanding that our students come to us with differing needs, abilities and interests, and that effective learning only happens when we are able to respond to children as individuals”, said Mrs Howard.

“Winnie is a wonderful addition to our existing student supports. I am confident that we will see some amazing results from our newest member of staff.”