Private bank Julius Baer is funding the training of Haze, a one year old therapy dog used as teaching support for students at Les Voies School.
The school’s new recruit will be put through a vigorous training and assessment programme where she will learn how to act around people with specific needs.
Les Voies School provides support for children and young people who experience social, emotional or behavioral difficulties (SEBD). Introducing therapy dogs like Haze into a classroom situation teaches students empathy and responsibility which ultimately helps improve their focus.
The school has Haze in training and one fully trained adult therapy dog it uses during classes (Haze’s mum Callie). Local charity Paws for Support, which was founded by Sara Sarre – a teacher at Les Voies School, provides specialist therapy training for the dogs. Julius Baer’s support will cover two years of Haze’s training – this helps cover her training, specialist equipment and insurance.
“Therapy dogs are an invaluable asset in the classroom. They have the ability to calm students that may feel anxious or frustrated. Stroking the dog can help lower blood pressure and just the physical presence can help teach the students to self-regulate their emotions – really positive step for the students to learn,” said Miss Sarre.
Sonia Kirk-Hamon, chairperson of the charity committee at Julius Baer, Guernsey said: “The bank has a strong legacy of support for the island’s schools and educational initiatives. The therapy dogs used by Les Voies School are such a tremendous help to both the students and teachers; it is remarkable to see what a difference they can make. We are proud to be able to fund such a great cause and help make just a little bit of difference.”
Haze and Miss Sarre also visited Julius Baer’s office where they met the employees and shared some of their experiences working with a therapy dog.
