‘Pawsitive’ Impact on Wellbeing Continues with Meggy
On Tuesday, we bid farewell to our wonderful ‘Pets as Therapy’ team, Mrs Crawshaw and Jasmine, her beautiful Golden Retriever. Jasmine has been visiting the site regularly over the last year to support the Wellbeing of pupils and staff at RGS Worcester.
During her time, Jasmine has made such a difference and as such, Mrs Nicholls and Meggy (her little Cockerpoo) have been trained and assessed successfully as their own ‘Pets as Therapy’ team. This means that we will be able to offer more in terms of Wellbeing support for pupils and staff at RGS and Meggy will be a regular addition to the Welfare and Wellbeing areas.
Mrs Crawshaw commented:
“As I handover my regular visits with Jasmine to Mrs Nicholls and Meggy, I would like to say a huge “thank you” to everyone involved for making our visits so enjoyable.
It has been a great privilege to have been able to introduce the ‘Pets as Therapy’ (PAT) visits to School. I am so pleased that the idea, which came from the pupils on School Council and then championed by Mrs Nicholls, has been so popular and a positive experience for all involved.
There is so much research now about how interaction with pets can have a beneficial impact on Wellbeing, and it is lovely to see how much added joy Jasmine has brought into School for some. Of course, not all children who see her want to meet her, and that is completely fine, as a ‘Pets as Therapy’ Team we are sensitive to those who are either fearful, unsure or allergic.
The majority of children (and staff!) who do meet us, just want to say a quick hello and give Jasmine or Meggy a pat and a “high five”; but for a few, it has been so much more – the opportunity to sit quietly with Jasmine, or after visiting to begin talking with Mrs Nicholls about issues which are bothering them.
As a mother of former RGS Worcester pupils, I know how much making a positive difference is important to The RGS Family of Schools and I am so pleased that from these initial visits, it has been possible to build on them. Now that Mrs Nicholls and Meggy are a trained and registered PAT team too, more children and staff will be able to benefit from PAT visits on a more regular basis. Jasmine will move on to another venue for her regular visits, but we will return occasionally to say hello.”
We would like to say a huge thank you to Mrs Crawshaw and Jasmine for the incredible impact that they have had on our School community and we wish all the best of luck at their new venue. We are sure that they will benefit as much as we have here at RGS Worcester.
If your child would like to make a 1:1 appointment with Meggy – please do get in contact with Mrs Nicholls via sn@rgsw.org.uk.
To find out more about ‘Pets as Therapy’ please visit the designated website: https://petsastherapy.org/