Back to school: Macy the therapy dog’s pawsome tactics to soothe students’ anxiety
Schools are trialling new ways to address growing anxiety in young kids as they head back to the classroom, including one school where a four-legged therapist is on the books.
Education
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Parents are being warned to look out for signs their child’s anxiety about starting school could be something more sinister, as schools trial new ways to keep students calm.
Child psychologist Dr Vanessa Cobham said a new free program can teach parents how to recognise and manage anxiety in children as young at six.
Dr Cobham co-developed the “Fear-Less” Triple P online program, the first of its kind to directly address growing anxiety in kids.
“All of your kids are going to experience anxiety at different points in their lives, and nobody’s going to sit them down and teach them good strategies for managing that,” she said. “You’re the perfect person to be doing that. We just need to give you the information.”
At St Paul’s Grammar in Cranebrook, a four-legged therapist is on hand to soothe students’ nerves.
Macy the school therapy dog and her wagging tail greeted new Kindergarten students on their first day for the first time, after being introduced to the existing school body mid last year.
The wet-nosed “welcoming committee” was the brainchild of school wellbeing co-ordinator Jacqueline Tuting, more familiar to students as Macy’s owner and trainer after enrolling the labrador, her family pet, in the PAWS in Schools training program.
“There’s a lot of evidence that the presence of an animal can decrease anxiety and improve mood but we’re also looking at how we can use her in the learning environment as well, whether that be transitioning a student from the car to the classroom, or from class to class,” Ms Tuting said.
“A … pre-K (parent) whose daughter struggled to come to an education system in the first place (said) Macy has been good for her — her daughter said she was like ‘black fairy floss’.”
Macy’s “bag of tricks” ranges from handing out fidget toys and ‘you’re pawsome’ stickers to “deep pressure commands”, where the labrador will lie on top of distressed students to calm them.
“Everyone wants to come to the Macy club. Little do they know they’re learning some really useful strategies for life while they’re patting her,” Ms Tuting said.
Riverstone parents Nadine Russell and Timothy Bai-Camille have been carefully preparing daughter Harpa for her first day of Kindergarten but the first-time mum expects both she and her little girl will experience some separation anxiety.
As a stay-at-home mum, Ms Russell said she found it “very hard” to let her little girl go.
“It’s exciting and overwhelming at the same time,” Ms Russell said.
“We put her into the … preschool course that they have at the school (last year) to try to get her used to three days apart.
“For those first few weeks, I cried and she cried.”
But both mum and daughter are ready to start their next stage of life, with Ms Russell joining partner Tim in taking on a full-time job.
Harpa, meanwhile, is excited to be spending more time than ever with her pals.
“Having a school-based preschool was fantastic, because it means (Harpa) already has some little friends,” Ms Russell said.
“We’re all going to meet out the front of the school together. It’s just a lot easier to do it that way.”
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