Kent Park Primary School principal visits kids at home with puppy Bear
He’s not your typical looking postman, but puppy Bear played his role to perfection, helping to deliver merit awards to students from a Ferntree Gully primary school studying at home.
Outer East
Don't miss out on the headlines from Outer East. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A Ferntree Gully school principal and his adorable sidekick have given students studying at home a much-needed boost.
Kent Park Primary School principal Kieran Denver and the school’s therapy dog in training Bear visited students at their homes to deliver merit awards.
Jess Dryden said her son Declan, who is in Grade 2, was so happy to receive his certificate, and to see Mr Denver and get a photo with Bear.
“He was so excited to give Bear a cuddle and see Mr Denver at home while still social distancing,” Ms Dryden said.
Mr Denver announced the winners of the merit awards during an online assembly in a bid to give students and families a boost.
“Some of the kids have been at home and not at school for up to five weeks,” he said.
“And the reason we ran the assembly online is we really knew face-to-face contact for the kids is really important and we had feedback from parents when we started doing the Webex meetings the kids were responding really well to it.”
MORE NEWS: WHEN WILL VICTORIAN STUDENTS WILL RETURN TO SCHOOL
‘RECKLESS’ SCHOOL PRINCIPAL DEFENDS DECISION TO STAY OPEN
ALL THE WAYS TO ACCESS LEADER COMMUNITY NEWS
Mr Denver said he and Bear got a great reaction from students when they delivered the certificates in person.
“I knew the kids would get a lot out of it and it worked beautifully,” he said.
“We got a great reaction especially from the little ones.”
The school got Bear, an Australian shepherd mixed with labrador, just before the coronavirus hit.
“The kids hadn’t seen him for three or four weeks and he was twice the size so they were really excited to see him,” Mr Denver said.