Dogs Connect: A whole-School wellbeing initiative
We are excited to announce the launch of a new whole-School wellbeing initiative at Orana which will see the introduction of a wellbeing dog to our community. The Dogs Connect program will support us to implement this very gradually, thoroughly and considerately, and we encourage anyone who would like to know more about the program to visit the Dogs Connect website.
This program has the potential to have a very positive impact on many people in our community, and we acknowledge and respect that connection with our wellbeing dog will be offered on a great variety of levels. Support and training will be given to staff and students in the coming weeks.
We understand some members of our community will have questions and concerns about having a dog on the School grounds and around their children. We welcome you to share these thoughts with us about your experiences with dogs by completing this survey.
We would like to assure the community that this program will not involve anyone who does not wish to be involved.
The program is funded by a grant received from the Association of Independent Schools of the ACT and will form part of a research project being conducted at Orana by the Inclusive Education Department on improving the wellbeing of students and staff.
So, without further ado, we would like you to meet Ziggy. Ziggy is an eight-week old Australian Cobberdog, specifically bred for the purpose of being a wellbeing dog. Ziggy is currently in training and will be introduced into our community once certain milestones have been mastered.
We look forward to sending more information about Ziggy over the coming weeks!
