Nat shares this latest news from Ryde Academy. Ed
Ryde Academy has recently added another tool to encourage reading as part of the whole school literacy programme. He has four legs, a shaggy coat and loves to be read to!
Toby is a 13 year old Bearded Collie who is a Read2Dog and his job is to help encourage students with their reading.
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Hanging out at the library
He was introduced to the Year 7s at their assembly and then spent the morning in the library.
Toby worked with a small group of Year 7s and the Academy’s Year 9 reading mentors also joined the session.
First of his kind on the Island
Reading dogs are not a new thing and are used in the UK and abroad to encourage reading, however Toby is the first literacy dog to work in an Island school.
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Angela Roberts, Assistant Vice Principal worked with ‘Pets as Therapy’ to get the scheme launched at the Academy.
Angela said,
“It was lovely to see so many smiles on our student’s faces when they were working with Toby – who was also clearly enjoying himself from the speed of his waggy tail!”
Joy Ballard, Principal, said,
“Reading is such an important skill to develop. Anything that encourages young people to pick up a book and read is special.
“It was heartwarming to see the impact Toby had upon our children and how keen they were to read to him.”
Image: Top – Kai Spragg age 11, second – Kai reading to Toby with Evie Clarke (13) sitting next to him and Yazmin Bacon (13) and Bethany Wilford (13) in the background, third – Nathan Watts (11) reading to Toby and to the left is Toby’s owner Tricia Owen
