'Your pupils were absolutely amazing. It was so apparent that the pupils respected their teachers, and the teachers respected their children's feelings.'
I wanted to end the week by sharing this fantastic feedback. We think our pupils are amazing too of course, but it's always nice when other people say it! The comments came from Kate and Kim, volunteer speakers from the Guide dogs Association, who came into school on Monday.
Kate and Kim brought their dogs, Simba and Jango. As you may remember, we have a whole school focus on equality and diversity this year and wanted to provide the children with a hands-on experience as to what it's like to live with little or no sight.
Kate and Kim talked to the children in a series of year group assemblies. The children were fascinated to hear how the dogs are trained and how they work. They saw a demonstration of how Kim, Kate, Simba and Jango move about together and how the dogs listen and follow instructions. We learned that Jango knows about 300 individual words and that it costs £55,000 to fully train a dog. We learned about “intelligent disobedience” (which is necessary for the dogs to prevent their owners having an accident) and were amazed by the way technology can now help someone with a sight impairment. For example, apps like SeeingAI can even tell owners how many bananas are on a shelf or what colour scarf they are holding.
The children asked all sorts of questions about the dogs such as What is the biggest difference between a guide dog and a regular dog? How do they stop you falling down steps? How do they find the way home? and also about living with a sight impairment generally.
Kate and Kim wrote to us at the end of the day and said:
'Your pupils were absolutely amazing. It was so apparent that the pupils respected their teachers, and the teachers respected their childrens' feelings. Having spoken about Guide Dogs to many age groups including adults we were struck by the intelligence and thoughtfulness that each year group, without exception, had put into their questions. It was an absolute delight to be there. What an amazing school. You have wonderful children; wonderful teachers and it was an utter delight to be there.'
Kate and Kim are looking forward to coming back to meet our reception children in the New Year.
We know the impact the visit had because our House captains have already been inspired to plan a 'Winter goodies bake sale'. They plan to raise money for the Guide Dogs Association and are planning to sell Winter-themed cakes and cookies on the last day of term -more details to follow!
Some families already sponsor a puppy and if you are interested in finding out more, please click HERE.
