Project Description
California Gully Primary School invested in our Full-Scale program in 2018. After assessing the specific needs of the students and staff we sourced and successfully incorporated Milli into the school as a permanent member of the community.
Milli is an Australian Cobber dog and works with classes, individuals, several staff, and spends her weekends with the Principal and his family. Milli work’s as a full-time teacher/student at school as an essential part of the wellbeing team. Staff at California Gully are dedicated to exploring ways that Milli can be incorporated for not only connection with humans, but for authentic learning and teaching.
Outcomes include: Increase in engagement, learning and connectedness and attentiveness towards teachers. Other results include, improved and further understanding of awareness, empathy, relationship between heart rate and emotional states, and how to practice regulation.
“Wellbeing for California Gully Primary School is an area for consistent development and the goals of Dogs Connect aligned perfectly with our current initiatives. Like all schools a continual focus of all children being ‘ready to learn’ sets up positive experiences for all at school. Working with Grant to further develop and build strategies for individual students, classes and our wider community underpins our connection with Dogs Connect. We recognise the need to build authentic experiences for all and strongly believe that Dogs Connect will significantly support this goal,”
Andrew Frawley, Principal California Gully Primary School.