Children at a North Tyneside school are getting help from a four-legged friend to help boost their confidence with reading.
Berta the Bloodhound is offering a friendly ear to students as they read at Monkseaton Middle School.
The Spanish rescue Bloodhound Cross greets the school’s 250 students as they arrive for lessons each morning, and also offers a soothing presence throughout the day.
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Berta – which means ‘bright’ in Spanish – is owned by Monkseaton Middle’s headteacher Kirsty Nichols-Mackay.
The 10-year-old canine companion, who is trained as a therapy dog, has been coming into the school since September 2020 and both students and teachers have taken a shine to her.
She is one of a menagerie of animals cared for by children in the school, including snails, a tortoise, guinea pigs and gerbils.
Berta doesn’t just make reading and books more enjoyable for the students.
She also helps children struggling with low self esteem, confidence and emotional issues.
Kirsty said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has been a very unsettled time for our pupils and Berta has been a real comfort to children who might be struggling emotionally – and staff too.
“She is also a fantastic listener and really encourages pupils to read out loud.
“We listen to all our children read, but some can feel less confident reading to an adult. However, they feel less worried if they are reading to a non-judgmental dog.”
The children love having Berta around. Year five student Emmie said: “Berta is fun to read to. She lets me play with her ears when I’m reading too.”
Fellow Year 5 pupil Megan added: “I like having Berta in school because she helps to make me happier when I’m sad.”
Every Monday lunchtime, students can take part in the animal care club - one of many extra-curricular activities offered by the school.
Year 5 student Daniel is a keen advocate of the club. He said: “What I like about animal club is that I can learn how to be responsible for our animals and have fun while we feed them and clean their homes out.”
Emma, who is in Year 7, said: “I like how we can take care of the animals in school, we can learn how to take care of them, and that we are around animals most of the time.”
The variety of activities Monkseaton Middle offers recently won the praise of Ofsted inspectors, who gave the school an overall grading of ‘good.’
The report said: “Leaders have raised the bar,” and added “the curriculum is now suitably ambitious.”
They commented on how older pupils take on many responsibilities, such as serving as Year 8 mentors, animal technicians or school librarians, and set a good example to younger students.
Kirsty said: “After two years of lockdowns, it’s never been more important for our young people to have the chance to gain as wide a range of life experiences as possible.”
