Introducing a School Dog

A dog in school can calm a child in the middle of a meltdown, get a reluctant reader reading aloud and cheer up the staffroom. Get it wrong, though, and you probably won't get a second chance.

The teacher behind it brought her own puppy into a special school and has since written about it. She's honest about her mistakes (staff will spoil your dog if you let them). She's practical about everything else: puppy or adult dog, allergies, who pays the vet's bills, the quiet space and responsible adult the dog needs, and what goes in your policy, risk assessment and insurance.

Her stories are what you'll remember. A girl who couldn't face the Christmas concert walked in to "help" the nervous dog, and a six-year-old who hated her walking frame took step after step down the corridor to follow him.