Ovingham students fundraise for their own therapy dog Nellie
Students are raising funds to put their teacher's new puppy through therapy dog training.Nellie the cockapoo is working towards a qualification which will allow her to provide support for children and staff at Ovingham Middle School in Northumberland.Assistant headteacher Sarah McHugh said she had seen pupils needing more support over the last few years due to a variety of factors, but that they were more in touch with their emotions and able to articulate those."I have always wanted a dog myself and what better to give the dog a really nice home with me but also be part of the community?" she said.
Students had been pondering what Nellie's working day might look like, Miss McHugh said.Some had suggested they could take her on walks in the village during lunch or visit her to get settled during the day.Miss McHugh said in recent years everyone's emotional literacy had evolved and she had observed her students were "more confident" in asking for extra support."I think they're just more aware now and telling us that they need some extra help to regulate their emotions," she said.She said Nellie's presence would make school "a bit more inviting and engaging, but also a safer space for them".
Both Miss McHugh and Nellie have to undergo months of training for the accreditation, which will cost £4,500 in total.An assessment will look for Nellie's ability to respond to commands, but also see if she has empathy and can recognise body language cues in people.The children have got behind her journey by holding cake sales and non-uniform day fundraisers.They also held a competition to design Nellie's neckerchief for when she comes to the school full-time from December.Miss McHugh said: "Staff say they are really keen to work with Nellie and have her in some of the classrooms."Maybe for the star-of-the-lesson to come and spend some time with her, but also just to have her there as a bit of a comfort."
With a limited school budget, staff decided the best option was to fundraise as the training would solely be used for school-based interventions for the 350 pupils there.Miss McHugh bought Nellie herself and also pays for her vet bills, health insurance and day-to-day costs, like food.There is no government funding earmarked solely for therapy dogs.If a staff member or pupil was allergic to dogs they did not have to be in close proximity to Nellie, Miss McHugh said, and risk assessments had been carried out.When Nellie is in school full time, she will also follow timetable and there will be signs to mark she is present in a room.
Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Backstabbing, bitching and bribery. This is the shocking story of how I was set upon by the PTA power mums... and the cake sale that proved to be my downfall: SUSANNAH JOWITT
My children had only been at their primary school for a week when I was set upon by the dreaded Parent Teacher Association (PTA). There was enough of the eager-to-please about me to attract the attention of the all-powerful leaders. Then they discovered I was a journalist, which meant I probably had a few connections and, more importantly, worked from home (code for 'free to do their bidding').
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Secret meanings behind how Gen Z use punctuation: Dashes, full stops and commas now stand for something totally different - so, do YOU understand the new code?
Everyday punctuation marks from the simple full stop to the quotation mark now mean something totally different as Gen Z adapt them to form new meanings, experts have revealed. Recently it was revealed that the semicolon is at risk of dying out because its use is plummeting, and now younger generations are re-purposing the punctuation marks that endure so that they no longer mean what they used to. For instance, teenagers are more likely to use a full stop as a blunt gesture, rather than to simply signify the end of a sentence. Noël Wolf, a linguistic expert at Babbel, told MailOnline: 'We're seeing a real shift in how punctuation is being used in everyday communication, particularly among younger generations. 'Inverted commas, or quotation marks, have traditionally served a clear grammatical purpose: indicating direct speech or quoting another source. 'But in contemporary digital communication, especially on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and X, they're being repurposed.' It's also reflected in work by contemporary writers such as Sally Rooney who have done away with quotation marks in their novels, so that when you do see them, they're not there to indicate direct speech. Gen Z's take on punctuation... Quotation mark - Signals irony, sarcasm or emotional distance Dash - Used for emphasis, interjections or sudden tonal shifts Comma - Implemented to mimic speech patterns or pacing Exclamation mark - Used to add a friendly touch Full stop - Signals bluntness or finality Ellipses - Conveys hesitation, awkwardness or emotional nuance Source - Noël Wolf, linguistic and cultural expert at Babbel 'Gen Z is now frequently using quotation marks to signal irony, sarcasm or emotional distance - for example, writing I'm "fine" to imply the opposite of fine,' he explained. 'It's become a kind of punctuation-based body language.' While people might be quick to assume that Gen Z are loosening society's grip on grammatical conventions, Noel argued the opposite. 'This isn't about grammar falling apart, but a creative adaptation of it. Punctuation is still valued, but its function is evolving. 'In an age where much communication happens via short-form text; such as messages, comments and captions, younger generations are using punctuation to convey tone, nuance and intent in the absence of voice or facial cues.' The expert explained that the adaptations have come into place as a consequence of the internet. He said, 'The internet, of course, is a driving force, with informal digital spaces encouraging experimentation. What might once have been seen as 'incorrect' punctuation is now part of a new, expressive way of interacting online. 'This doesn't mean rules are vanishing, they're just shifting. Interestingly, many young people still appreciate the power of punctuation when clarity matters; for example, in academic writing or professional contexts. So, rather than seeing punctuation as dying out, we should see it as diversifying. 'Its role in helping us communicate clearly, emotionally and effectively is arguably more important than ever, as we are constantly navigating multiple modes of communication, from texts and tweets to emails and essays.' The expert explained that it's not just quotation marks undergoing a change in meaning, but also exclamation marks and ellipses. 'Other punctuation marks are undergoing similar shifts,' he said, adding, 'Full stops, once essential for sentence clarity, are increasingly interpreted in messaging contexts as signalling bluntness or finality. 'A simple reply like 'Okay.' can be read as passive-aggressive or cold, depending on the social context, which is a sharp contrast to the more friendly 'Okay!' 'Linguistically, this shows how punctuation is now carrying emotional and social meaning, not just serving a grammatical function. 'Ellipses (...), once used to indicate omitted text or a trailing thought, now often convey hesitation, awkwardness or emotional nuance, for example, 'I guess… we'll see.' Wolf explained that even basic forms of grammar, such as the comma, are also developing to have different meanings. He said, 'Even the humble comma is being manipulated to mimic speech patterns or pacing. 'For example, 'So, um, that happened,' the comma creates rhythm and mimics the cadence of spoken language.' Elsewhere, Gen Z are embracing dashes and maximising their use, according to the expert. He said, 'Meanwhile, dashes (-) are thriving as versatile punctuation for emphasis, interjections or sudden tonal shifts: 'She said she was 'fine' - and then blocked me.' 'Their growing popularity may even be influenced by tools like ChatGPT, which frequently rely on em dashes to signal tone shifts, pauses or emphasis in text.' Wolf concluded, 'What we're witnessing is a form of punctuational code-switching. In formal contexts, most people, including Gen Z, revert to conventional usage. But in digital spaces, punctuation becomes part of a rich, multimodal communicative system. 'Tone, intent and identity are all being conveyed through tiny textual signals. The rise of informal, digital-first writing styles has certainly influenced this shift. 'On platforms like X, where brevity is key or in WhatsApp chats, punctuation often carries emotional weight as much as syntactic structure. 'In this sense, we're seeing the emergence of a functional punctuation dialect - one that's intuitive, adaptive and highly expressive. 'So, far from fading into obsolescence, punctuation is thriving, just in new and sometimes unexpected ways. As always, language adapts to fit the needs of its users.' Meanwhile, Gen Z are also changing the way they use the emojji. In an attempt to confuse the older generations, Gen Z are ditching 'mainstream' emoji in favour of bizarre alternatives. 'For the predominantly younger-skewing 'chronically online,' riding the wave of emerging trends helps forge identity and create distance from the 'out-of-touch' older generations,' explained Emojipedia. 'In a culture shaped by brainrot, post-irony, and existential dread, avoiding the mainstream is a badge of honor. 'Creating underground memes and micro-viral moments that distinguish an in-the-know in-group from outsiders can be mini-milestones in establishing a generation's internet identity, leaving others on the outside feeling confused and out of the loop, often intentionally so.'
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
TOM UTLEY: Please don't ask me to rate my Airbnb hostess whose house was full of anti-Tory cartoons and even a Rishi 'Dope on a Rope' soap
Aren't you heartily fed up with those constant demands to 'rate and review your experience' every time you buy anything on the internet, book tickets for a theatre, read a book on Kindle, call a plumber or pay your Vehicle Excise Duty through the DVLA website? Why should we have to act as unpaid critics of all the goods and services we receive? Indeed, my instinct is generally to ignore these impertinent requests, remembering the wise words often attributed to that great 18th century sage, Dr Johnson: 'No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.' Worst of all are those pleas to give up 'just five minutes of your time' to complete a questionnaire – and 10 minutes later, you're still barely half way through the list of fatuous questions. Sorry, but I have better things to do with my precious time, such as staring out of the window at the sorry state of our lawn under Mrs U's self-imposed hosepipe ban, and wondering when it's ever going to rain again. True, I make an occasional exception to my vow of silence, when I feel a duty to warn others against crooked dealers or shoddy goods. But when I'm quietly satisfied with something I've bought, or the service I've received, I tend to remain… well, quiet. Take the other day, when I placed an order on the internet for yet another six bouncy balls for our dog, Minnie, who makes a point of losing at least two balls every month on our daily walks. The order duly arrived the following day, as it usually does with Amazon Prime. (Yes, I know, I'm an appalling hypocrite, publicly mourning the slow death of the High Street, while hastening it by patronising the American giant; but I'm far from alone in that respect, as a certain lavish wedding in Venice this week tends to testify.) As for the balls themselves, what can I say except that they were spherical and bouncy, just as you'd expect bouncy balls to be? I'd have had a bit more to say about them, to be sure, if they'd turned out to be triangular, or made of lead. But then the inevitable message arrived, asking me to rate the seller according to three specified criteria, from five stars for 'excellent' to one star for 'awful', and write a review of my purchases, complete with a headline and a photograph or a video. Well, even for a hack like me, who has made a living from writing for 50-odd years, I reckon there's only so much that can usefully be written about six bouncy balls for a dog, before the wells of inspiration run dry. So Amazon's plea went straight into my delete file, along with most of the others. I say 'most' and not 'all' of the others, because, when I've ridden in an Uber, or stayed in an Airbnb, I generally make a point of rating my driver, or writing something nice about my hosts and the accommodation they provide. This is partly because it seems rude to be driven in someone else's car, or to stay in a stranger's house, without having the courtesy to register my appreciation. But if truth be told, it is also because, in the case of Uber and Airbnb, it's not only the passenger or guest who is invited to review the service provider. Drivers and hosts are also asked to rate or review their customers. Now, the last thing I want is to have a low passenger rating on Uber, since this could mean that, in future, drivers might prefer not to pick me up. For that reason, I'm always careful to be civil to my driver, commiserating with him when we're stuck in traffic, thanking him profusely for the ride and never failing to tip at the end of it, whatever I may actually think of my experience. Indeed, it slightly rankles with me that my current rating is a mere 4.92. I'd be interested to know how on earth I dropped that 0.08 of a point, when I'm so determined to behave impeccably. Similarly, I go out of my way to be charming to Airbnb hosts, while Mrs U always ensures that we leave a host's property in immaculate order, with everything washed up, dusted and hoovered within an inch of its life. As for my reason for writing those appreciative reviews, I fear that these can be read by other potential hosts, and I don't want to earn a reputation for myself as the sort of guest who is likely to write something disparaging or rude. Just recently, however, I've found myself impaled on the horns of a dilemma. A few weeks ago we stayed in an Airbnb in Somerset – where we were attending a joint birthday party for our youngest grandson and his mum – and ever since then, I've been pestered with 'reminders' that I've yet to review our experience. My problem is that I found almost everything about our stay entirely satisfactory, but with one glaring exception. Our hostess and her husband were charming to us. The little self-contained flat where we stayed in their house was immaculately clean. The bed was comfortable. The fridge had been generously stocked with all sorts of snacks and all the basics we could possibly need. We also had the run of their beautifully kept garden. To cap it all, they've now written me a flattering review. The only thing wrong, from my point of view, was that our hostess clearly harboured a visceral hatred of Tories, coupled with contempt for anyone who backed Brexit. Whisper it softly, but these are two categories into which I myself fall. It's not because we discussed politics that I know her views. We didn't. No, it's because she had adorned the walls with anti-Tory drawings, and left out a book of her own crude cartoons, viciously attacking the party. It was full of scenes such as Boris Johnson slapping a nurse in the face while others banged saucepans for the NHS. Meanwhile, a bar of soap in the bathroom bore a picture of Rishi Sunak, under the legend 'Dope on a Rope'. Even the marmalade she provided came with an angry political message. It bore a label, mocked up to look like those on the jam produced by Wilkin & Sons Ltd, emblazoned with the following words: 'By appointment to the highest bidder. Tories. Spreading bittersweet smarmalade. 'Conservatives. Preserving their wealth on our daily bread since 2010. Brexit. Slease [sic]. Liars.' Now, I'm a tolerant fellow, myself, and I don't mind at all about the political views of my Airbnb hosts, just so long as their accommodation is comfortable and they are courteous to me. Nor have I any wish to jeopardise my hostess's chances of attracting future guests – or my own of finding future places to stay – by writing a disparaging view of her decor on the app. After all, I know how hard it can be to make ends meet – even, dare I say it, under Labour. But then again, do I perhaps have a duty to warn other Tories, and members of the majority who backed Brexit, that they may feel a little unwelcome, surrounded by all that ranting Lefty propaganda? If my recent hostess will take advice from this evil Tory, I reckon she would be wise to replace the marmalade and the soap, and perhaps move some of that artwork to her own part of the house. After all, future guests may be less inclined than I to keep silent. But how do readers rate the quality of my suggestion, on a scale of five stars for 'excellent', to one star for 'awful'? On second thoughts, don't feel you have to answer that!
