Yesterday, May 14th, Scoil Mhuire Naofa was delighted to welcome a very special visitor to our school community — Winston, the wonderful school therapy dog from My Canine Companion. Winston visited all of our classrooms alongside his handler, Diarmuid Sutton, Principal of Ballyfeeney National School.
From the moment Winston arrived, there was huge excitement throughout the school. Pupils and staff thoroughly enjoyed meeting such a calm, gentle and intelligent dog. Winston spent time visiting classrooms, meeting pupils and helping to create a relaxed and positive atmosphere across the school. Pupils were immediately at ease in Winston’s presence, demonstrating the incredible impact therapy dogs can have within a school environment. Classes had time to give Winston commands such as sit, stay, lie down, left, right and hubbub (which means walk).
The visit was especially meaningful for Scoil Mhuire Naofa as we recently received wonderful news from the My Canine Companion team confirming that our school is due to receive our very own puppy and begin the training journey within the next 6–12 months. This is an incredibly exciting development for our school community and one which we know will bring enormous benefits to the wellbeing of all our pupils for many years to come.
School therapy dogs can play a hugely positive role in supporting children’s emotional regulation, confidence, communication, attendance and overall wellbeing. Winston’s visit gave both pupils and staff a fantastic insight into how beneficial a therapy dog can be within a busy primary school setting.
We would like to sincerely thank Diarmuid Sutton for taking the time to visit Scoil Mhuire Naofa and for sharing his experience of introducing a therapy dog to school life. We also extend a huge thank you to Winston himself, who behaved impeccably throughout the day and quickly became a firm favourite among pupils and staff alike!
As families know, Scoil Mhuire Naofa is currently fundraising to support the arrival and training of our future school therapy dog. Our school community has shown tremendous support so far, particularly through Ms Dockery’s upcoming fundraising challenge at Croke Park. We are hopeful that after meeting the calm and reassuring Winston yesterday, Ms Dockery might feel a little braver about her experience high up on the roof of Croke Park!
Families wishing to support our fundraiser can do so here:
https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/carmeldjumpforadog2026
We look forward to sharing more updates with our school community as we continue our exciting journey towards welcoming our very own school therapy dog to Scoil Mhuire Naofa.
