Headteachers personal dog in playground whats your opinion

If you are concerned, why don't you ask to read their risk assessment?

Nobody is being 'dramatic'

Sorry but some posters definitely are being dramatic. Telling OP to "complain to Ofsted!", go to the Govenors!" "demand to see their risk assessment!", "threaten to remove your child!"

How about calling the school up and having a calm conversation with someone about her concerns in the first instance?

I am NOT a dog person. I don't own dogs, I don't care about dogs, I don't particularly enjoy being around other people's dogs. But I don't understand why people jump straight to outrage, without knowing the full facts.

Firstly, as a parent you have no right to see a schools risk assessment, unless that risk assessment is about your individual child. But you can ask questions, enquire about how they manage allergies, children who are scared of dogs etc. I would suggest OP do this before making a "complaint" based on assumptions.

I've worked in a lot of schools and I've never known a child be forced, or even expected, to interact with a school dog or even be in close proximity to them. If this happened you would have every right to complain. But if simply being on the same playground as a well-behaved dog, who is on a lead and not behaving in a boisterous or aggressive manner, is enough to distress you or your child then I would say that's a severe phobia that needs to be addressed through some sort of therapy. Also, if this was the case presumably you could make your child's teacher aware, they would speak to the HT and the dog could be kept at a distance from them.

I'm also surprised some people are accusing the HT of hypocrisy for not allowing parents to bring their dogs onto the playground at drop off/pick up. Can people really not see the difference between ONE dog, that is known to staff and under the control of the HT, and dozens of random dogs turning up at the same time every day? Some parents may not be responsible dog owners, some dogs are aggressive and fight with other dogs, people don't clean up after their dogs or train them properly. I'd be really surprised if any school allowed this.

I'm sorry OP but I had to laugh at your comment about the dog not being a "professional"! Dogs don't need professional qualifications to be a 'school dog'. They do need to have a calm temperament and be well trained.There is specific training that you can access for school dogs, reading dogs and therapy dogs, but how do you know your HT hasn't accessed this? Do you have reason to believe the dog is not not calm and well-trained?

Don't be daft, of course there's a 'hierachy' between a small child's allergy to dogs and a grown woman's allergy to balloons. You, as an adult, are capable of speaking up for yourself and removing yourself from any situation where you might come into contact with balloons. A child, having a dog thrust into an environment where they should be safe and protected, would be unable/uncomfortable doing so, and shouldn't be put into that situation in the first place.

Nobody is being 'dramatic', they're just disagreeing with you. OP asked for opinions on the situation and people are giving them.

I would be curious to know if the school's insurance covers this. Yes I would be surprised if a head teacher would not have considered this but when it comes to people & their dogs the rulebook tends to go out the window.

It was high school but my DSs Duke of Edinburgh award teacher used to take her dog everywhere and it went away on all the trips. The difference was we knew the dog had been risk assessed and it was exceptionally well trained. It didn't just wander about.

Haven't RTWT but ....Allan Ahlberg's poem " dog in the playground" springs to mind

That said, I was prepared to take her away if anyone had objected because she didn't need to be there and it wasn't a dog event!

I genuinely do have a very gentle dog. One wee girl was petrified of dogs but I took mine to a post school event in the local park. All the children were playing with my dog and after observing the others for a while she sidled up and asked if she could have a turn throwing the ball. Her mum shuffled over and said don't let her know I'm excited but yours is the first dog she's ever played with. It was so lovely. The girl was giddy! My dog is big too! I was proud of them both.

I just can’t understand, why people feel that children have too like dogs . We dont have any dogs in our family and I dont feel like they have missed out .

There is a huge difference between PAT dogs and pats dog

Exactly how i feel i am afraid of and have allergies. If someone brought a dog into the office I wouldn't be happy at all!

Why do some schools pay for PAT dogs to come into schools then?

Did you not make the school aware of her allergy when she started?

This. It should be the same rule for her pet dog as any other pet.

Well I have worked in schools all my working life and I can tell you risk assessments are done for EVERYTHING. Schools do not like being sued!

And fairly obviously was there such a child in the op's child's school, they wouldn't be bringing a dog in!

@TeenLifeMum : "Head teacher knows their dog and can risk assess appropriately."

OP says the dog looks anxious and scared! And it's a rescue dog so its history must be unknown, to some degree.

To me 'anxious and scared' implies it could be unpredictable and possibly attack someone (like many dogs could).

I guess private school dc are a bit tougher as they all seem to manage despite them all seeming to have dogs.

My old primary school headteacher used to bring her black lab to work with her. We all loved him.

you’ve totally missed my point. I’m not expecting sympathy (I don’t welcome inaccurate assumptions that belittle my allergy) I’m saying mn has a hierarchy of allergies they stand up for - mostly peanuts and dogs, and forget any others.

I’m also saying medical professionals are not concerned about dog allergies in hospitals because it’s not a massive deal. Like other allergies that aren’t anaphylaxis, take an antihistamine and get on with life. School will have a record of the allergies and can act appropriately but a single dog walking round a school in a controlled manner isn’t putting anyone at risk anymore than Sarah in class 2 wearing a jumper covered in her pet’s fur from her morning cuddle.

I can understand parents having concerns if their dc has an allergy or is scared, but just talk to the teacher rather than being over dramatic on mn.

Hm, I think we might have wildly different ideas about what constitutes as cute!

What about students who might be nervous of dogs, or simply didn't like them in their space? Were they taken into consideration? Or was it just assumed that all children would enjoy the process of being woken up by an animal? Was the dog somehow intelligent enough to know which children to avoid?! I find it hard to believe that every single student in that school would have been comfortable being in close proximity to a dog like that.

No it doesn’t. It triggers my asthma. Balloon arches are a nightmare I now avoid but it’s harder than you think. But thank you for explaining my allergy to me and telling me I’m nonsensical. I’ll remember that next time I’m being ambulanced to hospital on a nebuliser.

And dogs trigger my sons. God I wish it was just itching and easily solved by piriton. Last time he was in a room with a dog, meters away, resulted in a category 1 ambulance for a blue child. There’s so many places he can’t visit anymore; everywhere dogs are allowed we don’t go, even if dogs aren’t there it’d full of dander and could affect his breathing. Which is what would happen to a school if it had a dog present for hours every day. Especially as every school my DC have been to has narrow corridors, small classrooms and in winter all the windows and doors are shut. Enclosed poorly, ventilated spaces, exactly the sort of place we can’t go to anymore if they allow dogs. A school with a dog in it is not a safe place for him.

Well as long as people aren't parading balloon arches around places where they don't belong (hospitals and schools for example) you don't need to worry, eh?

Odd how little regard you have for people with dog allergies but you expect sympathies for your own condition.

A trained dog that is there for the benefit of the children - absolutely yes. The head teacher’s personal pet that they don’t want to leave at home and is there for the HT’s benefit- absolutely no.

Very few dog owners are willing or capable of properly risk assessing their own dog.

Don’t ever send your kids to a country private school then 😂. In my son’s prep school there were dogs everywhere. The house mistress dog would be sent to wake up each dorm and very gently go round and wake each child each morning-cutest thing ever. The head had his dogs in his office, the music teacher did lesson with her dogs. In the pre prep the secretary kept her 2 dogs under her desk and every day without fail they would go for a wander and be found with the reception age children making sure they got a biscuit too with the kids, the dogs even had parts in the nativity plays! Another teacher regularly brought in her ponies and donkeys the kids loved to lead them around the playground and they would come into the classrooms too. Parents were allowed to bring dogs inside and out of the school even right into classrooms and regularly ponies and quite a few chickens came to picks ups too.
Now at secondary school but still many dogs about. Even our doctors surgery has a cat who sleeps in the waiting room.