Teacher’s dogs in classroom?

Absolutely not appropriate. Dc2 is petrified of dogs, so I'd have to say something.

You do realise the LA has very little, if anything to do with the vast majority of schools these days?

Are they certified PAT dogs?
DD's primary school has a school dog. She belongs to one of the teachers and is on site every dday. However she is a certified PAT (pets as therapy) dog, and therefore had rigorous training and assessments of temprement to get her certification. I wouldn't be happy to have any old dog at my child's school but i'm happy to have a PAT dog, and the kids get a lot out of it.

This should just not be allowed. What if staff or pupils did not want to work or learn around dogs? If I worked in schools I would be very unhappy about those being my working conditions, and pupils have no choice, and very little power. It’s absolutely wrong.

This is a you problem. It'll be wonderful for your son to be around dogs, it'll prevent him ending up like you about dogs.

What about the children who are scared of dogs. I think it’s a bit much for juniors.

I had a teacher in primary school who used to bring her dog in (hazy memory either a greyhound or whippet) that used to snooze in the corner of the classroom. On the days she didn’t bring him in, she would put a stuffed toy there and told us all she used magic to turn him into a toy! We thought he was fab and adored having him in the classroom.

My kids’s primary school, the Head brought her dog in. They would get kids to read to him to help build up their confidence.

i was a bit hmmm when she brought her dog in, but it spent most of the time in her office on the days she brought him in.

i think I felt more wary about this as an adult, probably because I’ve been bitten a couple of times by small dogs. However I.also can see the benefits of having dogs to help calm kids and encourage them to read.

My son’s school has a special needs trained cockapoo. Very cute.

This seems v strange. I would discuss with the head and ask to move classes if your not happy with the response. The school year hasnt started yet so won't be unsettling. Ask what their insurance policy is if the dog bites or causes a child to trip and get hurt etc

This is simply not acceptable. Report the teacher to the LA.

Yes, it’s a thing but usually ‘dressed up’.

Not in the UK, but in 2 of the public schools some of my kids went to here, there would be a ‘school dog’, that had turns in every classroom during the week. Supposedly it was good for the kids mental wellbeing. However, it was just one of the teachers dogs, not any sort of ‘therapy accreditation’, just a regular dog, and these were regular schools, not special needs schools.

Moving onto a private school one of mine went to, a teacher had a literal farm in the classroom. They lived in a farm and would bring orphaned/rejected lambs/goats in as they needed to be fed during the day, plus sick animals.

Ask for the risk assessments for the dogs being the classroom, they should have one if they’re bringing animals into school. Personally I don’t agree with teachers having their dogs in class and I say that as an ex teacher. I’m fully supportive of therapy dogs being brought in occasionally as they can do wonders for some children.

Edited to add, as I said dashunds can be stubborn to train, I’m not a fan of any dog around around young children without 100% supervision and when teaching a class that supervision couldn’t happen unless they’re in crates. It’s not a breed I’d have had round my children to be honest and I would have raised serious concerns if dogs had been in the class with my children. Not all children like dogs and it’s really unfair to force this on them.

Ridiculous. And I love dogs. Her personal life shouldn’t come into the classroom

You should deff get in contact with the head, there may be plans in place to keep the kids safe, or it may be enough for the head to say no to the teacher. Nothing wrong with raising concerns though!

Its not unusual, I work in secondary schools, lots of them and see various dogs belonging to staff in all the time.

I don't like this at all. Fine to have an occasional visit from a dog e.g. assistance dog, dog charity, but asides from potential allergies/bites, surely it would be a major distraction to have dogs in the classroom - the children are there to learn, not to participate in their teacher's lifestyle choices.

Dashunds are notoriously stubborn dogs to train and can be quite vocal, I’d be surprised if any school allowed this. I’ve known schools to have therapy dogs brought in but not every day. Ask to see the risk assessments for the dogs to be in class, I’m a huge dog lover but wouldn’t be happy with this, if the teacher needs dog day care she should be paying for it instead of expecting to to bring her pets in, can you imagine if every teacher brought their dogs into school? It would be carnage and have the potential to disrupt learning. School is a learning establishment, it’s not crufts!

I’m really surprised! I do think it sounds positive for the kids though, learning how to behave around well behaved dogs is a good thing. But I do also think it’s nuts that a school would allow this, there are so many variables that could make it a problem