Community
9 July, 2025
Maggie meets students at Timboon P-12
A FLUFFY friend will soon be joining the cohort at Timboon P-12 as part of a wellbeing initiative.
The cocker spaniel, six-year-old Maggie, is being brought to the school thanks to a program called Dogs Connect.
She belongs to school librarian Andrea Clarke, who said this has been in the works since two years ago.
“The school had to put in a submission, then it was decided and there was some money that was allocated,” she said.
“From there it’s just been implemented over a two-year timeframe.
“There was an expression of interest to who’s got a dog and who wants to do it.
“I wanted to do it at my old school and I was offered the program previous to Dogs Connect, so then I said I was happy to do it with Maggie.”
Maggie will be officially introduced to the students via PowerPoint presentation next term.
“There’s lots of little steps you have to tick off before Maggie can actually interact with the kids,” Mrs Clarke said.
“Because I work in the library, at this stage she will just be wandering the library and interacting with classes here and with kids here.
“In the future, other teachers might have a classroom and they could take Maggie and have her stay there in the classroom without me.
“It’s not Maggie being 100 per cent reliant on me – she’s going to get to know the other staff, who have also had to do an induction on working with Maggie.”
Mental health and wellbeing leader Lisa Pechotsch said a wellbeing dog like Maggie offered benefits to both students at the school and Maggie herself.
“It’s another connection point for non-attendants – a connection to school,” she said.
“The program is really clear on both the mental health benefits for the students and the staff and the mental health benefits for Maggie as well.
“So just ensuring that we’re not overworking her and we’re adhering to her needs as well.”
Mrs Clarke said she knew Maggie would be good for the students and hoped to be able to bring her in at least twice a week.
“Maggie will be good for students if they’re having a bad day, because she’s like a comfort blanket,” she said.
“How often Maggie comes in will depend on the school.
“You also don’t want to exhaust the dog.
“Hopefully two days a week, dependant on what the school sees fit.”
Everyone involved with Maggie will be required to complete training, and meanwhile Maggie is completing some training of her own to ensure she is ready for her introduction to the students later this year.
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