CHILDREN from a Poole school have benefitted from weekly therapy sessions with two golden retrievers.

The sessions, at Ocean Academy, take place on Tuesdays with dogs Mya, aged four, and Bow, aged seven, and are designed to boost the children’s mental health.

Finlay, 11, who regularly attends the sessions, said: “The dogs have helped me by calming me down.

“We play games and take Bow or Mya out for a walk.”

The dog therapy sessions coincided with Children’s Mental Health Week 2020 which ran up until February 9.

Set up by children’s mental health charity Place2Be, the week shone a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health.

Rachel Richardson, assistant principal at Ocean Academy said: “Over the year we have seen enormous benefits, for a child, knowing that they have dog therapy on a particular day really helps the child to look forward to coming into school.

“We have seen that it has helped to reduce stress and anxiety levels and boost confidence and self-esteem.

“Within this supportive group environment the children have been able to open up to each other about any struggles that they have been facing and have found other children that are going through similar issues or feelings, as a result, new friendships have been formed throughout the school.