Inscape House School scoops a second award for animal-assisted therapy
Last week, Inscape House School and its animal-assisted intervention therapy programme won a second award from the UK's leading school improvement company, TT Education.
Inscape House is one of the Together Trust's specialist schools for young people with autism. Presented at the University of Warwick, the prestigious 'Positive Approaches to Inclusion' was awarded because of Inscape’s exceptional work in creating positive and sustainable outcomes for young people through an animal-assisted intervention – a programme led by Danielle Eaton, Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) Practitioner.
It was in 2021 when Danielle Eaton put forward the idea of animal-assisted intervention to the heads of the school. In January 2022, the programme was set up and ready for a caseload of around 50 students.
"Danielle spent a great deal of her own time, completing relevant qualifications and researching the project before embarking upon it", shares Hannah Stollar, Interim Head of School.
Today, the animal-assisted intervention sessions are accessible to 95 students on a weekly basis and provide different programmes, ranging from working on emotions and engagement to improving fine motor skills and social communication/interaction. The programme allows students to work with different species of animals, such as guinea pigs, dogs and tortoises, whilst helping them reduce the barriers they face daily.
"This award gives us an opportunity to share and celebrate this excellent work with schools across the country", concludes Sara Bayley, Executive Headteacher.
