Welling Primary welcomes their new member of staff… Bertie

You’ve heard of house-trained – well, Bertie is currently being classroom-trained.

A primary school has welcomed the two-year-old four-legged cockapoo as member of staff.

Bertie is the new school dog at Hook Lane Primary School, in Welling, where he has been an instant hit with staff and pupils.

Bertie belongs to Year 2 teacher, Jack Langsford, and has been getting to know pupils by visiting classrooms, joining in with playtimes and welcoming children each morning at the school gate.

Hook Lane’s Headteacher Joy Sheekey said the decision to have a school dog came after researching the benefits to the pupils.

She said: “Jack first started bringing Bertie into school to pay short visits during the lockdowns when most children were doing home learning.

Bertie has such a lovely, tolerant nature, which made us think about how we could have a dog in school full-time.”

Joy said: “The main thing, of course, was to make sure Bertie had the right training, was socialised well and had the right temperament to be around children and grownups.”

Main Picture: Year 2 teacher, Jack Langsford, headteacher Joy Sheekey, student with Bertie