Inscape House School wins NASS Breaking Barriers Award
Congratulations to Danielle Eaton, Animal-assisted Intervention Practitioner, and the Inscape House School team on scooping the prestigious NASS Breaking Barriers Award at the Grand Hotel in Brighton last Thursday.
Our specialist school has been recognised for its exceptional work in creating positive and sustainable outcomes for young people through an animal-assisted intervention that improves their mental, physical, social and emotional wellbeing.
It was just over a year ago when Danielle put forward the idea of animal-assisted intervention to the heads of the school. “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.
Since January 2022, when the programme was set up and ready for students, “Danielle has had a caseload of around 50 students, and the sessions have had a huge impact on their wellbeing, reduction in anxiety, ability to learn as well as improved behaviour at home”, adds Hannah.
"It is more than simply spending time with an animal. Animal-assisted intervention sessions work towards therapeutic goals. Therapeutic experiences can include walking, brushing, petting and caring for an animal, as well as processing the experience of trying to achieve a given task", explains Danielle.
Logan, 14, who attends an animal-assisted intervention session once a week, shares:
"I like caring for another being. It helps you to be more mindful because each species is different. They act in certain ways, which is a good learning experience. It makes me feel much better just by being around them. It improves my mood so much. [These sessions] are probably the best thing that's happened to me in the last couple of months."
Hannah concludes: “We could not be prouder that the animal-assisted intervention programme has now been recognised nationally. We hope to continue to grow the programme and share the practice across the Together Trust.”
