Good doggy, Miss Molly

Matipo Primary's star reading teacher is hairy, wet-nosed and prone to outbursts during assembly, finds Joanna Davies.
Miss Molly, an assistant reading teacher at Matipo Primary School, is keeping quiet about her favourites to win the NZPost Book Awards this month.
But she's a fan of this year's illustrated children's book winner, The Wonky Donkey by Kate Cowley, and her current favourite is The Hole in the King's Sock by Dot Meharry. It's a book that's read to her by pupils about 20 times a day, and she doesn't seem to mind hearing it over again.
Miss Molly, of Room 9, is the school's resident reading dog, owned by teacher Sue Forgie.
Nine-year-old Sydney Magnus has read to Miss Molly each day for several terms.
"I didn't like reading that much," she says. "I liked picture books, but I didn't like chapter books. Now I like reading them and Molly helps me learn to read and she gave me more courage."
Sydney's sister is also benefiting from the reading sessions. "She never liked reading until she started reading to Molly."
Mrs Forgie says the golden retriever is considered a member of the staff around the school, and gets plenty of walks at lunchtime. "For a lot of children, they don't always have the confidence to read aloud, or they just need to get some reading mileage. They find it non-threatening because they are not always being corrected, and what's amazing is that, now, the kids are coming in wanting to read."
Miss Molly has her own seat under Mrs Forgie's desk, but prefers to sit on the children's reading cushions. "She comes in nearly every day, except on special occasions. She has been known to bark during singing in assembly," says Mrs Forgie.
Reading therapy with dogs is popular in the United States, but it is only starting to take off in New Zealand.
Matipo principal Wayne Bainbridge says reading to Miss Molly has had an "astonishing impact" on the children. "We do assess the pre- and post-reading data and all the children have made good gains as a result of the classroom programme."
Around Auckland, nine other schools use reading dogs through the SPCA's Outreach Therapy with St John. Co-ordinator Jo Hurford says the growing interest in the programme means it's a struggle to find enough volunteers. "At one school, one student's reading age increased four years in one term. There is also a lower truancy rate on the days that the animals are coming to school."
Mrs Hurford says three more schools want to join the programme.
"If someone wants to take part, their dog gets assessed to see if they are suitable to be a therapy pet, and all of our volunteers are uniformed so the schools know who we are."
Pawing over a good book
 
If you and your dog are interested in becoming reading dog volunteers, email
jo.hurford@stjohn.org.nz