Animal Rescue and Care (ARC) revisit F1 and F2

Students in F1 and F2 were revisited by our community partner Animal Rescue and Care (ARC), to learn more about animal safety and wellbeing whilst interacting with real dogs. 

EYFS have been working with ARC as their community partner for a number of years. ARC is a charity organisation which rescues cats and dogs in need. They are based in Ho Chi Minh City and they provide medical treatment, vaccination and nurturing of cats and dogs before working to rehome them. Crucially, they give love and attention to animals which have been abandoned and abused.

The aim of the partnership is to teach the F1 and F2 children about animal care and how to approach dogs and cats safely.

This week, Koto from ARC came back to BIS HCMC to check that the F1s and F2s had been taking good care of their soft toy pets. Fortunately, all animals were being looked after well, which Koto was very pleased to know.

Excitingly, this week’s visits involved Koto also bringing veterinarian, Dr. Nghia, and a few real dogs, Ziggy, Misty and Mimi, who have themselves been rescued and nurtured through the charity organisation. Each class was taught the important stages of safely greeting a dog for the first time. This involved asking permission from the owner, making the correct fist shape so that the dogs could sniff and greet them, and appropriate and safe ways to stroke them.

Every child was invited to greet and stroke the animals. Admirably, the majority of children took the opportunity to participate. Afterwards, the children were educated and given a chance to safely feed and walk a dog.  It was brilliant to see many of our students confidently engage with these animals in a safe manner.

Dr Nghia also shared his expertise as a veterinarian with our students, explaining how to care for both dogs and cats. Children then volunteered to be a vet, using his real stethoscope to check for Mimi’s heartbeat. The visit was a very exciting and educating experience for all involved and we are grateful to ARC for giving this opportunity to our students.

These interactions with animals at a young age will contribute to our long term community service goals, where our students become active members of our community who believe they can make a positive difference to people, animals and the environment around them.  

Ms Samantha Baker and Mr Luke Neville, Community Service Leaders