I am afraid we have had an incident this week where a child was nipped by a dog at school as well as dog excrement has been found on school grounds.
I understand that dogs are an important part of life for many Titirangi School families, and as such, are often included in day-to-day activities such as walking children to and from school. This has the potential to reduce some of the traffic congestion in and around the school gate. The school does, though, recognise that for some families (and individuals) contact with dogs can be stressful, even frightening. Also, the health and safety risk for our children of negative encounters with dogs and excrement on school grounds is concerning and unacceptable.
I would like to remind the school community to follow these guidelines:
All dogs must be on a leash that keeps the dog close to the adult.
At no time should a dog be left unattended.
Dog’s leashes need to be held by adults only.
No dogs accompanying children to and from school are allowed inside any school buildings.
Owners are responsible to remove any excrement left by their dog on the school grounds and failure to do so will mean the dog will no longer be allowed in the school grounds and/or reported to Auckland Council.
Owners, when bringing dogs on to the site, do so with an absolute understanding that their dog has no issues around children, has never displayed any aggression towards children and that the owner believes the dog is fully trustworthy in a school environment.
We have over 430 students on site at the moment and I need to ensure that their health safety is a priority.
Thank you for your support.