Meet our very own Collegiate medical detection dog! Jake is Mrs Surbey’s diabetes alert dog and works in our Student Support office with her every day. Jake has become a very important part of Student Support and Mrs Surbey would not be able to carry out her normal daily activities without Jake.

Students who are feeling a little overwhelmed or anxious will pop in to see him from time to time and Jake leaves them feeling calm and ready to return to lessons. “It’s nice to have Jake around when I am taking my medication and I just need something to help me to feel calm and ready to learn,” commented one Year 8 student.

Jake does love a treat or two and has been caught with doughnuts and a pizza he found in a bin, “He is definitely a bit cheeky!” Medical Detection Dogs should not have treats whilst they are working as this distracts them from alerting their owners about any medical issues. If a child is diagnosed with a medical issue at Riddlesdown, we ask parents or carers to report this to their child’s form tutor and our Student Support office, so that we can put provisions in place to support them.