As I write this, Betty is sitting in her basket snoring loudly at her owner's feet.

Her owner is Meg Lucas, Head Teacher at Cottesmore Academy, and Betty is a micro-sized black pug...and our school dog.

When Meg proposed bringing her one year old pug into school, I was a little sceptical.

My innate internal risk assessment kicked into over drive and a million questions popped into my head all at once.

After much research into the benefits of having animals in school, and not to mention lots of risk assessment writing, I was a convert and couldn't wait until Betty arrived for her first day.

Needless to say, I was not disappointed.

Seeing how the children initially reacted to Betty was truly amazing.

Trotting into the classrooms, Betty immediately grabbed the whole class' attention.

Although tiny, she certainly has a big personality and the children were immediately drawn to her.

Her size really works in our favour. As she is small enough to fit in a handbag, and yes I have tried this, she is completely unthreatening.

In fact, she has even made a dog-lover out of a child who told me she hated dogs!

One of my class members was very anxious when Betty first walked in but now, six months later, she is the first one to give Betty a stroke in the morning.

This is the power of Betty and what truly makes her 'a wonder dog'.

We have all heard about how just stroking an animal can release 'happy' hormones like serotonin and oxytocin, but to see how the children can change in front of your eyes is simply magical.

The majority of children at Cottesmore Academy have parents who are serving in the military.

Subsequently, many of the children experience prolonged periods of time where one of their parents is away on active service.

This time can be very upsetting for the whole family and the children find it particularly difficult to talk about how they feel.

Betty provides the children with an outlet to share their emotions.

The children brighten up instantly just by taking her for a short walk around the school field!

One Year 3 child commented to me the other day: "I just love Betty! She makes me so happy. I just have to stroke her and I feel all warm inside!"

In truth, Betty is the star attraction of Cottesmore Academy.

In fact, a recent pupil questionnaire confirmed that fact, with many of the children commenting that Betty was one of the best things about our school.

This a sentiment that we all agree with, even me, a staunch lover of cats!