Safeguarding comes first — always
Animal-assisted support should never feel chaotic, unclear or unstructured. Schools need confidence that any work involving dogs is professionally governed, individually risk assessed, and aligned with their own safeguarding frameworks.
At The Baxter Project, this is non-negotiable. Every dog that works in our sessions has been individually assessed for temperament and suitability. Every session is risk assessed. Every safeguarding concern is recorded and escalated through clear protocols.
Low pressure for young people, high confidence for schools
The best safeguarding systems are often invisible to the young person. Sessions should feel calm and relational — while the adults around the young person have complete confidence in supervision, boundaries, consent and professional oversight.
We are deliberate about this. The informality in the room is matched by rigorous documentation outside it.
Companion dogs — not therapy animals
This distinction matters. Therapy animals operate under formal clinical frameworks with specific therapeutic claims. Our dogs are companion wellbeing dogs — carefully assessed, well-managed animals that help create the conditions for trust and connection.
Being clear about this protects schools, protects young people, and ensures our work sits correctly within a professional support framework rather than making claims it cannot evidence.
What schools can expect
Every Baxter Project partner school receives a full safeguarding protocol document, individual session risk assessments, and access to ODISSYS for live safeguarding note recording and escalation tracking. All safeguarding notes are recorded in real time through ODISSYS — accessible to school DSLs at any time, with a full audit trail. Our practitioners hold current DBS clearance and complete safeguarding training aligned to Welsh Government guidance.
The Baxter Project meets all of the above — and we'll share full documentation with any school before starting.
The safeguarding and professionalism are as important to us as the relationship. Schools trust us with their most vulnerable young people — that trust has to be earned and maintained.
— David Westwood, FounderPartner schools can access our full safeguarding documentation — consent forms, risk assessments, and protocols — on our partner resources page →