My name is Becky and I am the founder of
The Teen Bookshop - an online store that aims to provide cheaper books for children.​
In these hard financial times, with school budgets tightening and so many libraries living under the threat of closure, many children no longer have access to books. I'm keen to help librarians keep these spaces open and keep young people reading - which, after all, is what you do.
​
I will do the leg work to provide you with the books your children are asking for the most, at consistent prices fit to beat other online second-hand book retailers - including postage fees. And as I am sourcing these books from donations and other pre-loved suppliers, you're helping to keep our vocations greener, our communities stronger and our planet that little bit healthier.
A Personal Appeal:
Keeping Animals in Schools
Schools are rarely a suitable place to keep animals that are not brought in by a member of staff, such as a dog, as there are many care factors to consider. If you wish to use the below resources to pass onto your school managers, please feel free to do so.
If you have serious concerns about the welfare of animals in your organisation, try raising the issue with senior staff or governors first. If this fails, please consider contacting the RSPCA or your union for advice and support.
Agree with your senior staff who the primary caregiver is, and what will happen when and if that member of staff leaves.
Some animals live for a long time, so are the same care needs going to be met far into the future, with different leadership and budget allocations?
Primary caregivers are important, as they easily spot health issues and behavioural changes that might indicate a concern.
Properly research the adequate care needs of the animal, such as housing, food, ideal temperature and physical attention.
Rabbits and guinea pigs, for instance, are not suited to hutches, despite popular belief. Rabbits require 24/7 access to a 2X3X1m minimum space, guinea pigs 1.2X0.6X0.45m, and hamsters 80X50cm (as recommended by the RSPCA).
Contrary to popular belief, foods like carrots are too high in sugar for a standard diet, and can lead to obesity.
Agree appropriate housing during weekends and holidays before purchase or adoption, and check that the species is happy being moved.
Rabbits, for instance, are very territorial and do not handle change well at all. Moving these animals in cars to different homes, to different spaces, different faces, all with different routines and feed, can bring on many serious stress-related illnesses.
Allowing children to take home school pets is unacceptable and irresponsible. Staff who take home animals need to be fully aware of their care needs and the danger signs.
Accurately tally up the cost of the animals and whether this can be maintained long-term. If their needs cannot be properly funded, they should not be in school.
Costs of insurance, hard food, fresh food, bedding, hay, toys, enrichments, housing, damage repair, medical bills, vaccines, temperature control, litter etc can be unprecedented.
For example, my two rabbits cost me upwards of £100 a month (if they don't need the vets, which has been upwards of £300 a visit).
The more expensive the food, the better health your animal will keep. Budget for more than the cheapest brand on the market - your animal might not even like it, or be allergic.
As primary care-giver, be fully aware of danger signs for sickness. Small animals can pass very quickly without treatment.
Who will be paying attention to the animals over the weekends? Rabbits can die within 12 hours without treatment if they go into GI stasis.
How can their housing prevent illnesses? Animals are less at risk of viral infections, worms, mites and flystrike when indoors. Outdoor houses also need to be protected against extremes in temperature.
The carer is in charge of the animals' welfare around children. There are many cases of school animals being either accidentally or deliberately abused by unsupervised children, or by children supervised by an adult who has no control.
The animal's needs come before anything else.
If the species requires lots of love, care and affection, not to mention play time, how will these needs be met during the weekends? Animals don't stop existing when school stops.
Always place your animals in pairs if the species requires it. Rabbits and guinea pigs suffer terribly from loneliness, anxiety, stress and depression, particularly when left alone. Although when pairing rabbits, always make sure to adhere to the bonding process.
Small animals' needs are often placed second and they suffer as a consequence. It is the difference between surviving and living.
Links and Resources
