From fear to confidence: how a Halo Dogs placement helped an Enfield student thrive

A teenager who once became distressed at the sight of a dog in the street now looks forward to his weekly placement at a dog daycare and boarding centre in Enfield, London. Alfie, a student at Oaktree School, has attended a weekly supported placement at Halo Dogs for around three years. His family says the experience has replaced fear with confidence, independence and a sense of belonging.

A Placement Built on Repetition, Not a One-Off Visit

Alfie's mother, Samantha Clydesdale, said her son once became distressed at the mere sight of a dog in the street. That changed through a routine built around familiar people and the same environment, week after week. His favourite animal at Halo Dogs is Stanley, a dachshund he talks about frequently at home, according to his family.

Oaktree School's careers programme places students with Halo Dogs to build confidence around animals and introduce them to a working environment. Halo Dogs has hosted regular supported placements for Oaktree students for several years. Founder Justin Kumaran frames the arrangement as participation rather than a scripted experience.

"Alfie did not need a staged experience; he needed somewhere he could return to until the unfamiliar became familiar and fear gave way to trust. The most important thing is that he does not see himself as a visitor. He sees himself as part of the team."

— Justin Kumaran, Founder of Halo Dogs

A Wider Employment Gap for Young People with SEND

The government's Young people and work: interim report, published in May 2026, finds that the UK is nearing one million 16- to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). The independent review, led by Alan Milburn at the request of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, reports that young people with SEND are around 80% more likely to be NEET than average.

Separately, the report's figures show that in 2024/25, 29.6% of disabled young people were NEET, compared with 8.7% of non-disabled young people. The scale of the gap has prompted renewed debate about how schools and local employers can support the move from education to work for students with additional needs, rather than relying on short, one-time work-experience days.

Halo Dogs is a dog daycare and boarding centre in Enfield, established in 2009, and is distinct from Halo Dogs Rescue & Rehabilitation. It has grown from a small start-up into an established dog care business built around animal welfare and, more recently, community placements of this kind. Kumaran is now urging other employers and community organisations to offer similar placements to SEND schools in their own areas.

For Alfie, the national picture matters less than what the placement has given him. His family describes a young man who once avoided dogs and now arrives each week with confidence, clearly enjoying his time with the animals and the people around him. Above all, they say, he feels he belongs.