Green Chimneys is a special school 65 miles north of New York City, catering for children with emotional, behavioural, social and learning difficulties. It's an unusual school, in that it has a 165-acre farm with 200 farm animals, and a wildlife rehabilitation centre. Central to the school's ethos is a belief in the therapeutic power of the interaction between children and animals. Assistance-dog training classes are one example of the way animal-related activities are woven into daily life. The dogs learn new skills, while their trainers, the pupils, learn how to bond with other living things. The learning-with-nature ethos extends to the classroom, where we see a science lesson that is part of a project on raising brook trout. And in the open air, pupils help to release rescued animals back into the wild.

Video Series: Inspirations
Release Date 2006