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Alternative Provision

The Ranch offers children and young people the opportunity for meaningful education and experiences delivered by our thrive practitioners in Animal care, Equine welfare, Forest School activities and core subjects such as Maths and English. Each experience is unique to the individual at their pace and set in a captivating green space reigniting a love for learning and reconnecting young people to nature in a therapeutic way.

Our Tribe

We have a proven history of working with individual young people who may: • Have social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) needs. • Have behaviour that includes aggression, and anxiety. • Have medical conditions. • Have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). • Have social and communication difficulties. • Be associated with criminal activity or at risk of exploitation.

• young people who learn better through experiential learning. • Not able to be in mainstream education full time

What we deliver

Therapeutic animal interventions may be stand-alone or incorporated into accredited learning sessions if required. The Ranch offers a variety of ASDAN accredited qualifications including Maths, English, and Animal Care. We also offer EquiScholars as a stewardship programme. We support children and young people who can work in group settings alongside peers and those who need a more specific tailored programme with enhanced (1:1) support. The sessions are designed around personal goals and outcomes which are reviewed, monitored and evaluated in partnership with parents and referrers or the school. We use models such as our resilience model and young person evaluation and feedback to assess where we need to focus and strengthen protective factors.

Examples of our programme

ASDAN acreddited courses and skills

• Animal assisted intervention • Dorset Families Matter (DFM) Individual Therapeutic and Family sessions • Specific outcomes 1:1 sessions • Short Group Programmes - Specific Focus • Holiday time activities

The Small print

While we hope you find the information you need here on our website, we would also encourage you to contact us about your young persons needs.

The Ranch can accept referrals from any registered school or local authority, provided the young person is on roll. We work in partnership to compliment the curriculum as part of a re- engagement or therapeutic programme to enhance young people’s opportunities and achievements. We offer skills that can enhance further education, training and even employment

We understand that successful commissioning needs to be responsive and Parents can contact us to discuss referrals.

Importantly, we operate an inclusive environment where INCLUSION means offering opportunities and environments where a young person can learn and develop positively without feeling discountenance. We work in partnership with schools and with young people if they are experiencing challenges that prevent them from reaching their potential within traditional educational settings.