Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI)
Emotional wellbeing, mindfulness and inclusion are at the heart of all of Greatwood’s AAI educational programmes. The Sir Peter O’Sullevan H.O.P.E™ programme focuses on encouraging increased self-esteem and development of confidence by challenging the perception of “success” and “failure” in a secure and nurturing environment.
The effectiveness of AAI has been proven, showing that it lowers blood pressure and heart rate, alleviates stress, and reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression. The implications of decreased emotional wellbeing are related to potential mental health concerns, therefore by ensuring that this is the primary focus of our programmes, we can help every individual realise his/her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to their community.
Aims:
- Identifying and Coping with Feelings
- Communication Skills
- Setting Boundaries
- Overcoming Fears
- Building Trust
Horses make the perfect vehicles for AAI because they can mirror and respond to human behaviour; in addition, it is not unusual for people to feel intimidated by the sheer size, presence and power of a horse – this is why horses can become effective metaphors for humans dealing with challenging life circumstances. Therapeutic horsemanship has many benefits and can help people from all kinds of backgrounds, including those that are usually hard to engage. The former racehorses that are cared for at Greatwood may have suffered neglect several years after their retirement from racing; often because they have been passed from owner to owner and have fallen into a downward spiral of neglect. Greatwood uses them as vehicles for teaching, with direct parallels being drawn between the experiences of these horses and the learners attending the courses. This is particularly pertinent to those young people who may have come from the care system and find it difficult to trust or respect others; as well as engaging in nurturing, caring relationships. In Wiltshire, 33.3% of care leavers are NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training), compared with 13% of all young people in the UK (Wiltshire Uncovered Report 2014).
Primary School Programmes for learners aged 5-11 years
HORSE POWER
- 6 weeks
- 1 hour session
- Maximum group size 8
- From £190 per learner
Horse Power is a life skills and emotional literacy programme, developed at Greatwood for young people with specific educational and learning needs. Students have the opportunity to develop social and communication skills and to increase their self-esteem through interaction with small animals and rescued ex-race horses. As an education centre we link the programmes to the National Curriculum and liaise closely with education services to ensure that our work is complementary to the students’ needs.
HORSE POWER PLUS AND HORSE POWER EXTRA
Horse Power Plus is a 6 week programme designed for pupils who will benefit from a one to one approach, or to assist the transition back into main stream classroom education.
This can be followed by Horse Power Extra for a further 6 weeks, which builds on skills learnt in Horse Power Plus. Links are made to National Curriculum learning, with the golden thread running through the programme being the development of emotional literacy.
Should provision continue after this 12-week period, the Greatwood Education team work closely with school staff or parents to set specific outcomes that are measurable and matched to the needs of the individual.
- Minumum booking of 6 sessions
- 1 hour session
- One to One Sessions
- £56 per hour
Secondary School Programmes for learners aged 11-16 years
DEVELOPING CONFIDENCE WORKING WITH ANIMALS
- 10 weeks
- 2 hour sessions
- Maximum group size 8
- From £300 per learner
- NOCN accredited programme
- 3 Units
NOCN unit accreditation for Developing Confidence in Working with Animals - 3 credits towards a Level 1 Qualification in Skills for Employment, Training and Personal Development. Secondary aged students completing this course have the opportunity to build on their confidence whilst working with Thoroughbred horses and a variety of small animals. They will cover topics ranging from following health and safety rules, to understanding the natural behaviour of animals and how to recognise them. An Individual Learning Plan is also created for each learner in order to monitor the development of key transferrable skills, such as communication, working with others and managing emotions over the length of the programme.
GREATWOOD VOLUNTEERING DAYS
- Ages 14 years and older
- 2hr sessions
- £20 per person
Greatwood welcomes volunteers of ages 14 and upwards and we offer a volunteer training day for those who wish to work with our animals. Once candidates have completed our training day they are then free to offer their time to assist in the care of the animals and the general maintenance of the Greatwood facilities.
See Diary Dates for our next training day.
16 Plus Programmes
GET GOING
- 5 days
- 5 hour sessions
- Maximum group size 12
- Fully funded
1st4Sport Entry Level 2 Award in ‘Assisting with Basic Care of Horses’
Aiming to help combat the rise in unemployment amongst young adults, this innovative programme’s objectives are to provide students with a nationally recognised accredited qualification in basic horse care (5 credits). This will enable them to progress further in the equine industry or put them onto the path to further learning and will develop key workplace skills such as motivation and confidence. This course is aimed at 16 – 24 year olds. Learners in year 11 may be eligible for our Get Going Programme.
Functional Maths and English
Greatwood is able to offer Functional Maths and English in a contextualised environment. Entry Level to Level 2 initial assessment, diagnostics, and learning resources with qualified tutors to improve essential knowledge in weak areas to enable learners to improve these work related skills and achieve exams in Functional Skills at the required level.
Unfortunately with energy tariffs increasing we are afraid that we have had to pass on a small percentage of these rising costs to our services users. As such there has been a modest increase in pricing for our educational programmes. Thank you for your understanding.