Qualifications & Alternative provision

Our Provision

What we offer

Our Alternative Provision offers a hands-on, outdoor learning environment where young people can reconnect with education through animals, nature, practical skills, and meaningful experiences. We provide a safe, supportive space that encourages personal growth, emotional wellbeing, confidence, and independence while developing valuable life and vocational skills.

Learning Through Animals and Nature

Working closely with animals helps young people develop patience, empathy, responsibility, and emotional regulation. Time spent outdoors and around animals has a calming effect that can reduce anxiety, improve mental health, and support emotional wellbeing.

Learners take part in activities such as:

Grooming and caring for the horse
Feeding and handling animals safely
Cleaning and maintaining animal areas
Observing and learning about bee hives and pollination
Understanding animal welfare and daily care routines

These experiences help build trust, confidence, self-esteem, and communication skills. Many young people who struggle in traditional classroom settings thrive when learning in a practical, outdoor environment where they can feel valued, capable, and successful.

Growing Food and Understanding the Environment

Learners are actively involved in growing their own food, helping them understand where food comes from and the importance of healthy, sustainable living.

Activities include:

Planting, watering, and maintaining crops
Learning about seasons and plant growth
Understanding the food chain and ecosystems
Exploring the role of bees and pollinators in food production
Harvesting and preparing produce

This encourages responsibility, teamwork, patience, and a sense of achievement. Watching something grow from seed to harvest helps develop pride, resilience, and a connection with nature.

Woodworking and Practical Skills

We also offer practical woodworking sessions where learners help design and build shelters and enrichment areas for the animals. These sessions develop both vocational and academic skills in a real-life context.

Young people learn:

Measuring and accurate marking
Safe use of tools and equipment
Problem solving and planning
Construction and teamwork skills
The importance of precision and safety

Woodworking promotes concentration, perseverance, confidence, and independence while giving learners a tangible sense of accomplishment through creating something useful and meaningful.

Building Confidence and Life Skills

Our programme is designed to support the whole young person, not just academic progress. Through outdoor learning and practical activities, learners develop:

Confidence and self-esteem
Emotional resilience
Communication and social skills
Independence and responsibility
Teamwork and respect for others
Positive risk taking
Improved mental health and wellbeing

Being outdoors, active, and engaged in purposeful activities helps many young people regulate emotions, reduce stress, and improve focus. The nurturing environment allows them to experience success at their own pace and rediscover a positive relationship with learning.

A Different Approach to Education

We recognise that every young person learns differently. Our provision offers an alternative approach that is engaging, therapeutic, practical, and personalised. By combining animal care, environmental education, food growing, and hands-on construction skills, we create opportunities for learners to thrive both personally and educationally.

The Benefits

The benefits of learning outside is a well researched topic and findings claim that people who spend time in the outdoors doing physical work have more positive mental health and a drive to succeed.

Completing physically active jobs to benefit health and fitness.
Undertaking meaningful jobs within a working piece of land.
Developing interaction and social skills.
Developing employability skills in animal care, horticulture and ground care that can support future prospects.

The provision is available all through term time between the hours of 10am until 2pm. Half days are also available subject to availability.

Taster sessions and integration meetings are highly recommended to establish the provision’s suitability for the individual and to formulate their timetable.

Visitors to the land receive personalised targets to work towards and receive a certificate of achievement when the module is complete.

Qualifications

@theland offers a diverse range of personalized courses to cater to everyone's unique learning style. We believe that education should not be one-size-fits-all and that everyone has their own path to success. That is why we offer the following opportunities that focus on gaining a wide variety of skills through meaningful activities. The areas of learning include;

Animal care
Ground maintenance and conservation
Horticulture and gardening
Farming and agriculture
Environment and sustainability
A range of photography, woodwork, cooking, and art
Mindfulness and wellbeing

@theland also focuses on social and emotional skills especially for those with SEMH, by providing time spent with the animals and the outdoors coupled with projects to build self-esteem and confidence.

OCR- GCSE Food Preparation & Nutrition

In collaboration with English Maths Science Tuition and Examination Centre & Tutors and Exams.

Courses are available from September to June. Aged 14+
Starting from £500 with an additional cost to exam centre (fees for the exam found here)
Practical lessons will be held at Heart of England School, Balsall Common, CV7 7FW.
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