Riverside Education is a specialist independent school based in Stechford Birmingham, which provides bespoke alternative education to young people aged 14-to-19 who are affected by complex neurological and psychological difficulties. These include Asperger’s Syndrome, Autistic Spectrum Disorders, behavioural, emotional, and social difficulties, anxiety and mental health disorders such as personality disorder, eating disorders and OCD, and also specific learning difficulties including Dyslexia, Dyspraxia/DCD, Dyscalculia, ADD and ADHD.
As part of a new initiative, Riverside Education has recently acquired a small farm and stables in Kings Norton, Birmingham. The farm will enable disaffected and SEND students to access Riverside Education’s Work-Based Learning Programme [WBLP] which will provide unique opportunities for students to gain ‘real life’ work experience in an agricultural setting. Students will be able to access a range of land-based activities as well as nationally recognised qualifications including Animal Care, Equine and Horticulture. The therapeutic environment will also work to support and develop the students’ social and emotional wellbeing.
Some Riverside Education students will be working at the farm as paid employees and volunteers to gain working experience which will help increase their chances of future employment. Students will be able to get involved in a range of daily farm activities such as feeding the animals on site, conducting health and wellbeing checks, animal training, sourcing eggs, cleaning and maintaining the animal habitats, paddocks and grounds, as well as carrying out basic maintenance and repair work.
The WBLP has been specifically designed by the Headteacher, Dr Abide Zenenga and the Director of Education Jodie McCracken. The programme will work to support young people who have suffered social and emotional trauma, and whom will benefit from working in an outdoor environment as well as developing work related and essential life skills such as independence, resilience, good timekeeping, responsibility and effective communication. The farm programme is operationally managed by Jade Richardson, Riverside Education’s Work-Based Learning Coordinator who works with her specialist team to support and develop young people with SEND.
Dr Abide Zenenga, Headteacher at Riverside Education, commented: “The Riverside Education Work-Based Learning Programme provides disaffected young people with new and exciting opportunities to acquire competencies such as positive work attitudes and other employability and transferable skills by actively working on our school farm. This unique programme has been designed to help remove social and emotional barriers faced by many young people today. It involves young people actively participating on a working farm engaging in ‘real life’ farm-based activities. The programme is also designed to improve young people’s social, emotional, health and wellbeing through connecting with animals and nature.”
