Kings Oak Academy, Zoe
Zoe is the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead at Kings Oak Academy, Kingswood. She has responsibility for safeguarding and pastoral care throughout the school, and leads on Alternative Learning Provisions. Zoe first commissioned HorseWorld three years ago when looking for an alternative provision for a child who had expressed an interest in animal care. She has since placed eight children between the ages of 12 and 14 on the Discovery Programme.
Zoe said...
"After a discussion in our student support group, we’ll make a referral for the HorseWorld Discovery Programme for children who are either educated off-site or as part of a bespoke supportive programme. They don’t need to have an Education Health and Care Plan for us to make a referral. I think it's been really positive. Some of our students start really nervous or haven’t experienced much of the outdoors and green spaces or animal care. In terms of building confidence, it has been very positive.
"Our relationship with the Discovery Programme started thanks to the impact it had on one particular 12-year-old child we referred. We had significant concerns and at the time they were being educated off-site. The whole experience was really positive for them. It didn’t matter to us if they were fully engaged or not, but by being taken somewhere different and experiencing a calm atmosphere - we saw amazing results. Working with quiet and gentle horses promoted a feeling of safety.
"After we’ve placed a student, we collect all the feedback and look at the impact that it’s had. We also look at useful strategies or relationships that they have developed during the programme so we can build on this progress. I'm a massive advocate for the programme being extended and available for more children."
