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Fortune College has on average 32 students. Roughly made up of one third male and two thirds female. Almost all of our students will be fully residential with a few day students and the occasional school release student.

All of our students will have learning needs and mostly hold an EHC plan (they will need this for Local Authority funding). Students have a variety of learning disabilities which include: Autism (about 1/3 in average of our students are on the autistic spectrum), Prader-Willi Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, ADHD, Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, PTSD, Complex PTSD, Downs Syndrome, Developmental Delay, Attachment Disorder, Speech and Language Difficulties, Selective Mutism, Epilepsy, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, Anxiety, Sensory Processing Disorders. However, all our students are individuals, what brings them together is their interest in horses.

Most student come to us either straight from school at 16 or 19, but we also have students starting in their 20’s.

Fortune College focuses on our student’s motivation with the horse, not their starting equine ability. Some of our students will have not had the opportunity to be around horses and may not have ridden, while others may have their own horse and have been riding in competitions

Most of our Literacy and Numeracy is taught on a one to one basis with their Functional skills tutor and within the general timetable onthe yard and in the community, so we do not have a starting level for the course. Most of our students are working at Entry Level in English and Maths or at level 1 or 2 in English or Maths. Some of our students may have passed GCSE’s and in some areas may have attached ‘A’ levels, but the majority are below or at a low GCSE level.

A good number of our students will struggle with their social skills and many may not have experienced being part of a friendship group. We work often with the horses body language to each other, to us and how we respond to each other. This is taught on the yard, in the residence and out in the community. Our students also participate in ‘talkabout sessions’, group meetings and most importantly, they work alongside other students on the yard in their working group and in mounted sessions. This allows them many natural opportunities to practice social skills.

The Further Education Through Horsesmastership (FETH) Course is a work based course so our students need to be mobile. As a rough measure, our students need to be able to walk across the yard surface unaided and move away from the horse at reasonable speed if required.

This all resolves around safety with the horse and the frequency of the condition. This is viewed on an individual basis. If a young person is likely to drop when working around or on a horse then unfortunately we cannot accept them onto the course. If they have an aura which allows them time to exit the situation and the social/mental ability to convey this, then we may be able to manage this situation. Any overnight specialist medical care required must be provided directly through the Local Authority.

It may be, depending on the size of the rodding. This can be discussed on an individual basis and will likely involve discussion between our physiotherapist and your young person’s consultant. We do have a number of students who follow the programme and ride with their spinal rod without any issue.

We work in yards not classes! Our students are allotted to a group. First and second students are mixed togetherwhere as our third year students are grouped together. The first and second year groups are usually between 5 and 8 students. Each group is responsible for a yard of horses which include the daily routine for the horse and everything involved with looking after a horse. A student may look after one horse one their own for a week or two, or work with another student to look after a horse. Each group consists of the Group Leader, Functional Skills tutor and Transition guide. There are also teaching assistants supporting the group and/or individuals depending on needs.

Very little! We embed the learning of literacy, numeracy, life skills and social skills in the routine of the day on the yard, in the residence and when out in the community. However sometimes it is required for our students to sit down at a computer. Particularly if they are working towards Maths or English GCSE. But computers are moveable and a ‘classroom’ may be straw bales in the haybarn!

We commonly enter our students in the more practical related functional skills NOCN English, Maths and ICT at entry level and level 1 and 2. Some will work Maths or English GCSE’s

For the career based qualifications we use the British Horse Society (BHS) qualifications Work Based Diploma and the Pathway qualifications. We also use the BHS Challenge Awards as a stepping stone onto the career based qualifications.

All the first year students start off in the larger residence of Wootton Hall Farm which is about 10 minutes’ drive from the main yard. So roughly there are about 18 – 25 student living there at one time. Each student has their own room. Some with ensuite and other in corridors with shared bathrooms. Corridors are single sex, other than the corridor with ensuite rooms. There are many communal areas and in an evening there are a number of groups and activates. Some students will be in a cooking group, others out at the gym, swimming or pub group, so the students are not ‘around’ eachother all the time. There are horses on site at Wootton to access if necessary, but the students do not look after these horses in general. On average there will be 7 staff on duty from 7am until the students go up to the yard for 9am (this will vary relating to student ability and funding). The same amount of staff in the evening from when the students return at 4.30 until 10o/c pm. Overnight there are two sleeping staff on duty.

Robert House is on the site of the main yard and holds up to 7 students, all individual rooms with ensuite. It is usually third and some second year students who live here. These students are often involved with getting the horses in before breakfast and checking stable kept horses at 9 pm. There are usually two staff, including overnight, in Robert house when students are in residence.

Within the weekly timetable students spend a day relating to money management, independent travel and shopping. This helps students familiarise themselves around the area. Evening activities often involve travelling in the local areas and participating in mainstream sports classes. Students participate in work experience in local businesses.

Other involvement may be through operating water stations at a local running event, community litter picks/village green tidy, manning a table as a tack sale, manning an information desk at a careers event. Some students have also been involved in local supported environmental projects.

Part of the FETH Course programme involves Physiotherapist/ Physio assistant who work with our students in mounted session, vaulting and on the ground. We also have in house Learning Disability and registered Nurse and Mental Health Practitioner. So some counselling and healthcare teaching will be amalgamated within the course. External Speech and Language therapists join us twice a week. We have an external OT who comes into college to provide assessments and programme updates.

FCRT request involvement from professionals on an individual basis to meet specific identified needs. FCRT are often involved with Psychiatry, Psychology, Occupational Therapy, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Bereavement Counselling, and Art Therapy. Speech and Language therapy can either be delivered in house using the ‘talkabout ‘programme, or bought in using professionals.

Talkabout is a system for teaching social skills in a structured way following a hierarchy. These skills need to be taught/learnt in this specific order to ensure the learners have the building blocks in place to support the higher level skills that follow. E.g teaching relationship skills to someone with low self esteem would likely fail or take a very long time. Low self esteem reduces the ability to learn and the person is likely to seek inappropriate relationships or avoid interactions with others all together.

Speech and Language therapist also see some students on a n individual bases.

We have a regularPhysiotherapist and assistant rather than OT’s due to the physiotherapist profession having their own equine related charter. An Occupational Therapist sees students only for assessment to review programme which our Physiotherapist Assistant can then oversee. The course is also OT, practical based so many general OT goals will be addressed naturally within the course when grooming, riding, small motor work such as opening bolts, cleaning tack. Some EHC plan OT goals will be not be relevant as they are focused on classroom based learning i.e. ‘using a movement cushion when seated’.

Fortune College is focused on teaching young people with learning difficulties rather than those with mental health difficulties, although a good number of learning difficulties will involve mental health issuesor the individuals would have early trauma/negative experiences which is why we employ a mental health nurse within our staff team. Some of our students may self-harm on a surface level. Fortune College cannot take students with acute mental health issues.

Many of our students will display some challenging behaviour at various times. Generally our students are not commonly abusive or hit out at people. We cannot take students who have acute behaviour needs. If they need to be restrained at times we are not the correct placement for them. We do not operate locked down accommodation provision.

Yes.

he group staff working closely with the students will contain a Group Leader with teaching, and usually both care and equine qualifications, an LNC with teaching qualifications often focused on functional skills, other staff will have a variety of teaching, teaching assistant qualifications, Care qualifications level 2 or 3, equine qualifications in various levels, registered Mental Health & Disability Nurses, counselling qualifications and Physiotherapy.

What we do not do is have separate teaching from the residential staff. Most of our staff work with the students in more than one location. For example a staff member may be working with a student in the afternoon studying how two horses are behaving towards each other when out in the field, then work with that students in the residence

Yes. We use a range of work experience providers from local nurseries,tea shops, pet shops andother equine or small farm providers. Having been on the FETH Course, not all students will be able or want to work with horses, so we encourage other interests of work.

Most of our students end up in supported living placements. It is not unusual for students who have formed a friendship group and in this group have found a supported living organisation to provide the care they need within the same household. Other students may always need residential care due to their individual needs. Other students can live independently with minimal support.

Some of our students will go onto mainstream college courses, some full time paid employment, some have managed daytime occupation packages within their supported living placements.

In a student impact study produced by an independent company completed in 2019 (but still relevant) in the areas of family and community wellbeing and financial wellbeing it was noted that:

• 22% of former students currently partake in paid work. This compares to a national average of 5.5%.

• 71% of parents believe their child is less financially dependent on the family as a result of attending Fortune College.

• 43% of parents believe their child is more able to manage their money after graduating Fortune College.

• 50% of carers said that they were able to gain employment due to their children attending Fortune College.

• 65% of working parents surveyed had seen career progression they felt would not have been possible without the Fortune College’s placement.

• 80% parents believe their children have a better understanding of a healthy diet after graduating Fortune College.

• 90% former students with poor to average physical health saw an improvement over their time at Fortune College.

• Over 80% of carers seeking help for mental health and anxiety support reported a decline in anxiety and stress related visits to the GP due to Fortune College‘s intervention.

• 76% former students still partake in social activities.

• 80% parents who ranked their relationship with their child between poor and average prior to entering Fortune College saw an improvement in their relationships after graduation.

• 17% families believed they would have experienced a family breakdown if their child had not attended Fortune College.

• 90% parents who reported sibling relationships between poor and average prior to entering Fortune College saw an improvement after graduation.

• 43% of former students are in voluntary work.

• 85% of students go on to live independently of their families, and for those that stay at home it is often a choice. Just 15% of former students go into full time residential care and more than half go into supported living

After an initial visit, we need a young person to ask for the application forms and apply for the course before we can run with a day assessment, moving onto a residential assessment before being in a place to offer a placement on the FETH Course. However, if required we can offer a placement through a paper based assessment, this is dictated through a Local Authority consultation period.

We mostly start students in September but occasionally take student throughout the year for various reasons, such as a tribunal decision, late funding agreement or another placement has proven unsuitable at the beginning of the academic year.