In the last 12 months we have broadened our programme and introduced new courses which take place during the children’s second hour at Ride High each week. Our new courses are allowing us to support the development of additional skills and to appeal to a wider range of children and young people, and they’re proving an enriching extension to our core programme. Three new courses launched so far are:
Science– for some of our younger members, supported by a visiting expert, Dr Flinn, has seen the children taking part in all sorts of exciting experiments, including making fizz-pop rockets to illustrate effervescence, chemical painting; using colours to detect acids and alkalis, and building and launching water filled rockets to explore aerodynamics and air pressure.
Portfolio– for teenagers who are not engaged at school. They have been using their time in the clubroom to produce a portfolio – building on their learning from their practical sessions with the horses. They complete eight badges: Perfect Paddock, Grooming, Tack cleaning, Mucking out, Horse clothing, Points of the horse, Feeding and Care of the foot. For these young people, participation in the programme is providing them with a formal record of their learning representing their commitment, attendance and achievement – for themselves but also for potential employers.
Nature– the latest addition where younger members have been learning about nature, wildlife and conservation in a fun way. They’ve been creating habitats for lots of ‘little’ visitors to Ride High; building hedgehog houses, butterfly bars, bumblebee nests and bird feeders. They’ve also made footprint tunnels to record the tracks of animals visiting the Ride High garden and hidden a little camera in the garden to help identify them! Time spent outside in nature is so important for the children’s wellbeing. It has given them an appreciation of their surroundings and encouraged them to play an active role in taking care of their environment.
