​The Farm offers an alternative provision programme, where young people can access the farm to learn in a different environment, improve their self confidence, and increase wellbeing. This is run for young people who are struggling in mainstream school, have special educational needs, are out of education, or who have mental health challenges. This opportunity enables young people to build their confidence, and work on essential life skills such as teamwork, work to get back into school, and get valuable work experience. 

Some examples of what we currently offer in our Alternative Provision Programme is lottery funded visits to the farm for the local pre - school, with some of the children struggling with the new social environments after the covid-19 lockdowns, and the farm offering a place for everyone to meet the animals, create leaf art, and be outdoors. This massively helps with social interactions and generally supports the mental wellbeing of the children. Other examples include a 1-2-1 programme, where we have young people with EHCP's accessing the farm because of their social and emotional health. 

As well as this, we have a group of students from the local Academy who are struggling in mainstream school, and are offered the opportunity of having their lessons with a tutor on site, as well as animal interactions, which boosts confidence. 

Our alternative provision is flexible and holistic, and we are happy to have a chat about what is required. 

Our alternative provision is quality assured through Southampton City Council - making sure we are offering the best quality provision for the young people in the city. 

All alternative provision bookings / queries need to be emailed to [email protected] as well as via the referral form below. 

Please see below more information on our popular 1-2-1 alternative provision:

​One-to-One sessions at Southampton City Farm offer an opportunity for personalised education experience for all abilities, with a particular focus on allowing young people to access learning who might otherwise struggle in the classroom. Our staff are experienced at running sessions that engage and support SEND children or EMH. These 1-2-1 sessions tie directly in with our alternative provision programme.

Sessions are designed to cater for young people's particular needs and interests: anything from a highly practical sessions sweeping out animal enclosures or digging the muck heap, to looking in detail at animal care (for example, learning how to check the temperatures of vivariums) .

The farm strives to run 1-2-1's holistically, with the young persons goals and aspirations at the centre of the planning for each session. This personal experience enables growth in confidence and social skills, as well as growing interest in new areas!

Please check out our Alternative Provision booklet below for more information:

    Please contact us via email, or using the form below:

​Terms and Conditions of placement: 
  • Support: all young people to be accompanied by an adult or staff support on the farm. 
  • Risk Assessment: we can send risk assessments out to all 1-2-1s, along with H&S info for the farm. 
  • We require risk assessments from any students who meet certain criteria. Please send them to [email protected] 
  • We review our placements weekly, looking at feedback from both the young person, carer, support, parent, or our own staff. We strive to always be open and honest with our attendees, meaning we may re-evaluate the placements if certain areas become a challenge. 
  • We can work in consultation with young people's EHCPs and personal goals 
  • We are flexible to students' interests and needs and will keep a basic record of what their goals and aspirations are
  • We don't create long term schemes of work for young people but working in line with their goals and aspirations we can set basic targets and areas of the farm to focus on 
  • The length of the placement can be discussed after submission of this application. We do prioritise placements that are longer term.
  • We are happy to take bulk bookings, or singular bookings. 
  • 1-2-1's are open to individuals, or for educational referrals. 
  • Although we aim for staffing to be consistent each week, staffing may change sometimes as illness/annual leave happens. 
  • The farms behavioural policy, and general risk assessment is attached to the website. Please read through this before submitting to ensure the 1-2-1 is appropriate in a farm setting. 
  • Prices for sessions are based on the amount of support, planning time, and skill level we put into the 1-2-1 sessions. The price is currently £80 an hour. 
Our alternative provision is quality assured through Southampton City Council - making sure we are offering the best quality provision for the young people in the city.