Since 2015 and supported financially by The Racing Foundation HEROS has been working on its education programmes. We are now gaining huge recognition in the local community as a first class “Alternative Provision”. We offer placements for children who are not thriving in the mainstream school environment and are better suited to education outside the mainstream system.

When students have completed their secondary education, they can progress on to one of our post 16 courses. For students with EHCPs we can offer a Level 1 and Level 2 Diploma in Horse Care, in partnership with our training provider KEITS. For students without an EHCP, we offer a six-month Traineeship and/or an Apprenticeship, depending on the level of experience and skill of the student. Alongside our post 16 courses, we can deliver Functional Skills Maths and English.

The aims are to get these young people into the workplace with the confidence to fulfil their potential. We encourage the students to take up employment in the racing industry but would support whatever route they are interested in. HEROS’ wonderful horses help all our students, including children and adults with Special Educational Needs (SEN), to gain the necessary attributes to take them on to an exciting future.

As part of our courses, we offer mentoring. Within our post 16 offer we also offer life skills. This includes, cooking on a budget, eating a healthy diet; managing your money; working as part of a team, mindfulness and dealing with conflict.