Sttebs Care Farm enhances offering with new courses, animals, and facilities

Wollaston-based alternative provision and therapeutic learning hub, Sttebs Care Farm, continues to grow — and not just in numbers. The specialist care farm, renowned across Northamptonshire for providing meaningful education outside of mainstream settings, is thrilled to announce a significant expansion to both its educational offering and animal family.

As of September 2025, Sttebs is officially delivering City & Guilds Level 2 in Animal Care, building on its already popular accredited vocational qualifications. The new course strengthens its mission to offer flexible, bespoke learning pathways for individuals of all abilities — whether referred through schools, local authorities, or other support services.

“It’s great to be able to offer bespoke, City & Guilds-accredited vocational courses tailored to each learner. Our homely farm setting provides a nurturing, multi-sensory learning environment where students build skills, confidence, and independence,” explains Farm Manager Natalia Betts.

“Learning is hands-on, structured, and supported by qualified teachers and dedicated Learning Support Staff, and we adapt each course to suit the individual. Set on a peaceful small farm with ponies, pygmy goats, alpacas, sheep, and much more — learning here feels like home,” she adds.

The farm has also welcomed a variety of exciting new animals, including meerkats, porcupines, skunks, more ponies, and a growing reptile collection – creating even more diverse and engaging opportunities for learners to explore animal care and behaviour in a real-world setting.

To support this growth, Sttebs has expanded its team of staff and teaching professionals, and invested in new, purpose-built classrooms. This enables the farm to offer more places to prospective learners while maintaining small group sizes and the 1:3 staff-to-student ratio that defines its success.

Sttebs continues to deliver a wide range of qualifications through AQA and City & Guilds, including functional skills in Maths and English, as well as in Animal Care, Horticulture, and Countryside & Wildlife Management — all tailored to individual learning styles and supported by the changing seasons of the farm.

Set in tranquil rural surroundings, the care farm provides much more than a classroom alternative — it’s a place where learners can build life skills, friendships, resilience, and self-esteem through positive interactions with animals, nature, and one another.

Whether planting seeds in the garden, bottle-feeding lambs in spring, or preparing for an apprenticeship through hands-on vocational work, each learner is given the space and support they need to succeed at their own pace.