Pets on the Green
Pets on the Green
Specialist 1:1 AAI programmes for children with autism, anxiety, EBSNA, PDA and SEMH — using real animals to support emotional regulation, confidence, social development and curriculum-linked learning. EHCP Section F commissionable.
Not a petting session. Not talk therapy. A specialist educational provision that works when nothing else has.
If your child can't access school, tuition, or conventional provision — and emotional regulation is the prerequisite for learning — this is designed for them.
Animal-Assisted Intervention uses facilitated interaction with animals to support emotional regulation, learning readiness, confidence and social development.
Unlike talking therapies, AAI is experiential and interactive. Animals provide a calming, non-judgmental presence that helps children engage in ways they often can't in traditional settings. Sessions are forward-focused and solution-oriented — not exploring past trauma.
This is intentional educational methodology, not incidental learning. It is structured, documented, outcome-driven and EHCP-aligned.
Our purpose-built sensory pod is designed to help children regulate before, during, and after sessions. With fibre optic star lights, a glitter panel, botanical surroundings and soft textures — it's a jungle-themed retreat where children can decompress and feel safe.
This calming environment is proving to have a real, measurable impact. We have children who have been out of school for years who now regularly attend sessions, sit with Ciera, and — when they're ready — work through worksheets and structured activities. That progress starts here, in a space that feels nothing like a classroom.
Regulation is the prerequisite for learning. The sensory pod gives children the tools to get there on their own terms.
When I was 14, my EHCP recorded what I’d said was important to me. Near the top was this:
“Animals are important to me, especially dogs, fish and dolphins, because animals don’t judge me.”
At that point I couldn’t get into school. I was autistic and undiagnosed, my anxiety was severe, and everything that was meant to help required me to talk to someone about it. Animals didn’t. They asked nothing of me and didn’t need me to explain myself.
I also wrote that I wanted to be around adults who understood. That’s the part I think about most now, because that’s the job.
Pets on the Green is the place I needed and couldn’t find.
Ciera, Founder
A child who isn’t regulated can’t learn, and no amount of good planning changes that. So we start with the animals and the room, not with objectives.
Sessions begin slowly. There’s no expectation to speak, to join in, or to touch anything. A child can sit with the tortoise and say nothing for the first three weeks, and that isn’t a failed session — that’s the work. Animals ask nothing of you, don’t mind if you get it wrong, and don’t need eye contact. For a lot of the children we see, that makes this the first place all week where nothing is being asked of them.
Once a child is regulated and knows what to expect, everything else becomes possible.
Every child arrives with different interests, different triggers and different things they’re good at. No two programmes look the same.
We work with the child, the family and the school to build something that fits — and we change it when it isn’t working, rather than waiting for the child to adapt to us. That might mean a session that’s mostly husbandry and very little talking. It might mean building up from watching, to holding, to helping. It might mean the same animal every week for a term because that’s what safety looks like for that child.
The consistency matters more than the variety. Same practitioner, same room, same animals, same shape to the session.
Children who’ve stopped engaging with school haven’t stopped being curious — they’ve stopped being curious in front of adults.
Animals are an unusually good route back, because the interest is genuine and the learning follows naturally. A child who wants to know what a bearded dragon eats has walked into biology, measurement, research and record-keeping without any of it being announced.
An interest in reptiles opens up habitats, climate, adaptation, food chains and temperature. Caring for an animal brings in weighing, timing, routine and responsibility. Hedgehog breeding covers genetics, record-keeping and ethics. Writing an animal’s care sheet is writing for a real purpose, for a real reader.
We’re mindful of the National Curriculum throughout, because keeping future options open matters — but we start with what the child actually wants to know.
For some children the goal is a return to school. For others it’s a qualification, a portfolio, or being able to walk into an unfamiliar room. All of those count.
Alongside any academic outcome, we track four things:
Progress in these areas is recorded session by session, in language a parent can actually read, and written to be usable in EHCP reviews and annual reviews.
We’re not a school and we’re not therapy. We’re a regulated, structured provision where animals do the work that talking often can’t, delivered by a Level 3 qualified practitioner in a licensed setting.
For a child who can’t currently manage a classroom, that can be the thing that starts everything else moving again.
Pets on the Green delivers structured animal-assisted intervention for children and young people who aren’t managing in mainstream settings — SEMH needs, anxiety, autism and neurodivergent profiles, ADHD, and emotionally based school avoidance.
Every referral is considered individually. We work with the school, the local authority, the family and anyone else around the child so there’s one plan rather than four.
Sessions are one to one with Ciera, or in small groups arranged by the school or local authority. What we’re working towards is agreed at the start and written down: emotional regulation, confidence, communication, being able to be around other people, or simply being somewhere all week where nothing goes wrong.
The work is practical. Feeding, handling, cleaning, observing, deciding whether an animal wants to come out today. Real jobs with real consequences, in a room where nobody is watching to see if you fail.
Please note: we are not an Ofsted-registered school and cannot provide full-time education. We are a provision service that works alongside whatever else is in place. Every child must remain on a school roll.
Seventy-plus animals across nine species groups, all licensed under our Animal Activities Licence and all chosen because they genuinely enjoy meeting people.
Most were hand-reared here. A few came as rescues and found they liked the work.
Not every animal is handled, and that’s deliberate. Our iguana is watch-only — he’s young, still skittish, and tail-whips when nervous, so only Ciera handles him and his comfort comes first. Our leachianus gecko comes out at the centre but doesn’t travel. One of our terrapins lives quietly behind the scenes.
Knowing which animals want to be held and which don’t is part of what children learn here.
We work with schools, local authorities, alternative provision settings, care homes and families directly.
What we are: a licensed, insured provider of structured animal-assisted intervention and animal-based sessions, delivered by a Level 3 qualified practitioner. Our sessions are commissioned by schools and local authorities as part of alternative provision and EHCP packages.
Worth saying plainly, because we get asked:
Being clear about that matters, because it means everyone knows what they’re commissioning.
Schools, local authorities, alternative provision settings and families directly, across Surrey and the surrounding area.
For our SEND and AAI work, that includes but isn’t limited to autism and neurodivergent profiles, ADHD, anxiety, SEMH needs, emotionally based school avoidance, and children waiting on assessments.
Sessions are delivered by Ciera personally — the same practitioner, the same room, the same animals, every week. For a child whose trust has been worn down, that consistency is the mechanism, not a detail.
We work alongside each child’s wider network — school, family, and any professionals involved — so everyone can see the same progress.
No diagnosis or referral is needed to book a private encounter. Plenty of families come here long before anyone has assessed anything.
We’re one room and a small team, so we have to be honest about our limits.
Allergies. The animal room contains hay, bedding, fur and dander. It cannot be made allergen-free. If anyone in the group has a significant allergy, tell us before booking so we can talk honestly about whether this will work.
Spaces are limited and there may be a waiting list.
If we don’t think we’re the right fit for someone, we’ll say so. That’s more useful than taking a booking and hoping.
Our risk assessments are published in full, and our Animal Activities Licence, public and employer’s liability insurance certificates and DBS confirmation are sent on request — usually the same working day. We’re VAT registered, a registered limited company, and can invoice against a purchase order.
No two children arrive the same way, and there’s no single route in. We work with families, schools, local authorities and other professionals to find the one that fits. There are four, and an EOTAS package can draw on more than one of them:
Schools commission sessions to sit alongside a pupil’s existing education, or as an alternative where a child isn’t currently accessing school at all.
We work with the school to build something around the individual pupil — session structure, animals, pace, and what progress looks like. You get written records after every session and a summary you can use in reviews.
We welcome enquiries from local authorities looking for personalised provision for children with complex needs.
Pets on the Green Ltd is VAT registered, a registered limited company, and can invoice against a purchase order on standard terms. Our risk assessments are published in full, and our Animal Activities Licence, insurance certificates and safeguarding policy are sent on request — usually the same working day.
Animal-assisted intervention can be specified in Section F of an EHCP, and many families use a personal budget to fund sessions.
We know the process from both sides. Ciera had an EHCP herself, and now writes the supporting evidence families need for applications, reviews and appeals — structured records, session-by-session progress against outcomes, and reports written in language a panel can actually use.
If you’re not sure whether this is a route that would work for you, ask. We’ll give you an honest answer, including if the answer is no.
See the funding routes and the law behind each one, including EOTAS — Education Otherwise Than At School — where a local authority funds provision outside a school. Sessions here can form part of an EOTAS package, though we cannot be the whole of one.
Families are welcome to book directly.
When a child has stopped coping with school, the thing that changes it is rarely a new strategy. It’s one adult who is the same every week and doesn’t give up.
Every AAI session is delivered by Ciera personally. Same practitioner, same room, same animals, every time — because for a child whose trust has been worn down, consistency isn’t a nice extra, it’s the whole mechanism. A child working with three different people isn’t building a relationship, they’re starting again three times.
Sessions are built around the individual child. Some are mostly husbandry and very little talking. Some are structured tasks with a clear beginning and end. Some are a child sitting with the same animal for six weeks until they’re ready for something else. All of those are legitimate, and all of them are recorded.
Everything we do runs through 70 animals across nine species groups, and the learning follows the interest rather than the other way round.
Feeding and weighing brings in measurement, routine and record-keeping. Habitats bring in climate, geography and adaptation. Writing a care sheet is writing for a real reader with a real purpose. Watching an animal you know well is observation, inference and evidence — the same skills as science, learned somewhere they don’t feel like school.
A child who won’t write a paragraph about their weekend will write half a page about why the bearded dragon needs UVB.
A calm, enclosed, low-arousal space with a gentle animal, and nothing being asked of anyone.
For some children this is where every session starts. For a few, it’s where every session happens for a long while, and that’s fine. It exists because we know that a child who is dysregulated cannot learn, and telling them to calm down has never once worked.
Small groups are arranged by the school or the local authority — we don’t put groups together ourselves. You tell us who’s coming and we build the session around them.
£85 per child per hour, excluding VAT.
That’s less per child than one-to-one, and the reason is time rather than effort. Everything else stays the same. Every child in the group still needs their own resources and their own animals suited to them. Every child still gets their own progress records, their own reports, their own review meetings and their own summaries. If we’re supporting a fresh application or a reassessment, that’s written per child too — I write those myself.
Larger groups also need more staff on the floor, not fewer, because the children who benefit most from this are the ones who need an adult close by.
So the discount reflects the hour being shared. It doesn’t reflect the work being shared, because it isn’t.
Records after every session, written in language a parent can actually read, and usable in EHCP reviews and annual reviews.
We communicate with parents, schools and the local authority regularly, so everyone knows what the child has been doing and what’s working. One plan rather than four.
When the weather’s right, sessions move outside.
Outdoor sessions depend on the weather, and always on what’s right for the animals that day.
Pets on the Green is not interchangeable with general animal sessions, group provision, farm-based settings, or generic tutoring.
Sessions are delivered 1:1 with active supervision. Group or shared environments increase sensory load, social demand and dysregulation risk for children with severe anxiety and PDA profiles.
A purpose-built indoor regulation environment — not a farm or barn. No unpredictable noise, weather, or multi-animal movement. Immediate access to regulation tools and carefully selected single-animal interaction.
Learning is embedded through welfare-led routines (prepare → measure → feed → clean → record). This reduces "school-like" demand while delivering measurable outcomes in literacy, numeracy, science and executive functioning.
The trusted practitioner relationship is the access mechanism. Inconsistent staffing and unfamiliar formats increase perceived threat, reducing engagement and attendance. Every AAI session is delivered by Ciera O’Rourke personally — the same practitioner every time, for the whole placement. Alternative provision and AAI placements run at our Warlingham centre, in the same sensory-controlled room each week, unless a one-off session elsewhere is agreed in advance.
Learning is woven into meaningful, welfare-led routines — so it doesn't feel like school, but it delivers measurable educational outcomes.
Grounding, co-regulation and self-regulation in a calm, safe environment
Reciprocal conversation, requests for help, spontaneous topic extension
Pride in completed work, willingness to attempt previously avoided tasks
Sustained engagement of up to 120 minutes, tolerance of adult direction
Increased separation tolerance, regulated with additional adults present
Multi-step routines completed independently, learning generalised to home
| Measure | Baseline (early sessions) | Typical progress (12–16 sessions) |
|---|---|---|
| Separation from parent | 0–10 minutes | 120+ minutes independently |
| Adult-guided engagement | 10–20 minutes | 60–120 minutes per session |
| Transitions tolerated | 1–2 before dysregulation | 4–6 predictable transitions |
| Animal care routine steps | 1–2 with support | 4–5 step sequences independently |
| Structured tasks completed | Minimal or avoided | 1–3 embedded tasks per session |
| Carryover learning beyond sessions | Not observed | Independent learning initiated at home |
Data drawn from tracked sessions with children presenting with EBSNA, ASD, severe anxiety and PDA-consistent profiles. Individual progress will vary.
Every session follows the same supportive pattern so your child always knows what to expect.
Calm transition with clear expectations and optional sensory regulation support. Access to a sensory den for proactive regulation.
Facilitated interaction with carefully selected animals. Activities designed around individual goals — animal care routines embedding curriculum learning.
Literacy, numeracy and science tasks woven into animal care. Structured worksheets, workbooks and flexible recording formats. 1–3 short tasks per session.
Skill-linking between animal interaction and real-world skills. Clear, predictable ending supporting emotional safety and transition.
Section F provision must be specified, quantified, evidenced and reviewable. We provide structured recording, measurable indicators and written reporting suitable for EHCP processes.
Specific reporting requirements can be agreed in advance with the local authority or school.
Copy and adapt for the individual child's EHCP.
[Child's name] will receive specialist 1:1 animal-assisted educational provision delivered by Pets on the Green, Warlingham, Surrey. Provision will be delivered by a named, consistent practitioner (Ciera O'Rourke, Level 3 Award in Animal Assisted Therapy — Oplex Careers, CPD certified) in a low-arousal, sensory-controlled indoor environment.
Provision will be delivered as:
Provision must include:
Provision must be delivered at: Pets on the Green, 4 Redvers Road, Warlingham, Surrey, CR6 9HN.
Rates reflect specialist EHCP-appropriate provision and include all planning, preparation, delivery, documentation and reporting.
I was diagnosed with autism, ADHD, ARFID and severe anxiety. School was impossible — I experienced entrenched school avoidance and eventually received an EHCP, moving to NESCOT's 14–16 provision.
I tried everything. Talking therapies, equine therapy, other interventions — but none of them really worked for me. I didn't want to talk. I felt like no one truly understood what I was going through. The one thing that actually helped was being around animals. They didn't judge me, they didn't ask me questions, and they gave me a reason to show up.
The problem was, there was no provision like Pets on the Green back then. Nothing that combined the animals I loved with the structured support I actually needed. That's what drove me to build this — a place I wish had existed for me, designed for children and young people going through the same pain and frustration I went through.
Seeing the results now is honestly overwhelming. Children who haven't left the house in months are coming through the door, sitting with me, engaging with learning — and their families are telling me it's the first thing that's worked. That drives everything I do, and I want to help as many young people as I can.
Sessions are delivered at our purpose-built facility in Warlingham, Surrey. We accept referrals from across the region.
Don't see your area? Get in touch — we work with local authorities across Surrey, South London, Kent and West Sussex.
Animal-assisted intervention is a structured, goal-directed programme that uses facilitated interaction with animals to support emotional regulation, confidence, social development and learning readiness. It is not a petting session or talk therapy — it is intentional educational methodology delivered by a qualified practitioner.
Yes. Animal-assisted intervention can be specified in EHCP Section F as specialist educational provision. Pets on the Green provides EHCP-aligned programmes that are commissionable by local authorities, schools and alternative provision settings. We provide suggested Section F wording and structured records suitable for EHCP reviews and tribunal bundles.
Our AAI programmes support children with autism spectrum condition (ASC), severe anxiety, emotionally based school non-attendance (EBSNA), social emotional and mental health needs (SEMH), PDA-consistent demand avoidance profiles, and sensory processing differences.
Animal therapy is a broad term often used for recreational or unstructured animal interaction. AAI at Pets on the Green is a specialist educational provision — 1:1, curriculum-linked, regulation-first, documented, and EHCP-aligned. Sessions are delivered by a qualified practitioner in a sensory-controlled environment with measurable outcomes tracked every session.
EOTAS (Education Other Than At School) is provision for children who cannot attend school. Pets on the Green delivers structured AAI as EOTAS-appropriate educational provision, with curriculum-linked learning embedded in animal care routines, suitable for children with EBSNA and school avoidance.
Standard 90-minute 1:1 sessions are £150. Extended 3-hour sessions are £300. A full weekly programme of 6 hours is £600 per week. All rates include planning, preparation, delivery, documentation and reporting. Rates exclude VAT. See full rates.
Referrals are accepted from local authority SEND teams, EHCP case officers, schools, specialist provisions, alternative provision settings, and parents or carers with an EHCP or funding pathway. Contact Ciera to discuss feasibility and suitability.
Yes. Many of the children we work with have been out of school and home-bound for extended periods. The combination of animals, a calm sensory environment, and a consistent trusted practitioner has helped children re-engage who haven't accessed any provision for months or even years.
These sessions are not bookable online. Get in touch for an initial discussion and feasibility assessment.
EHCP Section F · EOTAS · Local authority commissionable · Schools & alternative provision
By appointment only — book online, or ask about a Sunday
