School Excursions at a Glance:

Step 1: Reserve your Date. 

Step 2: Once we receive your Booking Reservation, we will contact you to confirm your booking, and send you a quote based on the numbers of students you provided. 

Step 3: We will contact you prior to the Excursion to align on details and confirm your final students number. 

Step 4: We will invoice you on the day of the Excursion based on the final confirmation numbers you provided. 

Introduction to Green Thumb Farm & Hands-on farm work

Students will be introduced to the organic and regenerative farming principles we use at Green Thumb Farm, and have the opportunity to do hands on work in our dedicated school garden area which could include harvesting, planting, and general maintenance of the beds.

 Worm Farming & Compost (any age)

Students are introduced to composting by seeing our composting system, and learning about what goes into making a good compost, as well as seeing samples. We discuss the role of compost in organic farming and why it is so important to be composting food scraps at home. We then look at the different worm farms we have on the farm, and the children have the opportunity to feed the earth worms vegetable scraps and to make a diluted worm tea.

 Seeds, pollinators & native bees (any age)

This rotation offers students a hands-on experience discovering seeds growing on the farm and learning about the role of pollinators in natural ecosystems. Children can spot our insects and pollinators, we talk about making homes for them, and they can see our bee hotels, native bees and honey bee hives on the farm. They have a hands on experience with a sample of seeds collected and stored from food and flowers grown at the farm.

Herbs & Sensory Exploration (any age)

The students are encouraged to explore our kitchen garden, with students invited to see, touch, smell and taste a wide selection of culinary and medicinal herbs, including edible flowers. The students may have the opportunity to propagate herbs for our nursery, or participate in another hands on activity.

Food & Fibre (Year 4 and above)

We will discuss the food we grow on the Farm that has a dual purpose as a fibre that can make things such as rope and baskets. They will see it grown, handle the raw material and see samples of products you can make. They may make a sample product to take home, tailored depending on the age.

Natural Pest Management & Healthy Ecosystems (Year 4 and above)

This rotation will include a discussion around our natural approaches to deter pests. We explore the role of flowers in the garden, and the surrounding tree system for creating a natural ecosystem to bring beneficial insects in. We explore the different animals and insects we can find at the farm - and what role they play in healthy ecosystems.

Healthy soil & Regenerative Farming (Year 4 and above)

The children have the opportunity to see a sample of different types of soil, and discuss ways to make it healthier and have a better capacity to grow nutrient dense food. The students can look at our hugelkultur bed, raised beds, and in ground beds and we talk about natural ways that we build healthy soil through composting, worm farms, fertigation system, soil amendments, activated charcoal, and minimal till methods of farming.

On the excursion day, students arrive between 9:45 AM and 10:00 AM, with time for a quick toilet break and snack before rotations begin at 10:30 AM. Each rotation lasts around 35 minutes, and the day concludes around 1:00 PM, with the bus departing at 1:30 PM.

Students will be divided into groups of approximately 15 students, with at least 2 school staff per group for supervision (younger students may require additional adults).

The general flow of the day is as follows:
09:45 | Toilet break and quick snack
10:30 | Rotation 1
11:10 | Rotation 2
11:50 | Lunch Break (lunch not provided)
12:20 | Rotation 3
  1:00 | Wrap-up
  1:30 | Bus departs

The excursion cost is $24.50 per student, with a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 45 students per day. 
Free for supervising adults. Schools must arrange 2 supervising adults for every 15 students.

We will provide your school with a quote based on the numbers of students you indicated in your initial booking. We will ask for your final numbers of students and supervising adults the week before your visit, and require this confirmation at the latest by 10am the day before your visit. If we don’t receive final numbers within this time frame, the invoice will be issued based on the quoted numbers.

Our school excursion cancellation policy requires schools to provide a written notice of cancellation at least 14 days before the scheduled excursion date to receive a full refund. Cancellations made within 7 to 13 days prior to the excursion will incur a 50% cancellation fee. Unfortunately, no refunds will be issued for cancellations made less than 7 days before the excursion. Exceptions to this policy may be considered in cases of extreme weather conditions or other unforeseen circumstances at the discretion of the administration. We reserve the right to cancel the excursion if conditions are deemed unsafe, with a full refund provided.

Contact us directly via email  programs@greenthumbfarm.org.au to discuss how we can support your school.