At Northey Street City Farm we run a professional development workshops for teachers on a range of topics related to permaculture, organic gardening and sustainability. We provide certificates for attendance. We are also available to visit schools to run in-service sessions. Please contact Cristyan at youthedn@nscf.org.au to discuss what options are available.
To see School Tours offered by the Farm see: https://www.nscf.org.au/home/learn/youth-education/school-activities/
Outdoor Learning and the Curriculum: A Professional Development workshop for Educators
Saturday 27 May 2023, 9am – 4pm
This practical workshop demonstrates how the Australian Curriculum cross-curriculum priority area of Sustainability can be addressed while taking learning outdoors. The content draws on place-responsive pedagogies and nature connection practices which connect students to place and foster a care of the natural world.
Workshop participants will:
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- Learn about the benefits of outdoor learning and how outdoor activities can be applied to learning areas including Science, English, Humanities and Social Sciences and the Arts.
- Experience a range of activities and tools that foster connection to place and grow children’s ecological literacy. Activities include ‘sit spots’, ‘the web of life’; nature journaling; the ‘Council of all Beings’ and more.
- Reflect with other participants on the activities experienced and consider ways to adapt or extend them for different groups of students or for different learning areas.
- Be introduced to ‘nature names’ – a practice that can be woven through units of work to support students to learn about the plants and animals in local ecosystems and their relationships with each other.
- Take home a resources list, activity descriptions with links to the Australian curriculum and a certificate for 6 hours of professional development.
The approaches and activities introduced in this workshop support students to increase critical and creative thinking and have the knowledge, understanding and skills to engage in creating a more sustainable world. Outdoor learning using these experience-based strategies also supports children’s emotional well-being and physical health.
While the workshop is focused on primary school teachers, the learnings are also applicable to teachers and educators who work with other students as well as homeschooling parents. The content relates particularly to sections 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.2, and 3.3 of the Australian professional standards for teachers.
About the main presenter:
Emma Brindal is the founder of WiseEarth Education and has been teaching and facilitating experiential learning and environmental education programs for over a decade. She also works at Northey Street City Farm, where she has developed and run a range of permaculture and sustainability activities and programs for children and adults. Emma holds a Bachelor of Environmental Science and a Master of Education (Social Ecology). See: https://wiseeartheducation.com/
Guest presenter:
Artist and educator Bethan Burton of Journaling with Nature will run a session on nature journaling to inspire you with a range of ways that nature journaling can be used to enhance outdoor learning. See: https://www.journalingwithnature.com/
Registration for the workshop:
Cost: $160 school-funded/full | $110 student/unwaged Includes morning tea. BYO lunch
Bookings HERE
Or register via email or phone:
E: Cristyan at youthedn@nscf.org.au
PH: 3857 8775
If your school or organisation is paying for your attendance, we can invoice you – email info@nscf.org.au to arrange this.
Testimonials
If I can facilitate my students to feel as nourished, connected, and calm as I do after this workshop, I will be a happy teacher! – Megan Porter, Year 5 teacher.
This workshop nurtured and tended to the earthy seeds beginning to sprout in my mind and heart. I now have a lush garden of inspiration, learning, creativity, mindfulness + play growing wildly! Thank you so much. – Sophie Kent, School Gardening Educator.
Emma’s work is academically well researched and professionally presented, with lots of new take home ideas for teachers to action with children in nature, especially in the school setting. – Joy Emms, homeschool parent, and forest school practitioner.
Emma’s knowledge and passion for engaging people with their local environment and nature is always inspiring; this workshop provided exactly what I’d hoped for and it was wonderful to hear the impact it has for teachers in attendance today. – Davina Tapper, Homeschool Parent.
I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop. It was well-structured but also with the space of outdoor education. This workshop will support me in being a teacher that provides more holistic education. Thank you. – Participant at 2021 workshop.
This workshop provided fantastic learning opportunities across all primary learning contexts. Can’t wait to share this with colleagues and to bring my students outside! – Participant at 2021 workshop.
Successful School Gardening: A Professional Development Workshop for Teachers and School Community Members
Saturday 5th August 2023. 9am – 4pm 
This workshop will introduce the practicalities of establishing and maintaining a school garden using permaculture practices and principles. It will also cover ways in which the Australian Curriculum cross-curriculum priority area of Sustainability can be addressed, and be applied to Learning Areas including Science, English, Humanities and Social Sciences and the Arts. It is for teachers and school community members who are wanting to establish new gardens, or who already have gardens that you are wanting to rejuvenate. These strategies can be applied for any budget that the school has for a garden.
We will cover:
-An introduction to permaculture practice and design
-Designing your school garden
-The resources you need and how to get them
-Understanding and improving your soil, including composting and worm farming,
-Growing for the subtropics – appropriate plants for the SEQ climate
-Linking garden activities to the curriculum
-Making it work for your school community – Involving your students; how to get different members of the community involved; how to manage your gardens over school holidays, and more!
Participants will take home a resources list and a certificate for 6 hours of professional development.
Primary school teachers are the main audience for this workshop. School leaders, members of P&Cs and groundstaff are all welcome to attend.
The content relates particularly to sections 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 4.1 and 4.2 of the Australian professional standards for teachers.
About the presenters:
Jenny Kato is a passionate advocate for regenerative agriculture, a permaculture practitioner and designer, and an avid gardener. Jenny works at Northey Street City Farm as an Education Tutor and teaches on the Permaculture Design Certificate Course. Jenny also has her own design business, Living Patterns Permaculture, and has worked with many schools designing school gardens.
Emma Brindal is the founder of WiseEarth Education and has been teaching and facilitating experiential learning and environmental education programs for over a decade. She also works at Northey Street City Farm, where she has developed and run a range of permaculture and sustainability activities and programs for children and adults. Emma holds a Bachelor of Environmental Science and a Master of Education (Social Ecology). See: https://wiseeartheducation.com/
Registration for the workshop:
Cost: $160 full | $110 student/unwaged (GST included)
Includes morning tea. BYO lunch.
Bookings HERE
E : Cristyan at youthedn@nscf.org.au
PH : 3857 8775
If your school or organisation is paying for your attendance, we can invoice you – email info@nscf.org.au to arrange this.