+ EXCURSION OVERVIEW

Our Urban Farm offers a unique educational excursion that combines Hands-On Farming with an Urban Farm Adventure Course (UFAC). The experience is tailored to enrich students’ understanding of Regenerative Agriculture through hands-on activities and inquiry-based learning aligned with the Science & Technology and Geography syllabus'.

Each excursion to PCF includes the following activities;

1. UFAC: Students engage with stage-based inquiry questions through an integrated farm tour and data collection stations that challenge their understanding and application of scientific concepts.

2. Hands-On Farming: Students partake in authentic Urban Farm Tasks in a tangible setting, gaining practical experience in Urban Agriculture.

+ TIMES + DURATIONS

Weekdays - Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays

2-Hour Program:

9:30 - 9:45 AM: Arrival, Introduction, and Safety Rules
9:45 - 11:15 AM: UFAC & Hands-On Farming
11:15 - 11:30 AM: Conclusion and Departure

3-Hour Program:

9:30 - 9:45 AM: Arrival, Introduction, and Safety Rules
9:45 - 11:45 AM: UFAC
11:45 - 12:15 PM: Hands-On Farming
12:15 - 12:30 PM: Conclusion and Departure

4-Hour Program (Includes 1 hr Lunch Break):

9:30 - 9:45 AM: Arrival, Introduction, and Safety Rules
9:45 - 11:30 AM: Morning Session:
- Group 1: UFAC & Group 2: Hands-On Farming

11:30 - 12:30 PM: Lunch Break

12:30 - 2:30 PM: Afternoon Session:
- Group 2 - UFAC & Group 1 - Hands-On Farming
2:15 - 2:30 PM: Conclusion and Departure

+ ALIGNMENT TO NESA STANDARDS

Click here to see a full breakdown of how our program aligns to NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA)

+ GROUP SIZE

Depending on the program and the dates chosen, we can accommodate ~120 students rotating around the farm at one time, however if you are planning an excursion for more students than this, get in touch and we’ll find a solution.

+ PRICING

2 hrs = $20 per student + GST. *Minimum booking 30 students.

3 hrs = $30 per student + GST.

4 hrs = $40 per student + GST.

Pocket City Farms is a charity. Your fees are a contribution to continuing the work we do in fair food, education and community. Thank you for supporting our farm project by way of your excursion booking.

+ GETTING HERE

We are located at 31A Mallett St, Camperdown. Close to Newtown and Parramatta Road. Please see below some travel options.

TRAIN + 15 minute walk //
Catch a train to Newtown station and walk straight down Australia Street. Cross through Camperdown Park and you will reach Camperdown Commons.

BUS //
Buses run frequently from Central Station to the Bridge Road school bus stop on Parramatta Rd.
Bus routes include: 413, 436, 438, 439, 440, 480, 483 + M10

HIRED BUSES + PARKING // Buses will be able to pull into the side carpark between the farm and Camperdown Park to drop off. However they will then need to go and find parking on a local street. Parking is regularly monitored and are 2 hour limits. There’s also a Secure Carpark on Grose St that can be utilised.

+ CANCELLATION POLICY

After your booking is confirmed via receipt of the Booking Confirmation Form and your deposit of 50% of the excursion fee, cancellations more than one month in advance will be charged at 50% of the event fee, and there are no refunds for cancellations within a month. We understand that COVID is an ongoing concern and will work with you to accomodate any COVID related changes.

+ RISK MANAGEMENT & COVID SAFETY

The safety of everyone visiting is important to us, we encourage you to read our Risk Management Policy before attending Pocket City Farms for an excursion. Alongside our standard on site work health and safety procedures we will provide you with a Risk Management Plan and our COVID-19 Safe Plan. This COVID-19 plan ensures we keep our guests and staff safe and compliant with government requirements at all times.

Our COVID-19 plan safety measures to reduce transmission risk include, but are not limited to:

• Limiting event capacity;
• Practicing social distancing;
• Wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) in accordance with local guidelines;
• Encouraging regular, thorough hand washing;
• Ensuring our staff do not come to work if they experience COVID-19 symptoms and to get tested asap.

Prior to your excursion, we will discuss any additional requirements relating to your booking but please let us know if you have any specific concerns or other precautions you’d like to discuss.

+ ACCESSIBILITY

We are close to full wheelchair access at the farm, with wide pathways surrounding our market gardens. There is only one narrow pathway near our compost bays which won't be accessible, as well as on the actual market garden itself. We recommend that all visitors using wheelchairs are accompanied by a support person as some parts of the site have difficult surfaces; gravel, and can be slippery and muddy after rain. Ramps are located at numerous access points on the site and there are wheelchair accessible toilets. Please alert our coordinator if there will be visitors in wheelchairs with your group and we can modify the experience accordingly.

+ CONTACT

For booking enquiries, please fill out the form below.

We hope to see you on the farm soon!

More information on our program

+ What we do

In June 2016 we opened the first urban farm in Sydney, at Camperdown Commons. Our farm is a productive hub the local community can gather to learn about all things farming and food growing, buy locally-grown, chemical-free produce, participate in our composting program, and take part in many workshops and events. Importantly, the farm is a place to visit, enjoy productive green space in the city, dig your hands in the soil, and learn all about where exactly our food comes from and how it’s grown!

+ The problem

Australia’s food system is facing tremendous challenges in this current day and age. Challenges that are the product of decades of increasing industrialisation and consumer demands. This problem is extremely complex, but has resulted in a disconnection that people have with the food they eat and the people who grow it.
With this disconnection comes the domino effect of lost food skills. This umbrella idea encapsulates the choices and actions that drive the sourcing of food, the growing of food and the cooking of food.

+ The solution

The solution lies in the hands of the next generation. By educating children and young people about food, the way it is grown, sustainability and ethical decision making surrounding this huge umbrella idea of food, we can take small steps toward achieving real behaviour change.
It’s all about enlightening children about the beauty of growing their own food and the benefits as a whole. Much research has found that when children are exposed to authentic food and sustainability education early in their lives, chances are that they will continue along a path of holistic lifestyle approaches in the future.

+ How we're going to tackle it

We’ve developed a stage based, primary education program that aligns directly with the Australian Curriculum.
Workshops have been carefully designed to be integrated into the New South Wales syllabus' Science and Geography units of work, while incorporating cross curriculum priorities.

+ Science + Geography

Our education program has been designed to directly be incorporated into Science and Geography units of work. This is to ensure relevancy within the New South Wales curriculum, and allow easily incorporated out-of-school excursions to be approved by schools. We want to make it easy for educators to bring students here.

SCIENCE
Within each stage and when realistic to what we can offer here on the farm, workshops have been created for units and content in Physical World, Earth + Space, Living World, Material World and Built Environments.

WORKING SCIENTIFICALLY: Relevant skills will be utilised as children investigate questions and predictions by collecting and recording data, sharing and reflecting on their experiences and comparing what they and others know.

WORKING TECHNOLOGICALLY: Children will be solving real world problems and creating ideas and solutions in response to needs and opportunities in a range of technological contexts, specifically, a small-scale agricultural environment.

GEOGRAPHY
We have used Geography units of work to form the foundations of focus points for workshops. Like the Science units, workshops directly relate to NSW syllabus points to ensure relevancy within the Australian Curriculum. From Early Stage 1 to Stage 3 there are appropriate workshops available for each content area. By creating this learning platform, we hope to stimulate children's curiosity and footprint on this Earth. Through hands-on experiences they will begin to grasp an idea of the important interrelation between people, places and the environment.

+ Literacy + Numeracy Integration

Literacy underpins most workshops with Speaking and Listening and Writing and Representing being natural components of sessions due to their interactive nature. Children will constantly be communicating and reflecting whilst drawing upon their own experiences to make new connections in a contextualised way.
Numeracy skills will also be practiced as we aim for children to recognise connections between the areas of mathematics and its relevance to all aspects of life. Children will practice problem solving and critical thinking skills in areas of focus covered in our workshops.

+ CROSS CURRICULUM PRIORITIES

SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability forms the foundation of our very existence here on the farm. We are aiming for a completely closed loop system, of which no waste is produced on the farm, yet is incorporated into it. This flows through to our broader food and environmental ethics. With the notion of ’sustainability’ being such an engrained value and practice here on the farm, each workshop automatically covers aspects of it. Whether it be waste management, water use, environmental care and respect or diversity within ecosystems, children will leave with a greater understanding of the numerous yet important facets of sustainability.