Bush studio HPGE enrichment program | Stage 2–3 Creative Arts | Field of Mars EEC

Cost, risk assessment and details

Cost	$60 per student - GST free This will be processed through the student's home school. This program is only available to NSW Department of Education school students.
Dates	Available dates
Times	9.15 – Drop off 2.15 – Pick up
Risk assessment	Field of Mars Reserve risk assessment - main location
Transport	Schools are required to organise transport for students to and from the location. No vehicles are permitted into Field of Mars Reserve.
Staff	Teachers are not required to attend but are welcome.
Student selection	Maximum 12 students per school per day. When choosing your students, remember the program takes place indoors, outdoors and in public spaces. Students may be near creeks and bushland tracks. While EEC teachers supervise them all day, consider if they’ll need SLSO or teacher support to stay safe.
Bring	Sports uniform, art smock, backpack, medication, low-waste food, water bottle, sunblock, raincoat, hat, sturdy shoes.
View	Preparing for your excursion
Welfare	Participants will be walking during the day on an accessible boardwalk. Wheelchair accessible. May not suit recently unwell participants. For medical or special needs notify staff prior to program.
Extreme or wet weather	Program may be modified, postponed or cancelled due to predicted extreme temperatures, bush fire danger, heavy rainfall, high winds or dust storms.
Booking policy	Confirm student details 7 days in advance.
Cancellation fee	Less than 4 weeks notice – full cost Weather or fire danger cancellation – $0

Activities

This is an immersive day, connecting students with nature, their creativity and visual art-making.

The day commences with students acknowledging Country and working together to build ephemeral artworks inspired by Andy Goldsworthy. Among other artists, students will learn about the work of contemporary Australian artists Nicole Foreshew, Bianca Hester, Mabel Julie and Nicholas Mangan.

Students will go on a bushwalk and spend time in nature's classrooms to explore the natural features of the reserve through art-making. Photography, sketching, etching, frottage and watercolour painting will be used to record the things in their environment that can be seen and those that remain unseen.

Instruction on the elements and principles of design, mixed-media, printmaking and collage will enhance students' abilities to create and appreciate artworks.

Facilitator: Emily TBC

This program is supported by the NSW DoE Arts Unit.

This program is only available to NSW Department of Education school students.

Explore related fact sheets

Use these student-friendly fact sheets before or after your Bush studio HPGE enrichment program to support nature observation, visual art making and creative responses to bushland.

• ⁠Field of Mars Reserve fact sheet – Explore the bushland environment students use for sketching, photography, frottage, etching and mixed-media artworks.
• ⁠Eucalypt forest ecosystem fact sheet – Learn about gum-tree forests with trees, shrubs, leaf litter, animals and connected food webs.
• ⁠Plant fact sheets – Explore native plants with leaves, flowers, bark, colours, textures and patterns that can inspire artworks.
• ⁠Tree habitats fact sheet – Discover bark, branches, flowers, hollows and canopy features that can be represented through art making.
• ⁠Leaf litter habitats fact sheet – Explore fallen leaves, bark and twigs that create texture-rich habitats for small animals.
• ⁠Rock and log habitats fact sheet – Learn about natural surfaces, sheltered places, textures and small habitats found in bushland.

Timetable

Time	Activities
9.15	Arrival
9.30 - 10.00	Introduction and ice breaker activities
10.00 - 10.15	Recess
10.15 - 11.00	Inspired by nature iPad photography
11.00 - 12.00	Art making
12.00 - 12.30	Lunch
12.30 - 2.00	Art making
2.00 - 2.15	Gallery walk
2.15	Depart

Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary

inspired, contemporary, experiment, interpret, compose, contrast, evaluate, ephemeral, elements of design, principles of design, frottage, etching, mixed media, printmaking, collage

Syllabus outcomes and content

Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus (2024)

Visual Arts

Outcome

• Makes artworks using art forms to represent subject matter and ideas, and describes ways artists convey ideas about their world to audiences through artworks CA2-VIS-01

Content

Making: Artists represent their world through subject matter and ideas in artworks

• Represent subject matter and ideas in artworks, making choices based on own interpretations of the world
• Use drawing materials and techniques to create effects with texture and tone to represent subject matter and ideas
• Explore balance, scale and proportion in compositions to represent subject matter and ideas
• Demonstrate safe art making practices with respect for physical, social and digital safety

Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2024

Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus (2024)

Visual Arts

Outcomes

• Makes artworks in intentional ways to represent ideas about their world, and explains ways artists are influenced by contexts and how artworks are interpreted by audiences CA3-VIS-01

Content

Making: Artists represent their world in intentional ways through their artmaking practice

• Represent ideas or perspectives of their world and intentions in own artmaking practice
• Use drawing materials and techniques to create artistic effects to represent subject matter or ideas in intentional ways
• Create intentional effects with awareness of the relationships between colours and tones, to represent subject matter or ideas in realistic, imaginative or symbolic ways
• Use painting materials, techniques and processes to explore ways to apply paint in combination with mixed media materials
• Apply understandings of materials, digital technologies and processes to represent intended ideas in artworks
• Explore artistic conventions and ways to represent subject matter and ideas in compositions
• Demonstrate safe artmaking practices with respect for physical, social, digital and cultural safety

Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2024