Wombat Stew | Early Stage 1 English excursion
Program overview
In this program, students will be inspired by Wombat Stew by Marcia K Vaughan and illustrated by Pamela Lofts to explore Field of Mars Reserve. They’ll engage in immersive bushland adventures, sensory play, interactive storytelling, and use verbs and descriptive language in context. Students will develop understandings of the Australian bush and how context shapes how a text is written and understood.
Learning intention
- We are learning to observe and identify features of Australian bushland to broaden vocabulary, knowledge, ideas and feelings about Australian wildlife.
Activities
Bushwalk
In the Field of Mars Reserve, students will participate in a Dingo Bingo activity. They will search for bush treasures guided by adjective cards and locate animals and their habitats, as well as Australian plants featured in Wombat Stew.
Story enactment
At our nature play space, students will work in groups to construct ‘animal homes’ from natural materials. Using props, they will have the opportunity to role-play as animals from the story and act out scenes around a ‘campfire’.
Invertebrate hunt
Students will dig through our invertebrate gardens to search for 'slugs and bugs and creepy crawlies' before meeting our blue-tongued lizard.
Bush kitchen yucky stew
In a bush kitchen play session, students will engage in an open-ended role-play activity to create their own stew.
Location
Field of Mars Reserve
Main location – including risk assessment and risk management advice, bus map and track overview.
Essential information
Cost and details
Cost 2026 |
DoE $27 per student – GST free Non-gov $37 per student – GST free, min charge $750 per class Term 1 – Non-gov weeks 3 to 6 cost = DoE cost – GST free, min charge $750 |
Classes |
Recommended maximum 6 classes. |
Bring |
Sports uniform, backpack, medication, low-waste food, water bottle, sunblock, raincoat, hat, sturdy shoes, reusable name tag. Tote tray per class to bring back clay craft. |
View |
Preparing for an excursion |
Welfare |
Rugged bushwalking, limited wheelchair accessibility. 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 numbers and classes 7 days in advance. |
Cancellation fee |
Less than 30 working school days – $600 Less than 7 working school days notice – full cost Weather or fire danger cancellation – $0 |
Suggested timetable
Time |
Classes A, B, C |
Classes D, E, F |
| 10.00 - 10.30 |
Introduction Recess and toilets |
Introduction Recess and toilets |
| 10.30 - 10.45 | Wombat Stew story | Wombat Stew story |
| 10.45 - 12.10 |
Bushwalk Story enactment |
Invertebrate hunt Bush kitchen yucky stew |
| 12.10 - 12.40 | Lunch and toilets | Lunch and toilets |
| 12.40 - 1.55 |
Invertebrate hunt Bush kitchen yucky stew |
Bushwalk Story enactment |
| 1.55 - 2.05 | Pack up, toilets and depart | Pack up, toilets and depart |
Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary
Syllabus outcomes and content
English K-6 Syllabus (2022)
Understanding and responding to literature
Outcomes
ENE-UARL-01 understands and responds to literature read to them
Content
-
Identify aspects of their own world represented in texts
-
Understand that characters in texts are represented by how they look, what they say and do, and their thoughts
Learning experiences will also support but not explicitly teach the following content:
- Create imaginative and/or informative texts relating to their own experience, the world and/or other texts.
English K-6 Syllabus © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2022
Book now
Book your primary excursion using our online booking form.
Social stories
View social stories that explain what to expect on an incursion or excursion.
Learning resources
View online lessons that support primary incursion and excursion programs.
Flora and fauna fact sheets
View our curriculum-aligned fact sheets on Australian animals, plants, ecosystems and environments for NSW primary and secondary students, ideal for research, projects and classroom learning.