Poetic adventures excursion | Stage 3 English | Field of Mars EEC

Cost, risk assessment and details

Cost	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 5 cost = DoE cost – GST free, min charge $750 Program costs may change. Bookings are charged at the cost confirmed when you book.
Classes	Maximum 4 classes with up to 30 students per class.
Risk assessment	Field of Mars Reserve risk assessment - main location
Bring	Sports uniform, backpack, medication, low-waste food, water bottle, sunblock, raincoat, hat, sturdy shoes, reusable name tag.
View	Preparing for your 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 and rescheduling	Cancellation or rescheduling with less than 30 school days’ notice before the booking date – $650 Cancellation with less than 14 school days’ notice before the booking date – full program cost Cancellation due to unsafe weather or fire danger – $0

Activities

Activities may vary depending on student needs, timing and weather.

Poetic adventure

Working in pairs, students collect their poetry toolkit and iPad and learn how to manage equipment and work efficiently in the field. Students are introduced to the planning template and the step-by-step workflow for writing, photographing and producing their final piece.

Students tune in to the bushland at Field of Mars Reserve through a guided sensory sit spot that focuses on sight, sound, touch and smell. Students build a bank of vivid adjectives and descriptive language to capture the natural features of Field of Mars Reserve.

Students compose lines of poetry from the perspective of a miniature character using a five senses structure and selected poetic devices. Students draft, refine and self-assess their work to ensure each line communicates a clear viewpoint and strong imagery.

Students learn how to take high-quality macro photographs that communicate small-scale perspective by positioning the camera at minifigure eye level. Students apply visual literacy strategies such as framing, focus and shot choices to create images that complement their poetry.

iMovie studio

Back in the classroom, students sequence images, record narration and add titles and audio to create a cohesive digital poem. Students finalise credits, export their work and share their completed multimodal poem with peers for reflection.

Completed products will be sent back to school via Google Drive.

Explore related fact sheets

• Use these student-friendly fact sheets before or after your Poetic adventures excursion to support descriptive language, sensory writing, imagery and nature-based multimodal texts.
• ⁠Field of Mars Reserve fact sheet – Explore the local bushland students use for sensory writing, photography and poetic inspiration.
• ⁠Eucalypt forest ecosystem fact sheet – Learn about trees, shrubs, leaf litter, rocks, animals and food webs in eucalypt forest.
• ⁠Plant fact sheets – Explore native plants that can inspire descriptive language, imagery, similes and metaphors.
• ⁠Leaf litter habitats fact sheet – Discover small forest-floor details that support close observation and sensory description.
• ⁠Rock and log habitats fact sheet – Learn about cool, damp and sheltered places that can inspire miniature perspectives and imaginative writing.
• ⁠Habitat fact sheet – Learn how living and non-living features create places where organisms can survive.

Suggested timetable

Time	Activities
9.45 - 10.30	Introduction, toilets and recess
10.30 - 12.45	Poetic adventure - location scouting - poem development - digital photography
12.45 - 1.15	Lunch and toilets
1.15 - 2.00	iMovie studio
2.00 - 2.15	Pack up, toilets and depart

Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary

perspective, tone, mood, craft, precise, revise, interpret, metaphor, simile, imagery, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, stanza, hyperbole

Syllabus outcomes and content

English K-10 Syllabus (2022)

Vocabulary

Outcome

• Extends Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary through interacting, wide reading and writing, morphological analysis and generating precise definitions for specific contexts EN3-VOCAB-01

Content

Learning and using words

• Identify newly encountered words from interactions and wide reading, and use them in writing, discussions and presentations

Creating written texts

Outcome

• Plans, creates and revises written texts for multiple purposes and audiences through selection of text features, sentence-level grammar, punctuation and word-level language EN3-CWT-01

Content

Text features for multiple purposes

• Use word repetition and word associations as cohesive devices across texts
• Experiment with figurative language for effect and to engage the reader, including metaphor, hyperbole, oxymoron and allusion
• Create written texts that include multiple paragraphs with clear, coherent transition of ideas
• Choose multimodal features suited to a target audience and purpose, to reinforce and extend ideas

English textual concept

Perspective

Students understand that perspectives may differ and that these differences need to be considered

They learn that:

• perspective may be expressed in different ways including the values expressed and the form of expression

Other syllabus links

Learning experiences will also support but not explicitly teach the following outcomes and content.

Science and Technology K-6 syllabus (2024)

Living things may change over millions of years, in response to their environments

English K–10 Syllabus © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2022.

Science and Technology 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

English textual concepts © NSW Department of Education, 2016