Natural teacher K-6 | Outdoor learning | Teacher professional learning | Field of Mars EEC

Program overview

Natural teacher is a K–6 outdoor learning workshop that equips teachers with practical, evidence-based approaches for taking core curriculum learning beyond the classroom. The session focuses on enriching HSIE, Science and Technology and English through high-quality outdoor experiences, including fieldwork and data collection, safe and inclusive outdoor pedagogy, and respectful integration of Aboriginal histories and cultures, with a clear link to student engagement and wellbeing.

Activities

Introduction

No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced.” – Sir David Attenborough

Teachers unpack the purpose of outdoor learning and the course success criteria, then discuss practical ways to build confidence when teaching outside. The session establishes a shared language for safety, inclusion and “code for caring” expectations in outdoor spaces.

Natural wellbeing

Teachers experience simple, repeatable wellbeing strategies including sit spots, sensory walks and sound mapping to support calm, attention and connection to place. Participants reflect on how these routines can be embedded as quick classroom transitions before and after outdoor learning.

Natural curriculum

Teachers participate in curriculum-ready activities that translate directly to school grounds, including journey sticks, observing and questioning with natural objects, and safe biodiversity surveys. Activities model how to use outdoor spaces to build vocabulary, fieldwork skills and evidence-based thinking across KLAs.

Teachers trial creative and technology-enabled outdoor tasks such as scratch art and iPad photography to capture living and non-living features. Participants consider how visual texts, Tier 2 and 3 nature vocabulary and short writing tasks can be generated from photographs and field observations.

Natural games

Teachers experience a suite of outdoor games that explicitly teach teamwork and positive communication, including rope-based group challenges, blindfold trust tasks and small-group strategy games. The session highlights how structured play can support student management, leadership and inclusive participation outdoors.

Natural planning

Teachers work through planning processes for outdoor lessons, including site scoping, boundaries, equipment, weather considerations and simple behaviour systems . The session concludes with an action plan and exit pass, identifying one outdoor activity and one management strategy to implement in the next week or term.

Location

Field of Mars Reserve

Location – including bus maps, risk management advice, track overview

Essential information

Learning resources

View online lessons that support primary incursion and excursion programs.

Flora and fauna factsheets

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.