THE EARLY YEARS, FOUNDATION - YEAR 2
Calling all students for a journey of endless discovery aboard Puffing Billy and connect with nature on an adventure through the magnificent forests of the Dandenong Ranges. Develop an understanding and appreciation of place and the importance of community. Discover the Lakeside Visitor Centre, use your curiosity and imagination to explore technology and stories of the past and present.
Curriculum links
The Early Years Framework for Australia
Belonging, Being, Becoming. The five Learning Outcomes are designed to capture the integrated and complex learning and development of all children across birth to five years of age.
Learning Outcomes
Children have a strong sense of identity. Children are connected with and contribute to their world. Children have a strong sense of wellbeing. Children are confident and involved learners. Children are effective communicators.
| Level | Strand | Sub-Strand | Content Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level A (Towards Foundation) | Critical and Creative Thinking | React to the world around them (VCCCTQ055) | |
| Design and Technologies | Experience how people create familiar designed solutions to meet their needs (VCDSTS001) | ||
| Geography | Geographical concepts and skills | Experience and react to a place and its features (VCGGC001) | |
| History | Historical concepts and skills | Explore objects from the past and present (VCHHC004) | |
| Science | Biological Science | Living things are part of the world around us (VCSSU002) | |
| Level B (Towards Foundation) | Design and technologies | Technologies Contexts | Explore the characteristics and properties of familiar designed solutions in at least one technologies context (VCDSTC005) |
| Geography | Geographical knowledge | Moving to different places and recognising some features/places on the way (VCGGK021) | |
| Geographical knowledge | Experience specific activities in a place (VCGGK027) | ||
| History | Historical concepts and skills | Explore features of objects from the past and present (VCHHC017) | |
| Historical knowledge | Explore different technologies used to make their daily life better (VCHHK026) | ||
| Level C (Towards Foundation) | Design and Technologies | Technologies Contexts | Examine and indicate the characteristics and properties of familiar designed solutions in at least two technologies contexts (VCDSTC008) |
| Geography | Geographic concepts and skills | Link places to their related activities and special events (VCGGC031) | |
| History | Historical concepts and skills | Explore their perspective on how things have changed from past and present in their daily life (VCHHC029) | |
| Science | Science Understanding | Living things have different names and parts (VCSSU022) | |
| Level D (Towards Foundation) | Design and Technology | Technologies and society | Explore how people create familiar designed solutions and identify their ability to meet personal and local community needs (VCDSTS010) |
| Geography | Geographical knowledge | The major features of a place and their location (VCGGK054) | |
| What people do in specific spaces�(VCGGK055) | |||
| History | Historical concepts and skills | Identify and compare features of objects used by the family from the past and present (VCHHC043) | |
| Community Histories | Explore and sequence the history of a significant place, person or building or site (VCHHK050) | ||
| Science - | Science Understanding | Living things can be plants or animals (VCSSU032) |
| Curriculum Area | Strand | Sub-Strand | Content Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical and Creative Thinking | Questions and Possibilities | Different kinds of question stems for gathering information and ideas (VC2CC2Q01) | |
| History | Historical Concepts and Skills | Historical significance | Identify the significance of an individual, event and/or place (VC2HH2S07) |
| Continuity and change | Identify examples of continuity and change by comparing the past and present (VC2HH2S05) | ||
| Historical Significance | Identify the significance of an individual, event and/or place (VC2HH2S07) | ||
| Historical Knowledge and Understanding | Community Histories | The history of a local historical site of social, cultural or spiritual significance and how it has changed over time (VC2HH2K05) | |
| The consequences of changing technologies on people�s lives at home, and the ways they worked, travelled and communicated in the past (VC2HH2K06) | |||
| Identify perspectives of people in the past or present in sources (VC2HH2S04) | |||
| Geography | Geographical Knowledge and Understanding | Places and our Connections to them | The places in which they live, why their places are important to them, the features of places, and how places can be looked after (VC2HG2K01) |
| The natural and constructed features of places, how they change and how they can be cared for (VC2HG2K05) | |||
| The places in which they live, why their places are important to them, the features of places, and how places can be looked after (VC2HG2K01) | |||
| Weather and seasons, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples� seasonal calendars (VC2HG2K06) | |||
| Geographical skills | Communicating | Develop narratives and share observations about places, using sources such as maps and photographs (VC2HG2S05) | |
| Geographical Inquiry | Collect, sort and record�information�and�data�from observations, including from fieldwork and maps (VC2HG2S02) | ||
| Health and Physical Education | Movement and Physical Activity � Physical Education | Making Active Choices | Participate safely in a range of activities in outdoor environments and aquatic settings and explore the benefits of being physically active (VC2HPFM03) |
| Design and Technologies | Technologies Contexts | Engineering Principles and Systems | Explore how technologies affect movement in products and systems (VC2TDE2C01) |
| Materials and Technologies specialisations | Explore the characteristics and properties of materials and components that are used to create designed solutions (VC2TDE2C04) | ||
| Creating Designed Solutions | Generating and Designing | Explore, generate and communicate design ideas through describing, drawing or modelling, using manual and digital tools (VC2TDE2D02) | |
| Producing and Implementing | Use materials, components, tools and techniques to safely make designed solutions (VC2TDE2D03) | ||
| Science | Science Understanding | Physical Sciences | The way objects move depends on a variety of factors including their size, shape and material (VC2S2U10) |
| Pushes and pulls are forces that can change an object�s movement or shape and can be represented in terms of strength and direction (VC2S2U11) | |||
| Biological Sciences | Plants and animals have observable features that can be used to group them in different ways (VC2S2U01) | ||
| Plants and animals have basic needs, including air, water, food and shelter; the places where they live meet those needs (VC2S2U02) | |||
| Chemical Sciences | Materials can be combined in a variety of ways for particular purposes; the properties of objects and mixtures can differ from the properties of the materials from which they are made (VC2S2U05) | ||
| Materials can be changed physically by different actions without changing their material composition, including by bending, twisting, stretching, crushing, squashing and breaking into smaller pieces (VC2S2U06) | |||
| Science Inquiry | Questioning and predicting | Experiences can be used as a basis for posing questions to explore observed patterns and relationships, and to make predictions (VC2S2I01) | |
| Planning and conducting | Scientific questions and predictions can be investigated safely by following procedures that have sequenced steps (VC2S2I02) | ||
| Visual Arts | Exploring | Explore where, when, why and how people across cultures, communities, times, places and/or other contexts experience visual arts, including artworks created by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (VC2AVA2E01) | |
| Creating | Use visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials to create artworks that communicate ideas, experiences and observations (VC2AVA2C01) | ||
| Presenting | Present and share artworks in informal settings (VC2AVA2P01) |
Teacher & Student Resources
Puffing Billy Railway offers a range of pre and post excursion curriculum-linked resources to support teaching and learning in the classroom and at home. All resources are based around the topics of Energy, Force and Motion, Past and Present, Design and Technology and Biodiversity.
Do trains push or pull?
Our Community
Under Construction
Map my journey
The puff in Puffing Billy
Characters of the railway
Game changer
The Wonders of Wildlife
Teachers are welcome to download this workbook for the students to use while they are onsite at Puffing Billy Railway.
- Workbook | Download
Program details and information
Belgrave to Lakeside
| Fare type | One way ^ | Return |
|---|---|---|
| Kinder, P-10 students* | $31.40 | $37.70 |
| VCE students* | $45.35 | $55.25 |
| Adult* | $46.35 | $59.40 |
*These discounted rates only apply during school terms and are not available during school holidays or on public holidays.
^ Note: Single Journeys require bus pick up from Lakeside or Menzies Creek.
PLEASE NOTE
- Guided Programs are led by Education Officer and include:
- A Puffing Billy train journey.
- An educator-led, curriculum-aligned, education workshop.
- An exploration of the natural environment.
- The Additional Teacher/Leader Rate includes train fare plus guided program.
- SPECIAL NEEDS GROUPS – Additional Carers charged at student rates.
Please note: Rates are subject to change without notice.
| Group Type | Teacher/Leader to Student Ratio |
|---|---|
| Special Needs Groups | 1:1 |
| Early Years | 1:5 |
| Primary | 1:10 |
| Secondary | 1:10 |
| Tertiary | 1:20 |
| Group Type | Teacher/Leader to Student Ratio |
|---|---|
| Special Needs Groups | 1:1 |
| Early Years | 1:5 |
| Primary | 1:10 |
| Secondary | 1:10 |
| Tertiary | 1:20 |
-
DURATION
Half Day (approx. 10.30 am - 2.30 pm)
-
AVAILABILITY
Monday - Friday during the Victorian School Terms
-
LOCATION
OPTION 1 | RETURN JOURNEY
Meet the Education Officer at Belgrave Station at 10:00am for an 11:00am departure (approx. 1-hour journey). Disembark at Lakeside Station at 11:55am. Enjoy lunch, the Lakeside Visitor Centre, an Educator led workshop and the natural surrounds. Board Puffing Billy at 2:15pm and return to Belgrave Station at approx. 3:10pm.OPTION 2 | SINGLE JOURNEY
Meet the Education Officer at Belgrave Station at 10:00am for an 11:00am departure (approx. 1-hour journey). Disembark at Lakeside Station at 11:55am. Enjoy lunch, the Lakeside Visitor Centre, an Educator led workshop and the natural surrounds. Depart on your school bus from Lakeside at 2:15pm. Other options can be scheduled. according to Puffing Billy Railway timetable.
Enquiries
Enquire about our guided excursions via our online form.
Please contact the Education team for any further questions by emailing [email protected] or calling 03 9757 0700.
