Plan your Edendale Experience

Please ensure that all staff involved in the program receive and understand this information

 Bus drop off and pick up PLEASE NOTE: There is no bus parking on the Edendale site. Buses need to drop students off at the Eltham North Adventure Playground reserve (The Parade, Etham North - entrance is off Wattletree Road opposite Eltham North Primary School).

See map below.

 (JPG, 155KB)

It is recommended that before your bus leaves the school, you discuss with the bus drivers that the destination is the Eltham North Adventure Playground, not Edendale. There is NO bus access to Edendale via Gastons Road. If the bus does come up into the Gastons Rd carpark, reversing and turning around is not safe, will disrupt your students and likely delay the starting time of your excursion.  

 Getting Around Edendale

The map below shows all the farm's facilities including teaching spaces, toilets, car parks, paths and the cafe'.

Click to open the full-sized map and zoom in.

(JPG, 4MB)

First Aid

As our staff do not have access to your students’ medical records, you have primary duty of care over your students while they are at Edendale.

Teachers are expected to be prepared for any medical needs of their students, staff and helpers, particularly allergies. It is the school’s responsibility to bring their own first aid kits, EpiPens etc and to administer first aid to students. While Edendale does have first aid kits (including an EpiPen) these should be viewed as a backup resource for your visit.  Edendale also has a defibrillator on site. A Level 2 first aid qualified staff member is also present on the farm every day, as well as other staff who have CPR training.

Education staff incorporate a snake warning in the daily introduction (except during the winter months). We do not take the students into areas with long grass, we are mostly on paved paths or well-mown enclosures (e.g. for feeding chickens).

Notifying us of any students who have severe allergies will enable our staff to help minimise the chance of exposure to known allergens.  

Please be weather-prepared

Most activities at Edendale are conducted on or near the property. The environment includes open paddocks, bushland and gravelled pathways. We take care to provide the best conditions for students, however we do request that your students and staff come prepared with clothing and footwear suitable to outdoor activities under varied weather conditions including:

• sturdy, closed-toe shoes
• sunscreen and hat from September-May
• waterproof jacket and warm clothing, particularly in the cooler months
• water bottle (that can be refilled at our drinking fountains on site)

The waste issue

As Edendale’s focus is on helping everyone learn about looking after our environment we encourage students to bring rubbish-free lunch and snacks when they visit Edendale.

We will keep students’ organic waste at Edendale and we ask that all other waste be taken away with them. There are hooks for student bags so please encourage them to bring their own bags, re-usable lunch boxes and drink bottles on the day, rather than disposable plastic bags and single-use plastic bottles.

All school bags containing food should be able to be closed tightly (e.g. zipper) so birds cannot get into lunches.

 Café Eden

There is a café on site (open 10am – 2.30pm) for purchases by teachers and accompanying adults such as coffee, smoothies, milkshakes, toasties and cakes. Students should not be encouraged to use the café and should bring their own food for recess and lunch.

Please note that the café is small and can get quite busy, plus our breaks are fairly short, so pre-ordering lunch in the recess break is often a good idea. We can give you the break times at the start of the day.

Student behaviour

You are responsible for student behaviour while they are visiting the farm.  Please make sure you continue to supervise students during breaks and support our educators with behavioural management during lessons. You know your students better than we do.

This is a public site with lots of other visitors, particularly families with young children. Students must stay within sight of one of the school’s supervising adults at all times, particularly during breaks.

Change of date or cancellation

Given that we are now often booked out, particularly in Terms 2 and 3, a change of date within the term will often not be possible. If you do need to cancel, please give us as much notice as possible so that our teaching staff can be notified and so that another school can be slotted in your spot if possible. There is no fee for cancelling or postponing a program. 

Weather issues

If there is an extreme weather forecast on the day of your excursion (heat, rain, wind), one of our team will contact you prior to the day to discuss options. We only have limited indoor spaces, and endeavour to teach outdoors as much as possible. Breaks are also generally outside, unless it is raining heavily. We have an expanse of shade sails in our main amphitheatre area that help to provide protection from the sun and rain. There will be no charge for any excursions cancelled due to the weather. We may also sometimes have to change booked activities within a program on the day due to last minute staffing changes or weather – this very rarely occurs, however.

 Payment for your program

You will be invoiced after the excursion based on the numbers of students attending on the day, but our pricing is based on a minimum number of per class/group so you may be charged a minimum price if your numbers are below this.

Certificates and Insurance

Our current certificates and Insurance can be downloaded here

 Workcover insurance certificate(PDF, 44KB)

Public liability and professional indemnity certificate(PDF, 255KB)

Further information regarding visiting Edendale can be found on our website.

 We look forward to your visit. Please let us know if you require any further information.

Risk Assessment

We are committed to maintaining a safe and well-managed environment. For further details about risk management and safety processes, please refer to the education risk assessment worksheet(PDF, 499KB)

Potential allergens

Our worms are in worm farms that contain a variety of organic waste products including eggshells, kiwifruit, strawberries etc. Whilst there should not be any nuts in there, we cannot 100% guarantee that that’s not the case. If there are any students in your groups that should not hold a worm because of this, please let us know.

Also, the biodegradable pots that we use if we are planting a seed have some coconut product blended into them, so again – are there are any children in your groups that should not do this part of the activity (for those who have booked Grow Your Own where we plant a seed for the students to take home with them). They may also come into contact with soil/potting mix when potting up their seed.

We hand out clover hay to the students if they are doing farm tours, (for the sheep) and chicken feed (a mixture of sunflower seeds, sorghum wheat, triticale, cracked lupins, cracked maize, cracked peas, shell grit, soy bean meal and Lucerne chaff. Sometimes Lucky Layer pellets are mixed in as well – this contains cereals grains like wheat, barley and sorghum, vegetable protein meal, some calcium supplements and canola oil). 

Evacuation Procedures

Should an evacuation be necessary at Edendale, the Edendale Education Leader with your group will provide clear guidance and lead you to a safe appropriate location.

The map below indicates the Area Zones, Assembly Areas, Primary, Control Point and the location of electricity, gas and water connections.

Click to open the full-sized map and zoom in.

(PNG, 2MB)

 Edendale has a goal of being accessible to all.

• There are number of accessibility tools to help plan a safe, fun and meaningful trip to Edendale for your students. These tools include a Visual Story and Sensory Guide, 360 Virtual Tour and an Audio Guide. Please share these resources with any parents that may be interested in understanding the site better before the students attend.  
  
  
• There are two disabled parking spaces in the main carpark within the site
  
  
• There are a number of quieter spaces around the farm if a student needs some time with reduced stimulation. Please ask one of the Edendale teachers for more information on the day Mobility assistance equipment (e.g. crutches, wheelchair) should be brought by the student / school. While most activities will be run on reasonably flat surfaces and accessible via pathways, there are some undulating areas.

At Edendale, we are committed to being a child-safe community where all children and young people are welcomed, valued and protected.

We work together to create a safe and inclusive environment that supports their wellbeing and safeguards them from harm and abuse.

All Edendale staff and volunteers over 18 are required to have a Working with Children Check to be on site (or other relevant documentation such as Victorian Institute of Teaching registration). 

Our Council child safety policy document covers:

• Child safe standards
• Our commitment to child safety
• Child safety and wellbeing policy
• Reporting a child safety incident

For more information about our commitment, we invite you to view Nillumbik Councils Child Safety Policy.