The Back Creek Farm Experience
Introduce your students to a unique rural learning environment!
Welcome to Back Creek Farm!
Set in the rolling pastures of Scotsburn, 20km south of Ballarat on the Midland Highway, this working dairy farm has long been valued part of Christian College Geelong’s Year 9 Rural Studies program. Following an uplift in 2026, the site is now available for immersive learning experiences. There are many options for your students to experience, and benefit from, a variety of Pre-Primary, Primary and Secondary level learning programs. You are also welcome to book the site as a venue for your own day retreat activities.
Back Creek Farm offers programs aligned with Victorian and Australian Curricula and is staffed by VIT-registered specialist teachers, who support program delivery and host visits.
Fun, hands-on learning for students of all ages!
While our Rural Studies program is part of the Christian College Year 9 experience, over many years, children from our own kindergartens, and those in primary school years have enjoyed excursions to Back Creek Farm. They have undertaken a range of farm-focused fun activities designed and delivered by our staff, that rich, hands-on learning opportunities. One such program that is tailored for students from Pre-Primary to Upper Primary years is ‘Living Things’ which includes stations with various animal interactions and market gardening activities. Children love engaging with farm animals, and they get to take home a seedling they have planted.
Smaller groups at primary or secondary level have enjoyed more immersive farm experiences where they meet and interact with the dairy calves and use milk from the Back Creek Farm herd to make dairy products, like ice-cream; or work in the market garden, harvest some produce, and use it to make afternoon tea.
The possibilities are many, and we would also welcome you getting in touch with us to discuss specific needs and educational requirements for your students. Our Education Team can then design a unique program and activities to meet your requirements.
Looking for an idyllic rural setting for day-retreat activities?
Back Creek Farm is an ideal location for any schools, groups or organisations who are planning a day-retreat activity – be it a community or corporate training workshop or seminar, sessions focused on spirituality, wellbeing and/or team building and bonding, or any other suitable purpose. If you are interested in hiring the site only for day bookings, we would love to discuss your needs, and what the property can offer, with you.
Farm facilities and features
- Commercial kitchen and dining/meeting space (seats up to 30)
- Lounge and indoor games area
- Fully operational commercial dairy
- A range of shedding and farm equipment
- Farm animals – cows, goats, chickens, ferrets
- Nursery space for calves
- Extensive undercover verandah
Programs Available
Early Years Programs
A range of options offering hands-on experiences with living things, how and why we care for them, and their importance to us.
- Farm animals, incl. life cycles from calves to cows
- Dairy production (incl. making and sharing products)
- Plants and food systems, from seed to plate (vegetable growing and market gardening)
- The natural world, including native flora and fauna
- Art-based activities in the rural landscape
- Nature Crafting
Primary Schools Programs
For primary schools, we offer a wealth of Victorian and Australian curriculum-linked resources for hands-on explorations of living and non-living things in the world around us, and human interactions with them.
- Living things – plant and animal adaptations
- Dairy farming, market gardening, and dairy product creation (farm to kitchen)
- Food systems – paddock to plate (incl. Food Technology)
- Natural environment studies – native plants, birds and insects
- Water studies – monitoring health and aquatic life
- Environmental management – revegetation and regeneration
- Mapping, maths-based explorations, and nature based arts/crafting
- Local excursions – Mt Buninyong, Woowookarung Forest, Sovereign Hill and Eureka Centre
Secondary Schools Programs
Back Creek Farm can provide resources and learning programs that will support a wide range of secondary schooling learning areas and year levels, relevant to many areas of the Victorian/Australian curriculum.
- Living things – plant and animal adaptations
- Dairy farming and production, market gardening (farm to kitchen)
- Food Technology – farm to kitchen learning
- Agricultural studies – Back Creek Farm case study and local practices
- VCE VM – tailored, skills-based programs
- Art and media in a rural setting
- Cross-curricular links – Science, Maths, Geography, History, Outdoor & Environmental Studies, Agricultural Studies, selected VET
- Day retreats – incl. leadership, team-building, and reflection
Community Group Opportunities
Looking for a space for your yoga group, art or garden club, or a meeting for Rotary, Probus, or other community groups?
We offer a cost effective venue for meetings, workshops, and day retreats. Please contact us to discuss your needs.
Programs at Back Creek are all designed to be experiential, HANDS- ON activities.
We are open to collaboration with your teaching team or community group to discuss other exciting and unique ideas or programs for your group at our picturesque Farm campus. Our programs all have a strong focus on immersion in the environment and working alongside others in community.
CATERING can be facilitated by our Campus Chef, should it be required for your group. A range of options may be available and negotiated by discussion with the Farm Director. We can offer morning/ afternoon tea, snack boxes, cold or hot sit-down lunch meals, as required for your school or community group.
Enquire now!
Costs per student for a Back Creek Farm experience start at $10. Prices will vary according to the numbers of students attending in your group, and the type of learning experiences you would like them to have. Prices for site hire only are available on application.
Click the button below to make enquiries and to book. Alternatively, you can email us at farm@ccg.vic.edu.au or call on 5341 2051 to discuss how we can assist in making a genuine and unique farm experience come to life for your students.
