Schools in Fire Country is a bushfire education program for Year 5 and 6 students. It empowers students to learn, investigate and contribute to bushfire safety in their local community.
This program is informed by over ten years of research into Child Centred Disaster Risk Reduction Education. It provides schools with teaching and learning activities that are aligned with the curriculum, and relevant to children and where they live. Fire agencies and other local organisations provide support and subject matter expertise.
Why the Schools in Fire Country program exists
Climate change is contributing to more frequent and intense bushfires across Victoria. Children are particularly vulnerable to the physical and psychological impacts of bushfire.
Bushfire education for children and young people is part of the Year 5 and 6 curriculum, and has been identified as a priority in every major fire inquiry since 1939.
High quality bushfire education has a number of benefits, including:
- giving students potentially life-saving knowledge
- reducing student anxiety around bushfires
- enabling students to make valuable contributions to bushfire risk reduction in their home, school or wider community.
The Schools in Fire Country program draws upon over a decade of research and promotes student voice and participation through its action-oriented approach.
How the program ties in with the curriculum
The project-based learning model directly addresses learning outcomes and achievement standards for key learning areas and capabilities across the Victorian curriculum for Year 5 and 6.
Find out more about the curriculum scope and sequence (DOCX 70.9KB).
Support for teachers
Teachers are provided with an introductory briefing and a suite of cross-curricular aligned teaching and learning activities.
Fire agencies and other community partners supplement program content with their expertise and local knowledge.
Program content
The Schools in Fire Country program is delivered across one or two terms and consists of three phases of learning; Discover, Investigate and Take Action. The video below provides an overview of the Schools in Fire Country program.
Phase One: Discover
The first phase of the program is about exploring the pre-existing knowledge and attitudes students have about bushfire. It also provides a foundation of bushfire knowledge which supports the rest of the program. Topics covered include:
- Fire ecology - how fire impacts Victoria's ecosystem.
- Aboriginal cultural burning - fire management through the lens of First Nations people.
- Bushfire behaviour in the landscape - how bushfires start and spread.
- Bushfire risk - bushfire hazards and how to assess bushfire risk.
Phase Two: Investigate
The second phase of the program focuses on students coming up with a relevant, real-life issue related to bushfire they would like to explore for their research project.
1. Choose a project focus
Students choose a topic to be the focus of their project. They are encouraged to identify an issue that could be making their family or community more vulnerable to bushfire.
2. Create a problem statement
Once students have identified an issue relevant to them, they put it in the form of a problem statement. Students give feedback on one another's problem statements.
3. Research the problem
Students search for relevant, trustworthy and credible resources online to help them understand their problem more deeply. They record relevant findings in a concept map.
4. Interview community members
Students identify people in their school community to interview about their problem. They come up with interview questions and conduct interviews, recording and analysing the data they find.
5. Contact a subject matter expert
Students identify experts in the area they are researching. They plan and draft an email to an expert to ask for their help with their project.
Phase Three: Take Action
The third phase of the program supports students to come up with solutions to the issue they have chosen. They test their solutions with their peers and experts, and refine the best one into something which can be used in their local context.
1. Ideate
Students come up with possible solutions to their problem. They assess their ideas and pick the best one to pursue. They interview a subject matter expert to help them test and refine their solution.
2. Develop a solution
From there, students work on creating their final product, which could be anything from a video, a guide, a diagram, a kit or anything the students can develop which will help solve their problem. Students will also have the support of local expertise and agencies to do this.
3. Present the project
At the end of the program, students hold a showcase to present their work to their classmates, school community, and parents and carers.
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Outcomes of the program
- Students gain a holistic understanding of fire and its role in the Australian landscape.
- Students learn how to research, identify and develop solutions to local bushfire-related problems. They recognise themselves as agents of change in their community, work as teams, learn from one another, and are encouraged to share their discoveries with the people around them.
- A variety of resources are created by students, from videos and computer games, websites, dioramas and posters.
- Students may also influence policy and emergency management planning.
Classroom activities meet curriculum milestones, enhance student voice and agency, and allow students to make a meaningful contribution to community safety.
- Strengthened relationships between children, teachers, fire agency staff, and the broader community.
What people have said about the program
Every single young person can engage with this and walk away having made a meaningful difference.
- Principal, Harkaway Primary School
We will include it every second year in our Inquiry cycle. It’s too important not to include this material.
- Teacher, Chewton Primary School
The Schools in Fire Country program is currently being tested and refined in a small number of schools before being rolled out more widely. We are currently seeking schools who would be keen to test this program in a classroom setting with Year 5 and 6 students. Enquire about the program via bushfire education enquiry form
Page last updated: Tuesday, 21 October 2025 11:02:24 AM