QPAC

Essentials for Educators

How to Book

School group bookings can be made online. School bookings cannot be made by phone.

All performances and most workshops need to be pre-booked. Please be aware that free events are popular so you may not be able to participate in your preferred free activity as planned. We suggest you consider a few options for any free time you have allocated.

School Group Ticket Prices
Performances: School Groups 10+ $30 (one teacher free per 10 students booked)
Workshops: Students $15

Workshops are just $10 per student when booked in addition to a performance. All additional adults with a school booking pay school prices.   

Seating in the Lyric Theatre, Concert Hall, Playhouse and Cremorne Theatres will be allocated seating. It may therefore be difficult to change bookings. Please ensure total numbers are provided. Tickets will be allocated in order of receipt of booking. Please check your tickets carefully on receipt and notify QPAC Group Sales of any errors.

Contact Us

BOOKING ENQUIRIES
Email: groups@qpac.com.au
Phone: (07) 3840 7466 or (07) 3842 9772 
between 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday

EDUCATION ENQUIRIES
Email: education@qpac.com.au

Helpful Information

Education Resources

FAQs

Bookings

I know the festival is very popular. When will my booking be processed?
Bookings will be processed in the order they are submitted online. 

How can I make sure we get into our preferred performances and workshops?
Many events will fill up quickly. We encourage you to book as early as possible to avoid disappointments.

Support Materials

How do we ensure we have the right production or event for our age group?
Check suitability ratings provided in the Essentials for Educators brochure. Out of the Box recognises that children will react individually to performances.

Where can I find more educational information for events at Out of the Box?
Additional support materials will be available on each event web page at qpac.com.au closer to the festival.

On-site Assistance

Is there someone who can assist when my group arrives at the festival?
If you request a Festival Buddy when booking, one will be assigned to your group to assist you and direct you to performance or workshop venues. Front of House staff at each venue, identified by their uniforms, will also be available to assist groups.

I have children with individual needs. What access do we have to the venues?
When booking, we recommend that you identify your requirements in the dedicated area within the online booking form. All venues are accessible for wheelchairs, though booking of specific seats is essential. Lift access is available for all events.

If you have any further enquiries, please contact us via email at groups@qpac.com.au

Helpful Information

Plan Your Day

The Out of the Box weekday program has been designed to coincide with the school timetable, allowing you to travel to and from the festival in school hours. Here you’ll find some information to help plan your day.

Out of the Box extends across the Cultural Precinct, including QPAC, QAGOMA, Queensland Museum and State Library of Queensland. We encourage you to explore the full Out of the Box experience.

Once you have selected your ticketed events and decided on which free activities you would like to attend, carefully consider the time and routes required to move between venues across the festival site. A festival map will be available for download closer to the festival dates.

  • We suggest you arrive 30 minutes before starting your day to allow plenty of time to orientate your group to the festival site, make a toilet stop and find your performance/workshop venue. Please allow at least 15 minutes to get to each performance/workshop.
  • Allow sufficient time between performances or workshops for breaks.
  • Consider requesting a Festival Buddy to guide you during your day at the festival.

Volunteers, identifiable by their brightly coloured t-shirts and lanyards, will be highly visible across the Cultural Precinct to provide directions and up-to-date program information. Front of House staff at each venue, identified by their QPAC uniforms, will also be available to assist your groups. We recommend that you identify any requirements regarding mobility and other individual needs when booking.

Festival Buddies

If you’ve never attended QPAC’s Out of the Box festival before and are not sure what to expect, don’t worry - Festival Buddies are here to help.

A Buddy is a volunteer who will meet your group when you arrive, help you safely navigate the festival site, and ensure you are on time for your performances and workshops. They will be on hand to provide information and assistance throughout the day, and help you get the most out of your Out of the Box experience.

There is no additional cost for a Festival Buddy. All school groups attending a ticketed event at Out of the Box can request a Festival Buddy when booking. Buddies will be allocated to school groups as bookings are received and they will contact you prior to your visit to confirm final arrangements.

Transport

There are many easy ways to get to Out of the Box, whether it be via a short walk from the city across Victoria or Neville Bonner Bridge, driving and parking in one of the nearby car parks, or using one of the public transport options that stop just outside QPAC or are within easy strolling distance. 

Travel costs will vary for each school group.

Public Transport
For bus, train and ferry timetable information, please visit Translink at translink.com.au or call on 13 12 30. If you are travelling by public transport, you may wish to purchase a “single group ticket”. Up to 32 adults, children and concessions can travel together on a single group ticket for a more seamless transport experience. If you are travelling with more than 32 people, additional tickets will need to be purchased. For more information, visit the ‘Group travel’ page on the Translink website.

By Train
South Brisbane Station is directly opposite QPAC on Grey Street. During the festival, a designated pedestrian crossing will be in place for access between QPAC and South Brisbane Station. 

By Bus
The Cultural Centre Busway Station, South Bank, has regular Translink bus routes in operation. The busway station is the first stop outside the city, in zone 1, directly South of Victoria Bridge. Use the Melbourne Street pedestrian overpass to reach all venues within the festival site.

By CityCat
The CityCat service runs along the Brisbane River between Hamilton and St. Lucia. South Bank ferry terminal is the festival stop.

Taxi
The designated taxi set down and pick up area is on the Russell Street side of QPAC, adjacent to Grey Street. If you need to call a taxi, approach QPAC Front of House staff or a volunteer who can direct you to Stage Door for assistance.

Charter Bus
There are a number of chartered bus companies that can arrange transportation for your school. A bus set down area is available in Grey Street and in Stanley Place outside the State Library of Queensland. Out of the Box personnel will direct bus drivers to long term parking options away from this area. If arriving by bus, please consider where your first activity is located within the Cultural Precinct to determine the closest bus set down area. Out of the Box staff can provide assistance in making this decision when booking. You may wish to arrive and depart from the different bus set down areas. Please discuss this with your driver.

Supervision and Safety

The following information may be useful in your briefings for parents/carers regarding supervision and safety precautions at the festival.

Festival staff and artists working directly with children will hold a current Blue Card following an approved QLD Government Working with Children Check. Festival staff and volunteers will be identifiable by their festival t-shirts and security tags. Cultural Centre staff will be identifiable by their uniforms and/or security tags.

A Festival Buddy is a volunteer who can provide onsite guidance. They will meet you at your arrival point, show you to the venues and point out essential facilities throughout the entire Cultural Centre. Teachers can book a Buddy on the festival booking form.

Volunteers provide on-site assistance and directions to venues and essential facilities across the Cultural Centre.

Emergency 24 hour contact with the venue is available through the Cultural Centre Authority Security on (07) 3840 7500. A map with first aid stations clearly marked across the festival site will be available.

What you can do
Use the designated crossings staffed by registered lollipop personnel or City Council footpaths and the Melbourne Street overpass to travel between venues. We DO NOT recommend that you use the street level intersection of Melbourne and Grey streets due to the high volume of bus and car traffic at this intersection. Outdoor activity requires sun protection and bringing adequate drinking water is recommended. There will be large volumes of people on site during the festival, ensure school groups remain together while attending. Advise your students against bringing high allergen foods to the festival for their safety and the safety of other attendees.

Risk Assessment
A risk assessment report has been conducted by QPAC to National Safety Council of Australia standards. As part of this risk assessment, QPAC has a Working with Children Policy in place. We appreciate that lighting and sound elements are often key to a child’s comfort in unfamiliar theatre spaces. Lighting and sound levels – whether recorded or live – will be appropriate levels for young audiences. 

Excursion Paperwork

The following information is provided to assist teachers in completing the approval processes, OneSchool requirements and the Variation to School Routine form required for excursions. Update based on your specific experience and school requirements. 

Variations to school routine
The first four days of the festival have been designed to enable you to travel to and from the festival during school hours. Your daily schedule will vary depending on what time performances and workshops you select.

A suggested itinerary is: 
9.00am Arrive at QPAC 
9.30am See a performance / participate in a workshop 
10.20am Morning tea / Visit one of the free exhibitions or installations around the festival
11.00am Participate in a workshop
11:45am Lunch break
1.00pm See a performance / Participate in a workshop
2.00pm Depart QPAC

When planning your day, ensure you leave sufficient time between performances or workshops to travel to your next booking. 

Educational Outcomes

The Educator's guide will provide links to explicitly connect performances to achievement standards and content descriptors in the Australian Curriculum (V9.0) and the Early Year Learning Framework (V2.0). These links are to support your ACARA documents and Excursion planners. The exciting range of performances and workshops cover several curriculum areas. 

The festival aligns with the aims of The Arts Syllabus and celebrates the importance of students experiencing the arts outside of their classrooms.   

The Arts aims to develop students’:

  • Creativity, critical thinking, aesthetic knowledge and understanding about arts practices;
  • Knowledge and skills to imagine, observe, express, respond to and communicate ideas and perspectives in meaningful ways;
  • Use of available resources and materials including digital tools;
  • Empathy for multiple perspectives and understanding of personal, local, regional, national and global histories and traditions through the arts;
  • Engagement with the diverse and continuing cultures, arts works and practices of First Nations Australians;
    • understanding of local, regional, national and global cultures, and their arts histories and traditions, through engaging with the worlds of artists, arts work, audiences and arts professions.

Experience Performance

This is a guide for you to provide to the parents/carers of your students. It outlines tips to prepare children for the Out of the Box experience and a stimulus for reflection post event.   Traditional ideas of theatre etiquette are modified to suit our young festival patrons. We believe the following tips will help children and accompanying adults feel welcome and at ease with the live performance experience at Out of the Box festival.  Full teacher resources will be available at the end of Term 1 to further prepare students and provide extension activities. They will be made available on the Out of the Box website.

Preparations beforehand

  • Discuss previous theatre experiences. What does a theatre look like? If you’ve seen any shows, recall the experience. Share what you know about watching live performances.
  • How is watching live theatre different to watching a screen, TV or tablet? How do the setting and elements of theatre change your experience of the story?
  • Discuss the roles of audience and actor. Both are important in delivering the live performance. Unlike a television program or film, the performers can see and hear what goes on in the audience.
  • Discuss what to do during a performance if a child is worried or frightened. For example, children could tell the person next to them how they are feeling; or approach their teacher, Festival Buddy or QPAC Front of House staff for support.
  • Browse the Out of the Box website with them and read about the different featured events.

At the theatre

  • The Out of the Box festival experience embraces a “relaxed approach”. We encourage students to engage in a way that feels natural to them, their reactions are valued and appreciated!
  • The festival aims to embrace and support students’ natural responses.
  • If you need any assistance during a performance such as to accompany a child outside, please speak to a QPAC Front of House staff member.
  • It’s fine for children to talk quietly during the performance – they may need to discuss something that is happening at the time.
  • Traditionally, applause is the way to show appreciation if you enjoyed the show.
  • Encourage children to think about their experience post show.

What to say on the way home

Use open-ended questions for more than a yes or no answer:

  • Which parts of the show do you remember?
  • Which parts were funny?
  • Which parts were scary?
  • What were the names of the characters in the story?
  • Can you remember some of the things they did?
  • Why do you think they did that? It is quite common for young children to take away meanings or interpret events in ways that seem ‘incorrect’. Ask them ‘what’ questions to help them recall the story and ‘why’ questions to help them think about the meaning of the story.


With older children, you can move to ‘how’ questions:

  • How did the artist show they were on a journey?
  • How did they use music and lights to help the story?
  • How did they portray the different characters?

Australian curriculum (V9.0)

The children’s festival experience offers opportunities for creating, making, presenting and responding in early childhood classrooms. The performances and workshops are all linked to The Australian Curriculum (Version 9) and the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) V2. 

On return to the classroom, teachers can elaborate on festival images, themes, issues and artistic forms and link them into the children’s learning experiences, helping them deepen their engagement with the live performances, exhibitions and workshops they attended. Full learning resources linked to each performance and workshop will be available from the end of Term 1.  

Learning experiences

  • Interpret visual stimulus - students can draw or write about their favourite moments from the performances/workshops/free events and share with the class. Exhibit their work for other students, parents and friends to view.
  • Explore Theatre – using a cardboard box and other materials, children can construct a miniature theatre with performers. Encourage children to decide what show will be on their stage and create scenery and props to suit.
  • Explore key vocabulary related to the specific events they attended. For example: performer, puppeteer, lighting effects, sound effects, the names of the instruments, mood.
  • Create your own classroom festival using recycled materials. Children can recreate some of the events and exhibitions they attended.
  • Using drama, students can consider how they might react if they were in the same position as a character. Structure and guide role-plays to deepen understanding about a theme or situation.
  • Discuss the symbolism of objects and colours used in different performances.

Closing note to Educators: Within each learning experience, evoke ideas and creativity through the discussion of elements of the performances and workshops as much as possible, for the arts has the power to enrich, engage and inspire young minds. 

Plan Your Visit

Program details are accurate at the time of printing. QPAC reserves the right to alter programs and artists where necessary. The indicated duration of all performances and workshops is approximate. In the event of inclement weather, performances and workshops may be cancelled. If the performance is cancelled, patrons may exchange their tickets for an equivalent priced performance subject to availability on the day. Refunds to be given if exchanges are not possible. Live Performance Australia Code of Practice for event ticketing. No refund or exchange once booking is complete and payment is received.