Primary School Excursions

Our school excursions typically run every Monday to Friday during term time.

Our excursions for primary school students run for 2.5 hours, typically from 10.00am to 12.30pm. We encourage schools to aim to get to Perth Children’s Hospital, Nedlands WA by 9.45am to allow time to drop students off and walk around the large hospital complex. We start promptly at 10.00am and there is a playground area outside the Northern Entrance where your students can have a morning break if you get here early.

If you prefer for the school excursion to run in the afternoon, please contact our team so we can check our availabilities.

We also highly recommend you extend your excursion with a visit to Kings Park in the afternoon. The beautiful Koolangka rainbow bridge is conveniently located right outside the Discovery Centre entrance with the May Drive Parkland a 15-minute walk away.

Our primary school excursions are suitable for students in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. Download the Information Pack to view the recommended primary school year levels for each topic.

If you’re interested in organising an excursion for high school students, please contact our Education & Outreach team.

The maximum number of students we can accommodate each 2.5-hour school excursion session is two classes or 64 students. The students will be split into smaller groups to participate in the various activities involved in each school excursion trip.

We charge our school excursions according to the following pricing structure:

• $7.00 plus GST per student, per session for 20 students or more
• Less than 20 students per session: a flat fee of $140 + GST

If your school ICSEA score is below 1000 you qualify for one free excursion or incursion per year.

Telethon Kids Institute offers one of the best school excursions in Perth for science and health learning, as it provides a valuable opportunity for your students to visit a world-class research institute, interact with real-life Telethon Kids researchers and see STEM subjects come to life, as they are applied to life-saving medical research. 

Each 2.5-hour school excursion trip to Telethon Kids Institute includes:

• Time in the Discovery Centre, where your students will learn about science and health and research through interactive games
• Science activities run by actual Telethon Kids researchers
• A guided viewing of a real-life working science lab

We also set aside some time for your students to have a quick recess break in between all the activities.

Yes! Download the Excursion Program to view details of each topic and links to the Australian Curriculum.

If you do decide not to go ahead with a booked school excursion, please provide at least 30 days’ notice so we can offer another group the opportunity to visit.  Unless there are exceptional circumstances, if you do not provide the required notice the school will be charged a $100 cancellation fee. Schools that do not provide any notice of cancellation and fail to attend on the day will be charged the total excursion fees as specified on the Booking Confirmation Form. View our excursion Terms & Conditions.

We encourage schools to bring as many supervisors as they feel necessary to a school excursion at Telethon Kids Institute. However, the minimum ratio for supervision is 1:10 for all year groups. We highly recommend the following adult to student ratios: 

1:6 – year 3-4 

1:8- year 5-6 

Yes, all staff and volunteers at the Discovery Centre and Telethon Kids Institute, who will be working in direct contact with the children, have a current WWC checks and Police Clearance. 

Whilst the Discovery Centre is closed to the public when school excursions take place, there may be members of the public present in other parts of Perth Children’s Hospital. We recommend you select a suitable method to identify your students. Wearing school uniforms, name tags, badges, wrist bands or lanyards help supervisors and Discovery Centre Staff to quickly identify school excursion participants.  

Certainly! Please email all changes to a booked school excursion to the Outreach & Education team via schools@telethonkids.org.au 

Due to limited space, it is recommended that students leave their school bags and any other valuables at school where possible. There is limited space for students to bring their water bottles and a small snack. Unfortunately, we are unable to store any valuables or keep any food cold. We also recommend for students to bring a hat that they can wear during the recess break on the grassy area outside.

It is the responsibility of the school to advise the Education & Outreach team if any students have special needs prior to the school excursion taking place. Telethon Kids Institute and Perth Children’s Hospital have lifts and all areas of the building are wheelchair accessible, including toilets and first aid rooms. Telethon Kids Institute cannot guarantee a nut free environment. 

If your school is delayed on the day of your visit, please contact us on 6319 1000. 

We strongly encourage you and your students to be dropped of by a bus or catch public transport as parking at the hospital is often busy. If you require bus parking for your visit please contact us at least 10 days before your visit as we may be able to reserve a bay for you. Please note this is not guaranteed and has costs associated.

Volunteers/parent helpers travelling separately can park in the paid public car parking areas around the vicinity of Perth Children’s Hospital.

Perth Children’s Hospital is also accessible by public transport with bus stops located along Hospital Avenue, directly outside the entrance to the hospital. If your bus is dropping you off you will be provided with a map closer to your visit.
hospital. If your bus is dropping you off you will be provided with a map closer to your visit.

A map of the bus drop off area can be found here.

Please note it is not permitted for buses to stop in active transperth bus stops. 

We highly recommend you extend your excursion with a visit to Kings Park in the afternoon. The beautiful Koolangka rainbow bridge is conveniently located right outside the Discovery Centre entrance with the May Drive Parkland a 15-minute walk away.

Yes, and we highly recommend that you do! The Discovery Centre is FREE entry and open to the public every Monday to Friday, 9-3pm, throughout the school term and school holidays. We are closed on public holidays and between Christmas and New Years’ Day.

We also host Science & Sip Educators’ Evenings throughout the year where you are welcomed to try out an excursion program and meet our researchers and Outreach & Education team before planning a visit with your class. Make sure to sign up to the Discovery Centre + Schools mailing list to be first to know when the free tickets to the next Science & Sip event are released.