School Excursions
Why choose Jenolan Caves for your next school excursion?
World's oldest caves
In 2006, scientists from CSIRO, the University of Sydney and the Australian Museum revealed that Jenolan’s limestone caves date back more than 340 million years, to the Carboniferous, making them millions of years older than any reported date for an open cave anywhere in the world.
The finding was the result of a variation of conventional potassium-argon dating, which can calculate the age of minerals by measuring levels of decay caused by radioactive potassium. The age of the caves was determined by dating the clay minerals that crystallised when volcanic ash entered the caves. Click here for more information.
Inspirational
Jenolan is famous for spectacular beauty. School groups can choose to tour one or more of a range of sensational show caves.
The Jenolan Caves Karst Conservation Reserve is located in the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, and has been protected since 1866. Jenolan Caves is the ideal destination for school groups, and is best described as ‘Nature’s classroom’.
Truly unique surrounds offer students the opportunity to experience rare wildlife, unchanged and contrasting ecosystems, and geological formations wilder than the imagination.
We offer experiential learning through such activities as Adventure Caving, abseiling, guided tours and new science tours.
NEW - 2 New Science Activities for Stage 4 & 5
We have developed 2 exciting new activities that shine a spotlight on current scientific investigations in Jenolan’s Chifley Cave – ‘Science in the Chifley’ and ‘Science Karst Walk’.
These 2 new activities reveal current experiments by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), the CSIRO and the Australian Museum – real research done in a real environment.
Globally, the Chifley Cave is an important cave science site, where ANSTO is conducting the world’s longest-running cave monitoring program. Scientists have discovered 88 types of new methanotropic bacteria in the Chifley cave plus 8 new phosphate minerals. Science in the Chifley’ takes students on a fascinating journey through the cave, shedding light on all current research.
On the ‘Science Karst Walk’, students explore the Nettle Cave. Highlights include inspection of a palaeontological dig, where approximately 2,000 bone fragments have been found, revealing much about animals, some now extinct, that lived in the Jenolan area up to 200 years ago. Students also see stromatolytes, massive structures produced by colonies of cyanobacteria, which started growing around 20,000 years ago and are still growing.
So, now teachers have a wider choice at Jenolan - the traditional Lucas tour, ‘Science in the Chifley’, ‘Science Karst Walk’, plus the increasingly popular Plughole Adventure Caving experience, which is great for self-confidence and teamwork.
NEW - Linked to the New Curriculum
Choose from one of our existing programs or ask us to develop a package to fit the needs of your students and fulfil the learning outcomes of specific key learning areas outside the generic requirements. All our school activities include the syllabus codes so that you can immediately see which areas of the NSW school syllabus we can help you with.
Risk Management & Insurance
We will be more than happy to provide you with the risk management document, Venue and Safety Information for School Excursion, as required by the NSW Department of Education and Training. This document covers many issues such as first aid, bush fires, accidents and lost or missing students. Click here for our Certificate of Currency.
NEW - Free Teacher Resources
Newly developed pre and post excursion curriculum resources are available for our activities. These tools help to make the teachers job easier and the student experience more enriching.
Pre-excursion, we provide reading for you, the teacher, plus an outline of a full science lesson. You can use the lesson either before the excursion, to prepare your students, or after the excursion to reinforce their learning.
Then, for after the excursion, we provide you with a list of sample questions , tasks and short projects that will stimulate the minds of your students and reinforce their caves experiences.
Close to Sydney, but in another world
Jenolan Caves is about 2 hours from Katoomba, and 3 hours from Canberra.
The ‘5-Mile’ section of the Jenolan Caves Road is closed. Everyone must use Edith Road, which is unsuitable for coaches, with several tight hairpin bends. However, if you can obtain minibuses, that seat no more than 12, you can use those to bring your school group to Jenolan.
Contact
For bookings and further enquiries please contact us.
Groups Manager
02 6359 3907
groups@jenolancaves.org.au