Hands on Learning
Hands On Learning (HOL) is a program that encourages students to engage and achieve at school whilst also building confidence and skills. One day a week, up to ten students spend the day outside the classroom developing teamwork and leadership skills. Rainbow P-12 College encourage HOL students to be involved with projects around the school and the wider community, as well as their own benefit. The HOL hut is the Homebase for the HOL students; it is a converted shed on school grounds located at West Paddock. This is where students prepare and share meals and organise their activities.
VET
Rainbow P-12 offers a wide range of Vocational Education and Training (VET) opportunities to Year 10 and above in skill based subjects such as : Agriculture, Automotive, Beauty & Hairdressing, Building & Construction, Community Services, Dance, Drama, Electrotechnology, Health, Hospitality, Music, Plumbing & Visual Arts.
These and other courses (depending on demand) are provided in pathways with the Wimmera Trade Training Centre, Federation Univeristy, Centre for Participation, Skillinvest and Horsham College. Students undertake courses, not subjects and are taught by industry trainers not teachers. Nobody follows up on homework and competencies are strictly adhered to. VET is a practical, but not easy option for many students that can lead onto employment, school based apprenticeships or full apprenticeships.
Students spend one day a week (usually a Wednesday, travelling to Horsham) at these sites gaining competencies in predominantly Certificate II subjects. VET has had all the travel costs funded for the first time in 2022.
There is also a “Try-a-VET” day in third term for Year 9 students to investigate whether they want to enroll in VET in Year 10.
DigiTech & Techspace
In line with the Victorian Curriculum Rainbow P-12 College offers DigiTech as a subject from Foundation (Prep) to Grade 6. The main elements of the course are Digital systems, Data & information and Creating digital solutions. The students will learn the basics of coding and computational thinking in both the unplugged format (no computers) and via a number of robotic and Lego sets.
The College has developed a Techspace located in the Collaborative Learning Space. This area provides students access to a wide variety of technology such as Lego, Sphero, Ollie, Dash & Dot, Ozobots, video cameras and Osmo just to name a few.
Avocados
Avocados is a program where every student from P-12 is placed in a small group (5-6 students) with a specific teacher for 20 minutes at the start of every Thursday. The purpose of this time together is to build relationships amongst students and between students and staff. It is also used as a time to reflect on our school values and character strengths as well as participate in team building and fun activities. It is to encourage connectedness with peers and the school to ensure that we provide as many protective factors for our students as possible.
Music
Music is offered to all students at Rainbow P-12 College. Students can elect to join the piano program, which operates through withdrawal from regular classes for one lesson per week.
At the junior level, music is taught as a classroom subject, ensuring that all students have access to some musical education.
Shake, Rattle & Read
“Shake, Rattle & Read” is a fun pre-school pre-reading programme. The purpose of the programme is to support parents, grandparents and caregivers through the sharing of rhymes, songs, and storybooks with kids. The program teaches rhymes for parents to use daily with their child/children from birth to kinder age in a fun and interactive way.
Camps
The College endeavours to provide a comprehensive and engaging camps program for our students.
JUNIOR SCHOOL (P-6)
The structure of the junior school is based on a two year rotation and the class configuration each year.
- P-1 : Halls Gap Zoo or Angora Goat Farm/Aquatic centre
- 2-4 : Roses Gap or Echuca (Billabong Ranch)
- 5/6 : Students go on Cluster camps to either Melbourne Urban Camp or Sovereign Hill Ballarat
- *Somers Camp is offered to a limited number of Grade 5/6 students (attendance is by ballot)
SENIOR SCHOOL (7-12)
This may vary from year to year depending on eligibility and topics taught in classes. In the past students have gone on the following camps
- 7/8 : Surf camp, Anglesea & Kryal Castle, Ballarat
- 9/10 : Sailing Camp
- VCAL : Grand Prix, Melbourne, Charlton Driving School
School for Student Leadership
School for Student leadership is offered to Year 9 students. It is a nine week residential program where students learn a number of personal and physical skills. Eligibility is dependent on whether the College is allocated a number of places each year.
Students have to go through a rigorous application process (letter, references & interview) to be accepted into the program. In the past students have attended the Gnurad-Gundidj, Don Valley and Snowy Mountain campuses.
The students are involved with planning and organising a CLP (Community Learning Project) that they implement when they come back to school.
A number of our students have also had the opportunity to be involved in international travel as part of this program.
Our Space
Each year level group has a designated areas, both out in the yard and specific class areas to look after for the year. The purpose of this activity (which will occur at least once a term) is :
- To keep the school looking neat and tidy
- To develop a sense of ownership and pride in the school
- To encourage team work and community spirit
The “Our Space” activity fits into our curriculum in a number of ways:
- It fits into our Positive Education framework under the M of PERMA which refers to meaning which relates to our efforts to encourage students to get involved in community activities
- It also fits into the Victorian Curriculum civics and citizenship component of the Humanities course.
