Rainbow P-12 College prides itself on providing a diverse, engaging and challenging curriculum from P-12 level.

At junior school level the students have access to specialist classes in Art, Science, Foods, Technology and Media. There is a Personal Learning curriculum from 7-10 (PEEC – Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum) which encourages students to develop an understanding of how they learn. At Year 9 level we offer the Duke of Edinburgh certificate as a class.  There is also an  electives program offered at Year 9/10. We offer alternative pathways via Hands on Learning (7-10), VET and VCAL (year 10-12).

P-6 

Literacy

CAFÉ Reading
In the Junior School this year, we have implemented CAFÉ Reading. This involves Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding Vocabulary when reading. It’s a fun way for the students to remember reading strategies and to sustain read for longer periods of time. The students love the reading characters and have found a real passion for reading, using their new strategies.

Reading eggs
Reading Eggs is an on-line program that supports each child with their reading. It supports learning by offering individual lessons that allow children to progress at their own rate. The program has been developed by highly experienced educators and focuses on a core reading curriculum of phonics, spelling and sight words using strategies that promote reading success. The children enjoy using interactive animations, games, songs and rewards to motivate them and make learning to read enjoyable. Reading Express is an additional component of the program that caters for students from Prep to Grade 6 and focuses on building reading vocabulary, fluency and comprehension using books from a digital library. These programs are also accessible for families to use at home.

Numeracy

In the junior school section of the College, students engage in a variety of learning tasks to extend their numeracy skills. They also use Mathletics to support learning within the classroom. Students access Mathletics Live to assist with the accuracy of their number fact recall. During this time they can compete against students from around the world or with students from their class or simply compete against the computer. They also engage in various curriculum-aligned Maths content and receive instant feedback which encourages independent learning.

Developmental Play

Developmental Play is based on rigorous research and theory. It looks at developing the whole child and provides opportunity for active learning from the world around them. It encourages language development, social skills, risk taking, problem solving, creativity and fine-motor skills as well as working towards improving literacy and numeracy skills. Developmental Play provides a range of opportunities for children to explore, investigate and engage in purposeful and meaningful experiences such as using a reading corner, writing activities, role-plays, dress-ups, interest tables, constructions, art, mathematics, science and sensory areas to name a few. It reinforces concepts and tasks being taught formally in the areas of literacy and numeracy in a more relaxed and enjoyable way. Students are asked to reflect on their learning to their peers and teacher.

7-12 

9/10 Electives program

At 9/10 level students are provided with an electives program where they select 3 subjects to study each semester. Each subject has a three period allocation per week.

Students can select from Ag & Hort, Art, Foods, Health Information Technology, LOTE(German), Media, Music, Science, Technology and Textiles depending on the staff available each semester.

Ag. Studies

The College offers Agricultural & Horticultural Studies as a middle school elective (9/10) and as a VCE subject. It is also offered as a VET subject at the Longernong College. A number of senior students also take up local opportunities to complete School Based Apprenticeships (SBA) in Agriculture.

Programs offered include :

  • Cows Create Careers : where students get to foster two dairy calves and learn about the dairy industry.
  • Sheep work : students develop skills in handling and working with sheep
  • Landcare : students are involved with helping to establish & build walking tracks in town

Senior Pathways – VCE

Rainbow P-12 College offers an extensive range of VCE subjects. The College uses the unique process of shaping the subject blockings on the basis of student choice. This allows for small classes that are tailored to meet the career paths of each individual student. If there is a chance that the College cannot offer the subject we ensure access to video-conferencing and distant education options.

Language Assistant

Our LOTE German program is enhanced by a Language Assistant program. This allows us to have access to and support from a native German speaker to work in our classrooms and with our teachers to deliver the LOTE German program across the school.

Senior Pathways - VCAL

VCAL (Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning) is offered at Foundation, Intermediate and Senior levels and sits alongside VCE/Year 12 courses. Students who are enrolled in, or have completed their VET certificates can access this program. It provides a much more “hands on” approach to senior schooling. It includes a personal development unit as well as taking a project based approach to learning.

Learning Support 

Rainbow P-12 College provides a number of support structures to assist students who need extra support with their learning. These include:

Individual Education Plans & support groups

Support groups are established to discuss the learning of the specific student. From these meetings an IEP is established and used as the basis for ongoing proactive discussions in subsequent meetings.

Quicksmart

The Quicksmart program is an intervention strategy that addresses both literacy and numeracy outcomes for educationally disadvantaged students. Its purpose is to provide necessary tuition and support to students who are currently experiencing difficulties in these areas within a motivational learning environment. The intervention aims to improve student’s information retrieval times to levels that free working memory capacity from an excessive focus on routine tasks. This allows students to refocus their brain on higher-order mental processing.

MultiLit

MultiLit (Making Up for Lost Time in Literacy) is an intensive one-on-one literacy program for low progress readers. It focuses on accuracy in reading and spelling and uses such strategies as word attack skills, reinforced reading and sight words.

Tutoring

In 2021 the College implemented the Tutoring Program to extend students in particular focus areas including English, Maths, Science and Organisational skills.

Fountas & Pinnell Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI)

The Levelled Literacy Intervention program is a small group supplementary intervention designed for students who find reading and writing difficult. The goal of the intervention is to bring the students to grade level achievement. It is a short term intervention that provides instruction in reading, writing, phonics and word study. It is based on the Fountas & Pinnell (F&P) Text Level Gradient and students are selected using the F&P benchmark testing program.

Student Wellbeing 

Rainbow P-12 College has a commitment to the whole student, this includes not only their academic development but also their social and emotional growth. Rainbow P-12 has a variety of student wellbeing programs that combine to support our above commitment.

PEEC (Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum)

The PEEC curriculum is used to explicitly teach social and emotional learning from P-12 . It is based on the PERMA model of Positive Education. It focuses on the following :

  • Positive Relationships - empathy, forgiveness, teamwork & kindness
  • Positive Emotions - emotional intelligence, gratitude, positivity & self control
  • Positive Health - mind-body, physical wellbeing, resilience & self knowledge
  • Positive Engagement - creativity, curiosity, flow & motivation
  • Positive Accomplishment - decision making, goal setting, grit & mindfulness
  • Positive Purpose - care-giving, character development, core values & sense of meaning

Be You (BeyondBlue)

This is a package of professional learning, advice and support co-ordinated by Beyond Blue giving teachers the tools and information to support children and young people, from birth to 18 years of age, towards better mental health and wellbeing; so they grow up understanding there is no health without mental health. It provides Rainbow P-12 College with a cohesive and seamless approach to the mental health and wellbeing of our students.

Achievement Program

The Achievement program is an overarching framework that provides Rainbow P-12 with a structure for co-ordinating our approach to support health and wellbeing in our school community. The program is overseen by a wellbeing committee which is made up of representatives from the student body, parents, staff and the wider community.

The Man Cave & Flourish Girl

At Rainbow P-12 College we believe it is important for students to develop their social and emotional health. To achieve this aim the College has established an ongoing relationship with the organisations The Man Cave and Flourish Girl to provide workshops each year to discuss issues and concerns and to check in on how our students ae travelling.

Better Buddies

The Alannah and Madeline Foundation’s Better Buddies Framework is an initiative designed to create a friendly and caring junior school community where bullying is reduced. Through the program students in Prep/1 and 5/6 of the junior school buddy up and learn the values: caring for others, friendliness, respect, valuing differences, including others and responsibility via a number of activities during transition, at the start of the year and throughout the year. The highlight is always the very well catered for Teddy Bears picnic.

Guys & Girls

Guys and Girls is a self-esteem program run by West Wimmera Health Service (WWHS) at Grade 5/6 level. The sessions include activities and discussions on; nutrition, exercise, friendship, bullying, body image, changing negative self-talk into positive self-talk and being an individual. The aim of the program is to develop a positive self-image “I always like being me”. The sessions run fortnightly for 14 weeks.

DET provision

Students may also be referred to DET Student Services for specialised support with speech pathology, counselling or for assessment of their learning needs.