Rainbow Class

Rainbow Class at Prince of Wales

Welcome to Rainbow Class

This document has been designed to help you understand what happens in Rainbow Class at Prince of Wales and hopefully answer some of your questions.

What is Rainbow Class?

Rainbow Class is the name of the Nurture Group at Prince of Wales. We are currently working with children in Year 1. Rainbow Class has a maximum of 10 children at any one time.

Nurture Groups work in a way that is very similar to a home environment. Our Nurture Group room, Rainbow Room, is a classroom within the school with a home play area, comfortable seating, kitchen/dining area and infant size tables and chairs for individual and group work.

Learning through play.

The group is staffed by a teacher, Lindsay Sluter, and teaching assistant, Sharon Fromet. With consistent and constant adults the children can experience a stable environment where adults and children work together, mistakes and problems are discussed, where firm boundaries are put into place and where children gain confidence and learn about themselves and their world at a pace and in a manner which suits them.

Why do children attend Rainbow Class?

A child may come to Rainbow Class when they are experiencing difficulties in coping in a busy classroom of 30 children. Some children have behavioural difficulties, e.g. behaving in a disruptive, argumentative or aggressive manner, whilst others may be quiet and withdrawn. The child’s behaviour is preventing him/her from learning and gaining access to the school’s curriculum, including the social learning that takes place at lunchtimes and playtimes.

The reasons for these difficulties are many and varied, e.g. separation from a loved one, birth of a sibling, trauma that a child has experienced or witnessed, effects of an accident etc. Sometimes a child has learning difficulties. In some cases it is simply that a child finds the large group in the class too overwhelming, which makes it difficult for him/her to learn. In Rainbow Class, we help the children overcome their difficulties so they are able to learn effectively.

What happens in Rainbow Class?

The children who attend Rainbow Class still remain part of their original class and stay with their class for many activities. The children are registered in their own class both in the morning and in the afternoon before coming to Rainbow.

The group has breakfast during the morning session. This is a social time around a dining table sharing a meal (following social distancing guidelines). It involves socialising, co-operating, taking turns, being last, speaking and listening and also having a small breakfast.

A display of our good work.

In Rainbow, we aim to achieve an equal balance between learning about emotions and social skills and academic tasks. Mornings are usually devoted to the curriculum areas of English and Maths. Children will complete work appropriate to their level and relevant to the work that is continuing in their mainstream class. We are aware of each child’s individual needs when planning, delivering and assessing their progress. Children in Year 1 will attend Read Write Inc. phonics groups with the rest of the children in their classes.

The afternoons are usually devoted to developing children’s movement skills, knowledge and understanding of the world, creativity, games and role play, all of which involve sharing, collaborating and turn taking, vital for supporting the development of the child’s communication and social skills as well as building self-confidence and self-esteem.

Children return to their classes for P.E., Computing, Music, assemblies, school trips, special class activities and Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

Children usually stay in Rainbow Class for between 2 and 4 terms.

Feel free to ask one of the Rainbow staff if you have any further questions. We’ll be happy to help!