empowering young refugee &
Asylum Seeker women through education
Who We Are
We are an Independent Senior Secondary School providing a specialised and supportive educational experience that empowers young women from refugee backgrounds. We are a passionate, committed, and diverse group of people with a range of perspectives, skills and capabilities, committed to excellence in trauma-informed teaching and learning strategies and the removal of barriers to education faced by young women from refugee backgrounds.
RIVER NILE SCHOOL - MELBOURNE AWARD WINNERS
COMMUNITY
We’re thrilled to share some very exciting news - the River Nile School has been named winners of the Melbourne Awards 2025 in the Community category. It’s an honour to be recognised by the @cityofmelbourne for outstanding work and a HUGE thank you to our amazing students, staff and community who make this possible every day!
Upcoming events
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River Nile School Book drive
We’re running a special book drive at River Nile School to get more books into our library – and we want these books to reflect you!
We asked students what kinds of books they’d love to read, and then we worked with our wonderful friends at Chestnut Tree Bookshop to help choose a list of books based on your ideas. Chestnut Tree put so much care and thought into the list, making sure it matches the interests, passions and backgrounds of our amazing students.
Now we’re asking our wider community to help by buying one of these books for our library.
Each book will help build a stronger, more exciting reading space for everyone at RNS. And every person who donates a book can even write a special message inside the cover for our students to read!
Want to get involved?
You can find the book list and donation link in our school bio or by asking at the office.Let’s build a library full of stories that feel like home. 💛📚
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RECLAIMED VOICES DOCUMENTARY SCREENING
Thursday 27th November 2025
4PM-8PM
📍River Nile School - Level 3, 117 Capel Street North Melbourne
River Nile School and ASPYA Foundation, with support from the City of Melbourne, is proud to host a special screening of Reclaimed Voices. This screening is more than just a film viewing—it is an invitation to listen, reflect, and engage with powerful stories that challenge dominant narratives and honour the strength and resilience of communities too often marginalised or misrepresented.
Following the screening, we invite our community into a conversation to reflect on the film, share insights, and honour the stories and leadership of our students and wider community.
Let’s come together to listen, learn, and imagine a more just and inclusive future—one story at a time.
Watch the trailer here - https://youtu.be/KiAmmKFqmsc?si=GLT1Gpwde6EIexMA
Learn more about River Nile School here - River Nile School
Learn more about ASPYA Foundation here - ASPYA Foundation
Learn more about the City of Melbourne here - City of Melbourne
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Refugee Education & Empowerment Network Term 1, 2026 Meeting
Thursday 12th February 2026
9AM-11AM
📍Online Zoom
We invite you to join us for our first Victorian Refugee Education and Empowerment Network (REEN) meeting for 2026.
River Nile School, Foundation House and Refugee Education Australia have partnered to deliver a cross-sector Victorian network dedicated to education and empowerment for young people from refugee backgrounds. This network is open to school-based professionals, community organisations, government departments, health services, businesses, and more—anyone passionate about sharing expertise, ideas, and initiatives while working together to create opportunities and lasting change.
Our first network meeting for 2026 will be held online on Thursday 12th February from 9am till 11am.
You can find out more about each of our organisations below:
Our Term 1, 2026 meeting will be held online on Thursday 12th February from 9am till 11am.
In this network meeting, together we will:
Deepen our understanding of refugee experiences and impacts on the education journeys of students and families.
Learn more about Foundation House's work supporting recovery with individuals, families and communities from refugee backgrounds, including the capacity building offerings available to Victorian schools.
Hear from the voices of those with lived experience about supports and strategies that empower students and families in their education journeys.
Connect with other network members from different sectors.
Have an opportunity to share details about our schools, services and programs with the network.
Continue to co-create our vision for the network and steps that will assist us to stay connected (e.g., online platform for resources, member contact list).
