Supporting young women from refugee and refugee-like backgrounds to learn, grow & flourish in australia
Who We Are
River Nile School is a non-fee-paying, independent senior secondary school for young women from refugee and refugee-like backgrounds.
Our trauma-informed model is grounded in relationships, cultural safety, and flexible learning pathways, supporting students to engage in education and complete their VCE in Australia.
Donate to our EOFY Tax Appeal:
education starts with belonging
and is strengthened by wellbeing, connection, and care.
Education is free at River Nile School
But meaningful participation in education requires more than a classroom alone.
River Nile School is a non-fee paying, independent senior secondary school for young women from refugee and refugee-like backgrounds.
Our trauma-informed model integrates education, connection and wellbeing support, recognising that equitable learning requires investment in belonging.
Many students are navigating disrupted education, resettlement, language barriers, and complex systems that do not always reflect their experiences or needs. For them, access to education is shaped not only by academic opportunity, but by stability and the supports that make participation possible.
While government funding supports core education delivery, it does not fully fund the programs and spaces that sustain full engagement in school life.
Community support helps bridge this gap.
These programs help sustain students’ engagement in education alongside the many challenges they may be navigating beyond the classroom — from wellbeing support and shared meals to opportunities for creative expression and community connection.
With your support, we can continue to run our:
The Wellbeing Hub
The Wellbeing Hub provides culturally responsive, trauma-informed support within the school environment. By bringing services such as healthcare, social work and housing support on site, the Hub helps reduce some of the barriers that can disrupt school attendance and engagement in education. It creates more accessible pathways to care and early intervention for students and families.
Spiced-Up Dance Class and Crew
Our Spiced-Up Dance Crew creates opportunities for movement, creativity and connection within the school community. The program also supports students to perform at cultural festivals, community events and local venues, creating opportunities to share culture, build confidence, and connect with the broader community through performance.
Meals Program
The Meals Program provides three meals each day to students, helping reduce the impacts of food insecurity while creating consistency and stability throughout the school day. Shared meals also foster routine, connection and community, supporting wellbeing, engagement and participation across the school community.
Thank you for your support!
Every contribution truly counts.
$500 provides healthy meals for all students across two school days, supporting wellbeing, connection and readiness to learn.
$10,000 supports our Dance program for a full year, creating opportunities for creative expression, confidence and community connection.
$3,000 supports the operation of our Wellbeing Hub for one week, helping improve attendance, strengthen student wellbeing, and connect young women to health and social services.
All donations of $2 or more are tax deductible. River Nile School is a registered charity with the ACNC and an endorsed Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR).
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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YOUTH FEST - River nile school live fm radio broadcast
Tuesday 15th September 2026
11AM-3PM
📍Federation Square - Main Stage
On Tuesday 15 November, River Nile School will take over the main stage at Federation Square for a special LIVE FM radio broadcast — created, produced and presented by our students.
River Nile School is a specialist senior secondary school supporting young women and gender-diverse young people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. Our students bring with them extraordinary stories, cultures, languages, perspectives and aspirations — and LIVE FM is about creating a platform for those voices to be heard in the heart of Melbourne.
Broadcasting live from Federation Square, students will step into the roles of radio hosts, interviewers, storytellers and performers, sharing conversations that matter to them and inviting audiences to listen, connect and see Melbourne through their eyes.
The broadcast will bring together music, interviews, student stories and conversations exploring identity, culture, belonging, community and the experiences of young people building their lives in Melbourne. It is not simply a performance or school excursion. Students are involved in shaping the content, developing their ideas and taking ownership of what they want to put into the world.
At its heart, LIVE FM is about voice, visibility and belonging.
We hope people passing through Federation Square will stop, listen and join us — discovering the ideas, humour, creativity, strength and perspectives of the young people who make up our city.
Come by, tune in and listen.
Melbourne has many voices. This is what happens when we turn up the volume.
