Who are the people involved in a Rainbows programme?

There are three categories; the Coordinator, the Facilitators and the Participants (the students).

The Coordinator is the overall person in the school responsible for the programmes.

Their duties are the following:

• spreading word about the programme to students and parents
• assigning the students who express interest in doing the programme to a group with a Facilitator
• organising and looking after the materials which will be used in the groups
• arranging for those who wish to be Facilitators to attend training
• holding formation meetings with the Facilitators before they meet with the Participants
• liaising with the local representative of Rainbows.

The Facilitator is the person runs the weekly meeting with the students.

They must:

• attend Facilitator trainig
• participate in weekly formation meetings with the Coordinator prior to meeting with the students
• assist the Coordinator in planning and carrying out the 'Celebrate Me Day' which is held at the end of the 12 weeks.
• keep the students' confidentiality

Teachers, parents and other members of the local community can be Facilitators as long as they complete the required training. It's important to remember that the Facilitator is not there to solve the students' problems; rather they listen in a non-judgemental and caring way to each student's story.

"Deep listening is both miraculous for both speaker and listener. When someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judging, intensely interested listening, our spirits expand."

Sue Patton Thoele