Dear Parents,

I would like to officially introduce myself as the Head of Early Years at RVIS.

The Early Years department is run by qualified and experienced staff who have the children interests at the forefront of everything that is planned and delivered here at RVIS. The team are approachable, knowledgeable and we do things ‘the right way’ enabling all the children in our care to become the best they can be.

We believe that every child can achieve and that children achieve at their own pace. We are facilitators of learning using a unique í wonder ‘approach to learning, where practitioners will develop children through experiences and questioning.

We have a wonderful space with all classrooms having balconies that lead on to big open learning spaces. We also have a shared space for PE, music and assemblies. The children eat lunch together in an open space where we support and guide, encouraging independence and where we reinforce our healthy eating policy.

Every month we have events as an Early Years setting, and where appropriate, we have cross school links such as reading buddies and whole school assemblies. The children in Foundation stage 2 will have weekly award assemblies where we celebrate small milestones links to a growth mindset way of getting better, and these follow later in Foundation Stage 1 when the children are ready.

We are proud of the Early Years at RVIS, the children are all working towards their Early Learning Goals at the end of Reception, we use these to aid their transition into Year 1 as they continue their learning journey with us. As we are moving past COVID, we have planned parent information mornings as we see ourselves as a family, all working towards a common goal – all children to be the best they can be.