At Rivendell we are incredibly enthusiastic about providing every child with the best start in their learning journey. We strive to provide a range of learning opportunities that inspire, enhance and develop their love of learning and allow them to develop as individuals whilst widening their curiosities. 

We are committed to providing a stimulating, engaging and safe learning environment that puts the children's needs and interests at the center of everything we do to ensure that by the end of Foundation 2 we have developed children who are independent, curious and confident learners to prepare them for the rest of their learning journey at Rivendell. 

Developing a child's independence and sense of self has many benefits particularly self-confidence and self-esteem. Empowering children to develop their independence avoids over-reliance on adults and encourages them to foster stronger relationships with their peers. 

We always encourage the children to start with something small and easy, and the discovery and success of doing something small has a positive effect. Children enjoy the feeling of achievement and this is celebrated and encourages the children to do more tasks for themselves. 

Here are a few examples of how we develop and promote a child's independence: 

• Coats and bags: Each child has their own peg to hand their boat and bag. The children become responsible for finding and collecting their own belongings. 
• Dressing themselves: Although children require practice to fasten their coats the children are encouraged to try to put on their coat on their own. Adults provide encouragement and praise to reinforce practice makes perfect. 
• Washing hands: We encourage the children to wash their own hands to establish good hygiene routines and this is established in our routines throughout the day at key times such as lunch time, snack time and after toileting. 
• Tidying up: The children very quickly learn our moto of 'Choose it, Use it, Put it away' from the day they start the children develop a sense of belonging in their new learning environment. The children are therefore encouraged to be responsible for their learning environment and routines in tidying up are embedded in the daily routine. 
• Using the Provision: As the children are truly at the center of everything we do we view our adults as facilitators in a supportive role. Through questioning, modelling and positive interactions the children are encouraged to follow their curiosities and try new things. Even when something proves to be a challenge our adults will encourage, suggest and show how they can develop their own coping strategies.