A new purpose-build pre-school facility has opened in Rivenhall. Rivenstars Early Education will follow on from Riventots’ which operated from the Village Hall and will be run by the same experienced team.

The facility, which was funded by a grant from Essex County Council, will open its doors Monday September 9 and provides childcare from the age of two.

Rivenstars now features a kitchen so the children can bake, its own garden and even a bird watching platform. Before the new facility was built the pre-school ran from the village hall in a pack away preschool, which had to be set up each morning and removed from the hall each evening.

Owner and Manager, Ruth Hassey said: “My team and I have worked incredibly hard to ensure and improve the future of Rivenhall’s Early Years education facilities over the last six years and this will now continue decades into the future with that help of this new facility.

“The parents are so supportive; they donate toys and teddies- we are a community.

“We have a graduation ceremony for all the children going up to primary school in July and invite all the families.

The preschool also has strong connections with the local primary school, Rivenhall C of E, even inviting the local primary school teachers the teacher in for an afternoon to meet the little ones before they move up.

Early years teacher, Lizzie Ramsey said: “Rivenstars Early Education provides the building blocks needed to start school. Ruth and her team provide high quality, engaging and fun learning opportunities.”

Rivenstars is open from 9am until 3pm, Monday to Friday and each session will have between 28-30 children, all of whom have a specific team member who will always be a part of their session.

Parent Mel Warner said: “Rivenstars pre-school has been outstanding during my son Callum’s time there, he has received a lot of support and encouragement - they have really gone above and beyond for him.”

For Ruth, this facility has always been a dream to open, she added: “I have always wanted to build a facility like this. My husband has been my driving force behind doing it. This is a family project.

“We just want to invite as many families as possible to experience this. It’s all about embracing the environment now we have an outdoor space. So many children don’t spend enough time outside. We want to enrich the children with experiences.”

For more information email riventotspreschool@gmail.com.