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About the network

Values and Aims

Key participants

Current projects

Sightlines Network: Regional Groups

The Sightlines Network is comprised of educators, artists, researchers, parents and others interested in developing creative reflective practice in early childhod and primary education. Some of our members meet together in regional groups. Please click on the links below to find out more about these. If you would like there to be a group in your area, please contact Robin by phoning 0191 2617666 or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Current groups are: 

ReFocus London

Sightlines' Network Poole

Sightlines South East Network

Sightlines' Network West Midlands

Click Here for forthcoming network events

Sightlines Initiative South East Network

Invitation to join Sightlines Initiative Network South East

We are very pleased to share our plans for a new Sightlines Initiative regional network in the South East, which have emerged following networking activity hosted by Little Barn Owls Nursery, Horsham. We hope you may be interested in joining the network to engage and participate in professional dialogue, professional development opportunities and action-research projects.

Network aims and values

The aim is to bring together educators from around the South East of England with a shared commitment to creative and reflective practice in early years education. We have a strong vision and drive to create a learning group of those with interest and experience in developing a listening pedagogy in their settings and schools, who share a passion for creative enquiry-based learning approaches. This network is for those who seek to engage more regularly in professional dialogue and development with other like-minded educators, having particular reference to the work of the Preschools of Reggio Emilia.

In short, we aim to:

• promote creative and reflective approaches to early years education
• develop a creative learning community which maintains a continuous supportive dialogue
• enable connections between SE early years professionals and projects
• organise professional development opportunities for the South East for and with those in the network
• offer advice and support for South East based UK early years professionals
• share work created by the network to the network

Hosting, managing and running the network

The South East Network will be part of the national Sightlines Network (www.sightlines-initiative.com). Sightlines Initiative is a national organisation promoting creative, reflective practice in early childhood education. Since 1999 it has been the UK reference point for Reggio Children. Sightlines aims to connect and support educators regionally, nationally and internationally, through its network, study visits, conferences and other CPD opportunities in the UK and abroad.

Hayley Peacock, Manager of Little Barn Owls Nursery, is instigating the South East Network: "As a growing nursery and farm school for early years children, we are continually training our educators, however there are limited professional development opportunities available outside of county council run training days, which don't give attention to our special set of shared values. These are often also expensive to send several team members to! There is some fantastic work going on in the South East, but what lacks is a forum in which to connect and share it regularly.
We hope to change that, and encourage you to be part of changing it with us. We are looking for enthusiastic and committed individuals / settings to form a steering group which will help manage and run the network. The steering group would meet periodically to review the progress of the network and generate ideas for future. Please contact me: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are interested in taking part."

Related recent activity

Here are some recent activities which have demonstrated that there is enthusiasm for development and connection, and have further prompted us with this network proposal.

An open networking event was hosted by Little Barn Owls Nursery on the 21st May where 42 educators came together from all over the South East to discuss networking opportunities. Participants were asked which ways of working together as a network group they would be most interested in. The most favourable ideas were:

• Workshops/skill sessions run by network participants to the rest of the network at meet ups
• Pooling funds to hold professional development days for cross-setting staff teams
• Creating unique resource boxes to exchange
• Reciprocal visits to each other's schools/settings for inspiration

A screening of Project Wild Thing was hosted by Little Barn Owls Nursery at Horsham Capitol Theatre on the 15th July 2014 with a question and answer session afterwards with Filmmaker, David Bond.

The screening of this moving and important film about reconnecting children with nature was attended by 90 educators, teachers and parents from all over Sussex and Surrey and some lively debate about children re-connecting with nature occurred in the Q&A with David Bond afterwards. From this debate, an interest in closing local streets to traffic to enable children to play more freely through 'PlayStreet' initiative has emerged. The network is working with interested parents and educators to be involved in this scheme from September.

Developing Environments of Enquiry course: Little Barn Owls has teamed up with Little Jungle Nursery in Peckham, London to embark on a six month CPD project with Sightlines Initiative to deepen and develop their listening pedagogy and enquiry based learning environment with children. The first joint CPD day was held on 3rd July.

Resource Pods: A first Sightlines Network SE Invitation

Our event in October is a great opportunity to get involved with the network: an introductory morning workshop on working with intelligent recycled materials on Saturday October 4th (Please see the poster below). We will be proposing a first ongoing SE network project 'resource pods', at this workshop, in which network members will form a group exploring and developing resource banks of open-ended materials, during the coming year.

Thank you for reading, we hope we have raised your interest in joining the network. Please visit www.sightlines-initiative.com and click on 'membership' to find out how to join, and contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to register your interest in attending the event on Saturday 4th October – Resource Pods!

Yours sincerely,

 Hayley Peacock, Director, Little Barn Owls Nursery & Farm School
Catherine Reding, Co-Director, Sightlines Initiative

Learning Groups
Sightlines Learning Groups are for members of the Sightlines network who would like to become involved in research and discussion with colleagues on particular topics.We are launching two new groups: "Creative Thinking in Practice" and "Developing Environments of Enquiry in the new English National Curriculum". Please email robin(at)sightlines-initiative.com if you are interested in becoming involved.

Creative thinking in practice
What is creative thinking?
How can we encourage and develop children's and our own creative thinking?

This group is open to practicing early childhood and primary educators in our network, and has been proposed by a network member working in Italy. "I think that even now people have a very limited understanding of what we really mean by 'creativity'. It tends to be linked to children's ability to express themselves through different creative languages. But as you know this is only part of the equation. When I see what people take home from Reggio I see a lot of light and shadow play and painting and even clay work. I don't tend to see so much that could be classed learning experiences that encourage divergent and lateral thinking."

This could be a very fruitful group to push beyond the first-level changes that many of us get stuck at, and to create a group which itself engages in divergent and lateral thinking. It is open to members working within and outside of the UK. The group will use our online forum and Skype as the principle communication tools, and may arrange to meet as the work progresses.
Facilitators: Marianne Valentine, author, educator, interpreter; Robin Duckett, Director, Sightlines Initiative

There will be an individual participation cost of £20 to cover costs of administration and technology. Please email or ring Robin at Sightlines office in the first instance to find out more and to ask to participate.

Developing Environments of Enquiry in the new English National Curriculum
This group has been requested by a leading nursery/infant school head teacher who is keen to connect with colleagues as she frames her school's reflective practice in the light of the draft new English Primary National Curriculum. It is for head/lead teachers of English Nursery/Infant/Primary Schools in the network who share her concerns and task: that they are passionate in the development of creative, co-constructed education as, for example, evidenced in Reggio Emilia and envisioned in the principles of the network.
We envisage this as being an important group in the development of connected, well-articulated and thorough practice at this crucial and contested time.

It will be moderated by Andrea Sully, Early Years Advisor, North Somerset Council; Robin Duckett, Director, Sightlines Initiative; Catherine Worton, Head Teacher, Trimdon Grange Infant & Nursery School; Christine Merrick, Early childhood consultant and Lead primary OFSTED Inspector.

The group will begin with a day seminar led by Andrea Sully.
"This seminar has been organised to support, guide, strengthen and facilitate schools in their understanding of the new NC, alongside their freedoms to make wise choices and good decisions in designing their school curriculum. The seminar aims to help leaders and teachers to do the important kinds of thinking that characterise effective schools:
We will consider what matters to children; the distinction between the National curriculum and a school curriculum, the aims of learning and teaching within the whole planned curriculum, and the articulation and progress of co-constructed, enquiry-focussed learning."

The group will develop using online media as appropriate. There will be an individual participation cost of £150 to cover costs of administration, technology and the initial seminar. We are hoping for a group size of 8-10 participants: please email or ring Robin at Sightlines office in the first instance to find out more and to ask to participate.
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