Events Archive

Food education has traditionally focused on health-oriented issues like improving or developing healthy eating habits, combatting obesity and/or eating disorders. Aspects regarding the emotional, relational and sensory aspects of food and taste have often not been considered among the main aims of teaching/learning, although in recent years there has been a shift towards recognising the importance of the role of food in
education. Jennifer’s research, stemming from three case studies, offers concrete examples of what learner-centred, sense-based food and taste education can look like as well as
insight into the thinking underlying the Reggio approach to food and taste education.

Jennifer Coe has a background in fine art and the humanities. She lives in Italy and has worked as an atelierista since 2010. Currently she is completing her PhD in “Reggio Childhood Studies” at the Università di Modena and Reggio Emilia. Her research interests include food & taste education and play & learning.

London ReFocus is part of the Sightlines Initiative network, bringing together educators, artists, researchers and others interested in developing a creative and reflective approach to
early years education, inspired by the practice of Reggio Emilia.

Reggio Emilia Study Week 2025

Sunday 16th - Friday 21st March 2025

Loris Malaguzzi International Centre, Reggio Emilia, Italy.

A one-week study visit to learn about and be inspired by the world renowned educational approach of the preschools and infant toddler centres of Reggio Emilia. We will be sharing this week with a large group of colleagues from the Vancouver Reggio Association - this will be a great opportunity for discussions between UK and Canadian perspectives.

This course will explore the key principles underpinning the Reggio approach to early childhood education including:

• History and background
• Creativity and expressive languages of children
• the pedagogy of listening
• The environment as 'the third teacher'
• Parents as partners
• Democratic citizenship
• Children as the subjects of rights
• Children and educators as researchers
• Observation, interpretation, documentation
• Making learning visible
• Professional dialogue

Read more ....

Visit Madeley Nursery School and encounter theirs and Sightlines Initiative Network's, principles in practice. 

documentation displayed"We are a Reggio inspired school with a beautiful learning environment and exciting child led curriculum. As a research school, we are involved in many national and international projects linked to early learning. Our aim is to create 'a community of learning where there are endless opportunities to discover together through curiosity, creativity and play."

Madeley Nursery School in Telford are keen participants in Sightlines' Network since 2000. This day  is designed for those wanting to explore the possible ways of practicing the principles of an environment of enquiry, and engage in dialogue with a committed staff group who are making keen endeavours to explore and develop their own practice. 

The day will begin promptly at 9a.m. at the Nursery, with an introduction followed by time to observe in the morning. After lunch there will be opportunities for discussion, and at the close of the school day, general discussion with staff. We will explore how the principles of Sightlines Initiative can be developed in your daily practice; the influences and inspirations from Reggio, and the inevitable challenges. 

Are you a current Sightlines Initiative Network Member? Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to enquire about possible discount.

This is a one-week study visit to learn about and be inspired by the world renowned educational approach of the preschools and infant toddler centres of Reggio Emilia. We will be a 25-strong contingent as part of a large international study group. 

The preschools of Reggio Emilia have for more than a half-century been an international beacon for educators seeking to form enlightened education.

The vision and determination of a local community to create places of warm convivial learning for their children, enriched by a tenacious, researchful vision for education is a lasting and powerful contradiction to the idea of sitting children in an  environment of passive instruction.

These are times of possibility. Amidst calls and demands to ‘return to normal’ there are many who have lost patience with the ‘old normal’ or have seen that other ways of living and learning are indeed preferable. Multitudes of educators, head teachers, parents and advocates are striving to protect and develop possibilities for educational experiences with children’s rights, wellbeing and proclivities for natural enquiry at the heart.  Internationally we can see the development of education with principles informed by the exuberant work of Reggio’s preschools.

Sunday 14th - Friday 19th April 2024

Loris Malaguzzi International Centre, Reggio Emilia, Italy.

This course will explore the key principles underpinning the Reggio approach to early childhood education including:

• History and background
• Creativity and expressive languages of children
• The pedagogy of listening
• The environment as 'the third teacher'
• Parents as partners
• Democratic citizenship
• Children as the subjects of rights
• Children and educators as researchers
• Observation, interpretation, documentation
• Making learning visible
• Professional dialogue

Read on for further details and booking, including how you will receive our help and support before, during and after the study week.

• Are you an educator or centre actively engaged in evolving your pedagogy with reference to the preschools of Reggio Emilia?
• Have you already visited Reggio's preschools and would like to encounter preschools in Sweden  who are also on similarly inspired pedagogical journeys?

Sightlines Initiative Network and the ReggioEmilia Institute of Sweden have had a collaboration spanning more than two decades, and we are delighted to announce a 2024 opportunity for educators  once again to visit, meet and dialogue.

The three days' programme will begin at Stockholm Reggio Emilia Institutet building in the gardens of Kungsholmen, central Stockholm, and we recommend that you arrive during the prior weekend, and stay in nearby accommodation, in good time to orient yourselves. 

The price includes the course itself, excluding lunches which can be had in the city nearby the Institute.

For any questions, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

3-Day Programme Outline

Presentations

1) 'What Swedish preschools have learned from Reggio Emilia': Greger Rösnes, managing director, Reggio Emilia Institute

educational environments - from tradition to change; examples from a living practice; 'the knowledge view and the child's view';  organization of work teams and time; pedagogic documentation 

2) Project working in preschool

(example…) PROJECTING METHODS OF WORKING ABOUT THE PRESCHOOL AS AN IMPORTANT ECOLOGICAL ACTOR IN THE NEIGHBOURING COMMUNITY. This project examines a group of preschool children's exploration of the diversity in the meadow near their preschool, about the meeting with an entomologist and the collaboration that arises. The focus is both on the children and how the pedagogical documentation and reflection become important for the didactic choices that the educators make when research and accepted knowledge have an important place in the preschool. It is a story about the preschool as a democratic meeting place where the children participate with their exploration, their conversations and their initiatives, and about how this creates friendships and processes outside the preschool. 

3) Swedish preschool in a context – political and cultural, as well as Reggio Emilia Inspiration in Swedish primary school. 

Three visits to Reggio Emilia-inspired preschools: 

visit to see how the educational philosophy from Reggio Emilia is evolving in practice in different Swedish preschools in different areas: Nynäshamn, Haninge, Huddinge.

The preschools of Reggio Emilia have for more than a half-century been an international beacon for educators seeking to form enlightened education.

The vision and determination of a local community to create places of warm convivial learning for their children, enriched by a tenacious, researchful vision for education is a lasting and powerful contradiction to the idea of sitting children in an  environment of passive instruction.

These are times of possibility. Amidst calls and demands to ‘return to normal’ there are many who have lost patience with the ‘old normal’ or have seen that other ways of living and learning are indeed preferable. Multitudes of educators, head teachers, parents and advocates are striving to protect and develop possibilities for educational experiences with children’s rights, wellbeing and proclivities for natural enquiry at the heart.  Internationally we can see the development of education with principles informed by the exuberant work of Reggio’s preschools.

Sunday 22nd - Friday 27th October 2023

Loris Malaguzzi International Centre, Reggio Emilia, Italy.

This is a one-week study visit to learn about and be inspired by the world renowned educational approach of the preschools and infant toddler centres of Reggio Emilia.

This course will explore the key principles underpinning the Reggio approach to early childhood education including:

• History and background
• Creativity and expressive languages of children
• The pedagogy of listening
• The environment as 'the third teacher'
• Parents as partners
• Democratic citizenship
• Children as the subjects of rights
• Children and educators as researchers
• Observation, interpretation, documentation
• Making learning visible
• Professional dialogue

Read on for further details and booking, including how you will receive our help and support before, during and after the study week.

The preschools of Reggio Emilia have for more than a half-century been an international beacon for educators seeking to form enlightened education.

The vision and determination of a local community to create places of warm convivial learning for their children, enriched by a tenacious, researchful vision for education is a lasting and powerful contradiction to the idea of sitting children in an  environment of passive instruction.

These are times of possibility. Amidst calls and demands to ‘return to normal’ there are many who have lost patience with the ‘old normal’ or have seen that other ways of living and learning are indeed preferable. Multitudes of educators, head teachers, parents and advocates are striving to protect and develop possibilities for educational experiences with children’s rights, wellbeing and proclivities for natural enquiry at the heart.  Internationally we can see the development of education with principles informed by the exuberant work of Reggio’s preschools.

Sunday 16th - Friday 21st April 2023

Loris Malaguzzi International Centre, Reggio Emilia, Italy.

This is a one-week study visit to learn about and be inspired by the world renowned educational approach of the preschools and infant toddler centres of Reggio Emilia.

This course will explore the key principles underpinning the Reggio approach to early childhood education including:

• History and background
• Creativity and expressive languages of children
• The pedagogy of listening
• The environment as 'the third teacher'
• Parents as partners
• Democratic citizenship
• Children as the subjects of rights
• Children and educators as researchers
• Observation, interpretation, documentation
• Making learning visible
• Professional dialogue

Read on for further details and booking, including how you will receive our help and support before, during and after the study week.

Visit Madeley Nursery School and encounter theirs and Sightlines Initiative Network's, principles in practice. 

documentation displayed"We are a Reggio inspired school with a beautiful learning environment and exciting child led curriculum. As a research school, we are involved in many national and international projects linked to early learning. Our aim is to create 'a community of learning where there are endless opportunities to discover together through curiosity, creativity and play."

Madeley Nursery School in Telford are keen participants in Sightlines' Network since 2000. This day  is designed for those wanting to explore the possible ways of practicing the principles of an environment of enquiry, and engage in dialogue with a committed staff group who are making keen endeavours to explore and develop their own practice. 

The day will begin promptly at 9a.m. at the Nursery, with an introduction followed by time to observe in the morning. After lunch there will be opportunities for discussion, and at the close of the school day, general discussion with staff. We will explore how the principles of Sightlines Initiative can be developed in your daily practice; the influences and inspirations from Reggio, and the inevitable challenges.