Our Visit to Reggio Emilia

During our staff training day in July 2025, we introduced the Reggio Emilia approach as our evolving pedagogical direction. Staff explored the underpinning principles of the approach and considered what this philosophy looks like in practice within our nursery. Since this time, our Centre Lead, Olivia Day, has joined the team and, alongside our Director of Education, Charlotte Hayward, has been deepening her understanding of Reggio Emilia and how its values can meaningfully enrich children’s experiences and learning.

Over the Christmas closure, our Director of Education took our Centre Lead and Heads of Department – Jessica Harris (Tick Tocks) and Louise Chipchase (My Time) – to Reggio Emilia in Italy. This visit formed an important part of our leadership team’s continued professional development and commitment to reflective practice. While there, the team immersed themselves in the history of the pedagogy and learned how education has been used as a powerful tool for social change, giving children voice, agency and a strong sense of identity as active participants in their world.

We spent time exploring the inspiring ateliers, which offered valuable insight into how environments, materials and experiences can provoke thinking, creativity and collaboration. Our leaders reflected on how clay, open-ended art materials and light can support children in making sense of their experiences; how thoughtful use of space enhances exploration; and how simple, everyday objects can spark curiosity and wonder, particularly for our youngest learners. These reflections are already informing the development of our Expressive Arts and Design provision across the nursery.

As part of the visit, our leadership team explored the wider town of Reggio Emilia and were struck by the many similarities between children’s lives there and those of our own children here in Wythenshawe. This strengthened our collective belief that, with the right environments, relationships and respect for children’s capabilities, all children can achieve remarkable things.

The team also spent time in Rome, embracing the city’s rich history and culture –accompanied by our nursery bear, now affectionately named “Roberto”. This experience prompted further reflection on the importance of heritage, identity and belonging. As a result, this term our Centre Lead and Director of Education will be working closely with staff to thoughtfully integrate our children’s and families’ own histories, cultures and experiences into everyday nursery life, ensuring that each child feels seen, valued and celebrated.