ISSUE 5 - July 2023
July News Blog
Welcome to July’s update on everything Pikler UK…
Our ongoing transformation into becoming an organisation with official charitable status is moving forward in leaps and bounds, thanks in great part to the tireless efforts of Gillian Reece-Jones, Management Committee Member, who is keeping us focused on each and every stage of the process with great diligence. Along the way we have had to revisit our aims and objectives and in doing so have been very encouraged by how much we’ve grown and how clear we are about what we want to achieve, both in the medium and longer term.
Here they are:
1. To advance the core principles of the Pikler approach which promote:
· Sensitive and respectful care of babies and young children;
· Close and trusting relationships between significant and caring adult and child;
· Self-chosen uninterrupted play for babies and young children;
· Naturally unfolding motor development through free movement;
· Children’s autonomy and competencies through careful observation and attuned responses.
2. To advance public awareness of the Pikler approach to the care and education of babies and young children through public events, written materials, websites and social media, and direct work with early years settings.
3. To provide support and guidance to parents/carers and professionals involved in the care and education of babies and young children through training, community events and written materials that further their capabilities, competencies, skills and understanding.
4. To advance research and add to collective knowledge and understanding of play, development and learning in early childhood through engaging in primary research, collating and disseminating existing research, and networking and collaborating with relevant professional and educational bodies.
5. To establish community-based regional hubs to promote Piklerian principles that advance best practice in early childhood in partnership with parents/carers, early years settings and other relevant professional organisations.
Huge thanks go to all members of the Management Committee for their time and input into this project. We’ve not set ourselves any deadlines, but the hope is that we will have completed the process before the end of 2023.
Pikler UK Annual Conference 2023 – Speaker Announcement
In just over two months time, on Saturday October 21st, we’ll be presenting our annual conference and we’re very happy to announce that our keynote speakers will be Eszter Mozes, Clinical Child Psychologist at the Pikler House, Budapest, and our very own Julia Manning-Morton, Consultant Trainer, Lecturer and Author in Early Years Care and Education.
Conference Title: Observation as a Pathway to Practitioner, Parent and Child Wellbeing
Our byline for the past several years has been ‘Seeing children with new eyes’ – highlighting the need for a fresh perspective when looking at our very young children, their capabilities and how best to support them. For this, observation is key. And when seen from a Piklerian point of view – with a myriad of observational methods and research applied – the advantages for both child and caregiver are clear.
Our conference will be of great interest to all those working alongside the youngest of children. We’ll challenge you to evaluate your own observational methods and hope to inspire you to share and deepen what works for you while taking on new ideas inspired by the teachings of Emmi Pikler and the ongoing development of her work.
Last year, to be as inclusive as possible, we ran our conference as a hybrid event, allowing delegates to join us from anywhere in the world online for the morning’s presentations. We also offered tickets on a ‘pay what you can’ (PWYC) basis. This year, we aim to do the same. We will be announcing final details in the coming days and hope that you will support us in our aims to remain accessible whilst also being profitable enough to cover our costs for the event.
For more details, and to book, please go to pikler.co.uk/events
Introductory Workshops – Oxfordshire – 16th September
Meanwhile, in order to promote the advantages of Piklerian principles in the workplace, we are setting out to bring Introductory Workshops to different regions in the UK. It’s been a while since we last presented a workshop and we’re delighted to be doing this again.
Christine Wilkinson (Pikler UK Committee Member, Nursery Owner and Area Lead Expert - Recovery Programme for DfE, Oxfordshire), and Rachel Tapping (Pikler UK Committee Chair, Parent-Child Class Facilitator, Parent Mentor and Daycare Consultant, Hampshire) will be presenting this workshop, aimed at Managers and Leaders. They’ll introduce the main pillars of the Pikler approach and how they apply to today’s challenges in daycare settings, with a particular focus on what it means for caregivers to be able to put their wellbeing at the centre, alongside the children they are caring for, within the context of the Pikler approach.
Attendees will gain personal insights through discussion and some practical self-work. Attendance certificates will be issued after the event for those who request them.
For more details and to book a place, please see our events page and/or email hello@pikler.co.uk.
Pikler Training in London – October 23rd to 27th
This autumn’s Pikler training will be the Basic Level 5-day module: The Autonomous Play Activity. This counts as one of the three required Basic Level trainings on the pathway to becoming a Pikler pedagogue but each one can also be taken in isolation. Students who complete the module come away with official certification from the Pikler House in Budapest.
We’ve already begun booking students onto this course but there are still places available. Why not come to the conference and stay for the week! Our teachers this year are Eszter Mózes and Kriszti Rózsa – Daycare Caregiver – from the Pikler House. Eszter and Kriszti will also be presenting at our conference.
If you’re interested in what the Pikler training pathway looks like, here’s a link to the Pikler House website with full information – https://www.pikler.hu/new-page
Presence at Nursery World Conference – Tuesday, 7th November
This year’s Nursery World Conference organisers have invited us to present a workshop at their event in London – Physical Development in the Early Years. Julia Manning-Morton will also be presenting in her own right, discussing physical development in the first three years of life - through the Piklerian lens of naturally unfolding motor development - ahead of the publication of her new book, expected later this year.
Rachel Tapping and Karolina Joiner will present the workshop, exploring Emmi Pikler’s ideas about the importance of self-initiated free movement for the natural progression of physical development in infants and young children. For this exploration, we will use guided experiential work, inspired by the work of Ute Strub, to help us to understand the infant’s experience through our own self-experience.
Other speakers include: Sally Goddard-Blythe, author and director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology; Dr Lala Manners, director of Active Matters; Iram Siraj, professor of child development and education at the Department of Education, University of Oxford; and Anne O’Connor, independent early years consultant.
Come and say hello! To find out more, please visit Nursery World’s conference page.
Look out for this article in Nursery World magazine
To accompany Julia’s and our presence at the Nursery World Conference, Julia has penned an article with the help and support of Christine Wilkinson’s team at the Early Years Nursery, Kidlington, and the Pikler UK Management Committee.
How can free movement be a foundation for holistic development? By Julia Manning-Morton and the Pikler UK Association.
It looks at: The importance of naturally unfolding motor development and free movement for children's cognitive and personal development - their understanding of the world and positive sense of self-efficacy and autonomy, as well as for their physical development. It addresses containerisation and 'tummy time' as practices that may impede these processes and discusses examples of effective practices, supported by reflections from the team at the Early Years Nursery in Oxfordshire.
The article will appear in the upcoming issue of Nursery World magazine.
And Finally…
For those with a particular interest in parent-child group work, the Pikler House is holding a special conference to celebrate 21 years of running their groups in Budapest. This will be a two-day online event from Friday 13th to Saturday 14th October 2023. For more information, please visit their website HERE.