Sussex Social Change Hub
The Sussex Social Change Hub is a collective of academic experts from the School of Education and Social Work. We’re dedicated to strengthening relationships with organisations, governments, schools and charities through consultancy, training and tailored services.
Our mission
The Sussex Social Change Hub aims to advance social justice and equity by providing rigorous, ethical academic insights in education and social work.
We want to create a world where academic research continuously informs best practice, allowing organisations to more easily access high-level expertise. Integrity, ethics, kindness and authenticity are at the core of our interventions.
Read about the world-leading research taking place in the School of Education and Social Work.
CPD programme
Every year we design a unique programme of short CPD courses. These half-day non-accredited workshops are open to all professionals who find them relevant to their practice. All participants will receive a certificate of attendance upon completing the course.
The courses will all take place online on Microsoft Teams.
Each session can be booked individually through our online shop linked under each session. For group bookings please contact us at socialchangehub@sussex.ac.uk.
See also CPD Terms & Conditions 2024 [PDF 58.22KB].
Courses
Explore the CPD courses we’re running this year:
- Managing anxiety in supervision
Friday 11 April 2025 / 10am-1pm / via Teams
This 3-hour session will draw on the presenter’s research to explore the impact that uncontained anxiety can have on social work supervision, how this can impede a focus on children and families wellbeing, and how this anxiety might be contained. It will be beneficial to any practitioner who attends supervisions, but of particular use to social work supervisors.
We will explore how anxiety can manifest itself in supervision, supporting supervisors and supervisees to identify anxiety and its impact in practice. Various approaches to social work supervision practice and leadership that can help contain anxiety are then shared in order to support practitioners to contain anxiety in supervision.
- An introduction to 'somatic awareness' and whole-person health for social work and helping professionals
Thursday 24 April 2025 / 10am-1pm / via Teams
This workshop will introduce theory and practice for body-breath-mind awareness and communication skills for professionals interested in integrating these concepts into their practice. We will focus on understanding self-regulation as a foundational component for psychological and physical wellbeing. It will enable participants to develop and deepen their own practices, as well as to support others’ capacity to develop self-regulation skills. This will feed into understanding how self-regulation is the basis to be able to offer co-regulation to others in a way that retains clear boundaries and also protects professionals from burnout and vicarious trauma.
The workshop will include a series of experiential exercises to support participants’ understanding and confidence in applying these skills in practice. Exercises will further develop participants’ interoceptive awareness - a concept rarely discussed in social work training and practice, but useful for a clear understanding of ‘grounding’ – a much used word, that has real, neuroscientific application. It is the foundation of bringing present moment awareness to any situation, from where we can effectively gauge how to navigate safe and appropriate response.
- New approaches for thinking about children's mental health
Tuesday 6 May 2025 / 10am-1pm / via Teams
Children and teenagers do not need to be experiencing a mental health crisis. In this workshop we will explore where our societal ideas about mental health have come from, and examine contemporary cultural influences shaping children and teenagers’ experiences.
Informed by extensive study, this workshop presents a case for practitioners to work in group settings, both to support those already presenting with mental health issues and to offer preventative care to those who might otherwise do so.
The workshop will draw on case examples from the study to illuminate the transformative nature of the group work process. By the end of the session, it will be possible for attendees to independently replicate and apply the approaches learnt to their practice.
- Adolescents and Neuroscience: What do helping professionals working with young people need to know about the adolescent brain?
Tuesday 13 May 2025 / 10am-1pm / via Teams
This 3-hour workshop will offer participants the opportunity to learn about the most recent developments in neuroscience related to the developing adolescent brain, and how this knowledge can equip professionals to work more effectively with young people facing a range of risks and harm.
Hosted by Professor Kristine Langhoff whose work has focussed broadly on trauma-informed practice and young people at risk of extra-familial harm, the session will comprise a question and answer forum between Professor Langhoff and Dr Liat Levita, Reader in Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, who specialises in matters related to the adolescent brain. Kristine and Liat will bring together key contemporary issues in adolescent safeguarding, trauma-informed practice, and neuroscience.
Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and apply learning, whilst reflecting on their own practice throughout the session.
- Paws and Reflect: Navigating the impact of pet loss in social work
Monday 19 May 2025 / 10am-1pm / via Teams
This session will explore the significance of the human-animal bond in the context of pet loss and its implications for social work practice, including:
· The different roles pets play in people’s lives
· Types of pet loss and its impact on individuals and communities
· The dynamics and impact of pet loss through the life span
· The range of animal-related grief experiences from a theoretical perspective
· The legal context surrounding pet loss
· Best practices in supporting pet grief.
Case studies will support learning, and you will be provided with useful links to articles, resources, and relevant local and national organisations.
- Reducing Rates of School Exclusion: Benefits and potential challenges
Tuesday 27 May 2025 / 1-3.30pm / In person on the University of Sussex campus
School exclusion rates in England continue to be a cause for concern, in part because it is the most educationally and/or socially vulnerable children and young people who tend to be sanctioned. This session will provide an opportunity to explore why there has been a shift in favour of more restorative and trauma-informed approaches, and to discuss some examples and resources.
This session will include some practical activities, and participants will have opportunities to reflect on the benefits and challenges they might encounter when seeking to support reduced rates of school exclusion in practice.
- Educating People about British Colonial History and Confronting the Backlash: Information and support
Saturday 21 June 2025 / 9.30am-5pm / In person on the University of Sussex campus
After the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, many institutions including schools and heritage organisations became more willing to find out and talk about contentious histories of British enslavement and colonialism. The greater openness was challenged immediately by a backlash from groups claiming that the telling of these histories is unpatriotic and self-defeating. Educating about the British Empire has become part of a culture war in which right wing populism is pitched against so-called ‘wokery’.
This day-long event consists of a series of lectures from Alan Lester, Professor of Historical Geography and editor of The Truth About Empire: Real Histories of British Colonialism, summarising what expert historians understand about the histories of British slavery and colonialism; and workshops in which participants can share experiences and discuss best practice.
We hope that participants will end the day feeling both better informed about contested history and better supported by the networks created.
- British Sign Language and Deaf Awareness for Social Work and Related Professions
Monday 23 June 2025 / 9.30am-5pm / In person on the University of Sussex campus
This CPD workshop is specifically tailored towards professionals in social work and related fields and offers a unique opportunity to delve into the world and lived experiences of Deaf individuals. Through engaging presentations, group activities, practical tasks, and discussions, you will:
- learn the basics of BSL and essential communication skills for effective engagement with Deaf people.
- gain insights into how everyday behaviors can be disabling.
- explore Deaf history, culture, and technological advancements.
Collaborate with us
Our academic experts work in a wide range of services with our diverse partners across the world.
We offer the following tailored opportunities:
- evaluations of policies, procedures and structures
- expert opinion and advice
- help with developing programs and products
- bespoke training
- regular Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses.
Contact socialchangehub@sussex.ac.uk to find out how we can help you.
Making Teaching of Reading Inclusive – a Sussex Social Change Hub case study
Jo Tregenza, a Reader in Primary Education and President Elect of the UKLA, developed an inclusive approach to the teaching of reading for students with physical and learning disabilities at our partner institution, Treloar. The team approached Jo to help consider how the school's vision could be further developed through the teaching of reading. The ensuing project aimed to collaborate with staff, enhancing their understanding of research and pedagogy related to reading. The focus was on key concepts such as decoding, comprehension, and reading for pleasure, viewed through the lens of current research.
The goal was to utilize this understanding to work with staff in developing a pedagogical approach that could enhance the cross-curricular and integrated program of speaking and listening, reading, and writing. The framework developed with Jo has helped students demonstrate higher levels of enjoyment of literacy. Jo's work significantly contributed to the school's nomination for the NASS Innovation Awards 2023 for Developing an Innovative English Curriculum.
Contact
If you have any queries, email socialchangehub@sussex.ac.uk.