Sussex Social Change Hub
The Sussex Social Change Hub is a collective of academic experts from the Faculty of Social Sciences. 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 schools of Education and Social Work, Law, Politics & Sociology, and Global Studies.
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
The following are the CPD courses still to take place this year:
- Effective Social Work Supervision: A psychosocial approach to 121 supervision
12 hours across 6 weeks, January-February 2026
Workshop Dates: 8 January, 22 January and 12 February
Workshop Times: 10am-1pm
Drop-in Dates: 15 January, 29 January and 19 February
Drop-in Times: 10-11am
Fee: £200 per person
Delivery: Online via MS Teams
Targeted at: Social work supervisors of all levels
Delivered by: Dr Henry Smith
This training presents a psychosocial model of 121 social work supervision. This approach draws on systemic and psychoanalytic ideas to explore and interrupt the anxiety in social work practice, supporting supervisors and their supervisees to work with complexity, and effectively analyse and respond to risk and need. The model presents supervision as a forum for learning for social workers, which develops their practice and resilience. Initially the bedrock of psychosocial theory will be explored. Subsequently supervisors will be equipped with a number of ideas and tools to use in supervision in order to apply this theory in practice. In order to embed the training, attendees are provided with the opportunity to explore their own development as supervisors through a number of additional drop-in sessions, both during and after the training. It is important that attendees attend all three of the training days and as many of the drop-in sessions as required in order to maximise the benefits of the training.
- Exploring Online Harmful Sexual Behaviours through a Systemic Lens
Monday 2 March 2026 / 10am-1pm / via Teams
Fee: £50 per person
Delivery: Online via MS Teams
Targeted at: Social workers and youth workers, teacher and educators, residential workers, family support workers and other professions working with children and young people.
Delivered by: Dr Anna Hutchings
This 3-hour workshop offers professionals working with children and young people a space to consider systemic approaches to problematic and harmful sexual behaviours (HSB) exhibited online (Technology-Assisted HSB). Facilitated by Dr Anna Hutchings, the session starts with an introduction to systemic theory and its relevance to children and young people, displaying HSB. It also covers the current understanding of Technology-Assisted HSB.
Drawing on Anna’s doctoral research and therapeutic practice experience, the workshop looks at how online and offline relational worlds intersect with gendered narratives, shame, and the formation of sexual beliefs. Participants will learn about practical tools such as gender and sexual genograms to identify beliefs and intergenerational patterns. Attention will be given to systemic questioning techniques that assist in digital mapping of young people’s social media, gaming, and content-sharing environments. The method of internalised other interviewing will also be introduced to support reflective supervision, aiding practitioners in working with this sensitive subject.
Book by 25 February 2026
- Adolescents and Neuroscience: What you need to know about the adolescent brain
Tuesday 17 March 2026 / 10am-1pm / via Teams
Fee: £50 per person
Delivery: Online via MS Teams
Targeted at: Social workers and helping professionals working with young people
Delivered by: Professor Kristine Langhoff & Dr Liat Levita
This 3-hour workshop gives 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.
It will be structured as a question and answer forum at which Kristine and Liat will bring together key contemporary issues in adolescent safeguarding, trauma-informed practice, and neuroscience. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and apply learning, whilst reflecting on their own practice throughout the session.
- Applying Girlhood Theory to Practice
Tuesday 12 May 2026 / 10am-1pm / via Teams
Fee: £50 per person
Delivery: Online via MS Teams
Targeted at: Social workers and youth workers, teacher and educators, residential workers, family support workers and other professions working with children and young people.
Delivered by: Dr Rachel Larkin
This CPD workshop will introduce professionals to current theoretical work on girlhoods and consider how they could be used to support practice with girls in social work and related fields.
In this 3-hour interactive session you will:
- Learn about current theories of girlhood and discuss recent research findings on working with girls
- Explore the meanings and feelings linked to girlhood and consider how these might affect professional responses
- Understand how girlhood theory could be used to support reflective practice with girls
- Fragile Educational Trajectories: Understanding challenges and opportunities for intervention
Tuesday 23 June 2026 / 10am-1pm / In person
Fee: £50 per person
Delivery: In person on the University of Sussex campus
Targeted at: Staff working in educational settings across the full age range & staff working in roles requiring knowledge of how to support educational progress and outcomes, including Virtual School staff, social workers and those working within voluntary sector organisations.
Delivered by: Professor Louise Gazeley
Participants will explore the concept of a fragile educational trajectory as a way of thinking more holistically about the association between poorer educational outcomes and social disadvantage. The session will begin by considering which groups of children and young people are most at risk of following this trajectory. You will then explore the challenges they encounter within education systems, including the accumulated effects of such things as low literacy levels and involvement in school exclusion processes. The session will end with a focus on how working with an understanding of these more fragile educational trajectories might aid understanding of opportunities for intervention and support, including over key transition points.
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.