Wellbeing campaign: Social Pedagogy – A positive response to wellbeing

Parliamentary reception

On 20th November, SPPA and St Christopher’s Fellowship held a joint parliamentary reception at the House of Commons to address the problems on low levels of wellbeing for children and young people, adults, and the care, education and health workforces. This was hosted by Mr Daniel Ziechner, MP for Cambridge.

The evening was filled with interesting, insightful conversations as we had contributions from a variety of backgrounds and from across the life stage. Robyn Kemp, SPPA trustee, chaired the event. Daniel Zeichner MP welcomed everyone, and this was followed by Claire Cameron, Social Pedagogy Professor at Thomas Coram Research Unit at UCL Institute of Education, UCL discussing social pedagogy and its impact on the workforce.

Jubilee Room, House of Commons, Westminster, London. In conversation with a social pedagogue, a young person and a staff member from St Christopher’s

The highlight of the evening was a ‘in conversation’ section where Nicola Boyce, Social Pedagogy Trainer, Chardelle Margerison, Residential worker from St Christopher’s Fellowship and a young person shared about the impact that a social pedagogic approach has made on Tia.

Following this, the audience had an opportunity to ask questions about social pedagogy and SPPA. We then heard more about the real life benefits of social pedagogy and learn more about wellbeing from an expert panel composed of Pat Petrie, Emeritus Professor at UCL Institute of Education, Lyn Romeo, Chief Social Worker for Adults at the Care and Transformation Directorate of the Department of Health and Social Care, Helen Sanderson, Wellbeing Leader at Wellbeing Teams, Sarah Wright, Director of Children and Families at Hackney Council, and Ingrid Abreu Scherer, Civil Society Lead at What Works Centre for Wellbeing.

Closing remarks from Chief Executive of St Christopher’s Fellowship
John Whalley, CEO at St Christopher’s Fellowship .

Jonathan Whalley, CEO for St Christopher’s Fellowship delivered the closing remarks, followed by a lively networking and drinks reception.

Wellbeing seminar

SPPA and St Christopher’s Fellowship held a joint seminar, ‘Social Pedagogy: A positive response to wellbeing’ as part of a campaign to address problems of low levels of wellbeing. It was held on Monday 22^nd of October 2018 at UCL Institute of Education, UCL.

Pat Petrie, Emeritus Professor, Centre for Understanding Social Pedagogy, Thomas Coram Research Unit, UCL Institute of Education, UCL

The event, chaired by SPPA trustee Robyn Kemp, attracted over 20 attendees. Pat Petrie discussed her paper on ‘Social Pedagogy as a Resource for Government Policy’. This was followed by 10 minute presentations from our speakers. Dr Praveetha Patalay, Associate Professor at UCL Institute of Education and UCL Faculty of Population Sciences, UCL discussed the mental health and wellbeing findings of the Millennium Cohort Study. Nicola Boyce, Social Pedagogy Trainer at St Christopher’s Fellowship gave examples on their social pedagogic approach for the wellbeing of young people in social care. Ingrid Abreu Scherer, Civil Society Lead at What Works Centre for Wellbeing shared how wellbeing is measured. Pat Petrie, Emeritus Professor at Thomas Coram Research Unit at UCL Institute of Education, UCL discussed the Leicester Ageing Together project she’s involved in which adapts a social pedagogy approach for older people. Finally, Claire Cameron, Social Pedagogy Professor at Thomas Coram Research Unit at UCL Institute of Education, UCL talked about the impact of social pedagogy on the workforce.

The audience was then split into two groups for discussions: one group on wellbeing of children and young people, and another on wellbeing of adults and the workforce. There was a brief panel Q&A, and then networking and drinks to close the day.