#BeeWell Wednesday: January Newsletter

Happy New Year!
Welcome to the latest edition of our #BeeWell newsletter!
In this month’s newsletter:

• Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill – Second Reading Briefing
• Young people reflect after performing their play The Wall
• Meera talks about her time in the #BeeWell Youth Steering Group
• Shining a Spotlight On the importance of relationships for wellbeing
• Reminder to join our national coalition of partners meeting on 23rd Jan
• ICYMI: #BeeWell featured on Teachers Talk Radio

This afternoon the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will be debated in parliament. We welcome the Bill – but wellbeing measurement is the missing piece!

We mustn’t miss this opportunity to measure children’s wellbeing, listen to their voices and act on what they tell us. As part of a coalition of organisations, we are calling on the government to introduce a national wellbeing measurement programme for England as a key amendment to be tabled as the Bill progresses.

Read the Second Reading Briefing here.

Young people in Southampton used #BeeWell data and drew on their own experiences to create the characters and plot for their play The Wall.
Young people from the project said:

“I’ve loved being able to write this piece, especially from my own experiences, and being able to share and raise awareness of these issues” 

“The Wall is really just about being a bridge to people who might be struggling with the same thing” 

“If you’re not confident in your own body or how you speak, you can kind of put your own situations into your own character” 

This project was designed to bring people together to communicate about important issues impacting young people’s wellbeing, and to be a therapeutic experience for the young people involved, facilitated by Light Up Shirley Ensemble.

Read more here.

“I really enjoyed looking at the data and helping people to understand and use it – going and talking to youth councils and youth cabinets about the data and things like that” 

In a recent blog post, former member of the #BeeWell Youth Steering Group, Meera speaks with our Greater Manchester Youth Co-Creation Lead Fran about her time in the group. They discuss how #BeeWell was shaped by the group at the very beginning, what she got from taking part and more.

Read the blog post here.

The #BeeWell survey provides insights into relationships with peers, at home and with trusted adults at school and in the community. The data can help us understand the impact relationships have on wellbeing and how they might help young people to navigate other challenges.

As part of our Spotlight On Relationships, over the next two months we will take a closer look at some of our research findings, share resources from partners, and highlight inspiration and recommendations from young people on the topic.

Please join our online coalition meet-up on 23rd January 4-5pm. We will share updates from the #BeeWell programme and partners, latest research findings, and invite you to be a part of the campaign calling for a national wellbeing measurement programme across England.

Sign up here.

Last year, Professor Neil Humphrey made a guest appearance on Teachers Talk Radio, an online community radio station for teachers and educators. It’s the biggest audio platform for educators in the UK, with an expanding international listenership. Discussions included mental health, data, school culture, the role of wider society, optimism and more!

You can watch and listen back to the show here.