AoC Safer Students Conference 2026
Venue: Online via Zoom
Date: 13 October 2026
Time: 9:30 AM - 12:45 PM
Fee: Starting at £195 + VAT per delegate
This year’s Safer Students conference covers a range of challenges that colleges face in supporting our students and keeping our college communities safe. We will hear from a wide range of stakeholders and colleges themselves, about some of the most innovative work in this area.
We will reflect on some of the recent trends and evolving risks faced by our students and communities and the emphasis throughout will be on how to create a strong culture of safety, respect and inclusiveness including practical approaches colleges can adopt in the here and now, as well as system changes which could help us better serve our students in the future.
Join the conversation and stay up-to-date with the latest news: AoC_Info
Dates:
Tuesday 13 October 09:30 - 12:45 - Day one
Wednesday 14 October 09:30 -12:45 - Day two
Delegate fees:
AoC Member fee - per delegate £195 + VAT
Affiliate Member - per delegate £230 + VAT
Non-member institutions – per delegate £310 + VAT
Non-member commercial – per delegate £640 + VAT
10% off on 3 or more tickets purchased
Rosie is a Senior Education Officer in the Education Team at Childnet. She delivers expert online safety sessions for pupils, parents, and staff members. She also works with industry, government, and educational professionals to develop innovative online safety resources. Rosie has a teaching background and has worked in education and online safety for 8 years.
Hannah is a Mental Health Trainer for HE and college settings at Charlie Waller. She has previously worked as a practitioner within CYP services. Hannah is a Mental Health First Aid England Associate trainer and director of Junah, a social enterprise providing training in suicide prevention, intervention and postvention skills. Hannah has provided training for over 7 years to a variety of sectors including within education, government departments and business. She is passionate about creating kinder and happier education settings and workplaces where people feel supported and heard.
Andrea Dill-Russell joined Ofsted in 2018. She works as a Senior His Majesty’s Inspector. She has extensive experience as an inspector across all further education and skills providers as well as teacher development. Before joining Ofsted Andrea had significant leadership experience in the further education and skills sector, including as a designated safeguarding lead. As well as experience in managing curriculum areas such as foundation English, ESOL, mathematics, employment training and independent living, Andrea is experienced in working with young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
Ben works at the Youth Endowment Fund, supporting the education sector to strengthen evidence-informed approaches to preventing children and young people’s involvement in violence.
With a background working alongside senior leaders and safeguarding professionals across the further education sector, Ben now focuses on helping education leaders to: understand what works, assess the effectiveness of their current approaches, and translate evidence into practice.
His work brings together research, policy and practical insight to support education settings to develop effective, sustainable approaches to violence prevention.
Sarah Lonsdale in one of His Majesty’s Inspectors in the North, East, Yorkshire & Humber Region and Specialist Advisor for FE and Skills Policy at Ofsted. She joined Ofsted in 2018 and in addition to inspecting leads on stakeholder engagement for education programmes for young people. Sarah has extensive experience of leading and managing vocational education. This includes 16-19 study programmes, apprenticeships and adult learning provision across a broad range of curriculum areas.
Michelle is responsible for the growth, development and direction of Teach for Tomorrow's programme activities, including: developing and piloting new models with teachers and students; educator engagement and communications; facilitating CPD; working with corporate partners and donors; and developing partnerships. Michelle has a BA (History), MA (Jewish History and Culture) and PhD from the University of Southampton, and has previously worked in the academic and corporate sectors. Michelle is a parent governor and trustee at her local primary school, and a trustee of the charity Journey to Justice.
Sam leads the coordinator team nationally in relation to their work in the FE Skills sector having conceived & written the Work Based Learners Prevent Guidance, specific Self-Assessment Toolkits for FE Skills & for Schools & he continues to create bespoke ways to support the sector. He has also focussed on work connected to freedom of speech & external speakers at universities.
In a policing career as Senior Detective, firearms officer & commander he also completed the national Police Senior Leadership Programme & was Chair & Trustee of a rape charity for 7 years until 2020.
Balbir Sohal, our Regional Programme Lead, Midlands, has over 45 years’ experience in education, ranging from primary to higher education, devising and delivering learning and teaching programmes to many varied audiences. Balbir has been a teacher, Education Advisor and Education Consultant. She is a Holocaust and Genocide Fellow and facilitator, and in her last post Balbir was a Prevent Education Officer for a Local Authority where she focused on the Preventing Violent Extremism agenda with the West Midlands Counter Terrorist Unit. Balbir has worked abroad in partnership with many organisations in the areas of equality, diversity, and peace education. She is passionate about teaching and promoting marginal voices, peace and social justice. She is also a member of the Lord Mayor’s Peace and Reconciliation Committee, a trustee of two charities, the trustee of a secondary school and an active member of her local Sikh community.
