WS1 – Engaging the Disengaged: Building Confident Learners for Life and Work

Discover practical ways to re-engage post-16 learners through relevant, real-world current affairs that spark curiosity, discussion and active participation. This hands-on workshop will demonstrate simple, inclusive activities that can be used immediately across vocational and academic settings. Explore how topical conversations and structured debate can build confidence, communication, critical thinking and the ability to evaluate information. Leave with adaptable strategies that help learners find their voice, connect learning to their lives and develop the essential skills needed for further study, vocational pathways and the workplace.

Samantha Austen, Business Development Director and Tristan Britland, School Success Regional Manager at The Day News & Media Ltd will host this session at 9.45am

Find out more about The Day News & Media Ltd

WS1 – A Whole College Approach to implementing the Enrichment Framework

How do we move enrichment beyond a programme of activities and make it a purposeful, outcomes-driven part of the student experience? Through practical examples, peer discussion, and strategic reflection, delegates will consider how enrichment can be embedded across the learner journey, aligned to organisational priorities, and designed to deliver meaningful outcomes for students. Participants will leave with actionable ideas, tools, and approaches to strengthen collaboration across departments and create an enrichment offer that supports student success, belonging, wellbeing, and future aspirations

Pippa Allner, Student Experience Manager & Careers Lead and Holly Tyack, Student Engagement & Enrichment Lead at Bournemouth & Poole College, will host this session at 9.45am

Find out more about Bournemouth & Poole College.

WS1 – Creating an Accessible and Engaging Enrichment Offer

This workshop will explore ways to make your enrichment and student voice programmes more accessible, supporting your college in meeting benchmark 5 in the new Enrichment Framework.

We will cover how we have used data to inform our planning, identify gaps, and show impact as well as providing practical examples of projects and programmes that have helped us to create an inclusive offer.

Steven Richards, Student Engagement Manager and Anthony Hall, Enrichment Coordinator at Leeds City College will host this session at 9.45am

Find out more about Leeds City College

WS1 – Small Grants, Big Impact – How young people are redefining their future through Changemaker Grants

What happens when young people are given the resources, trust and freedom to turn their ideas into action? This interactive workshop explores how Changemaker Grants are enabling young people to take the lead on issues that matter to them, build confidence and agency, and create meaningful change in their communities.

Through real-world stories, reflections and practical insights, we’ll explore what happens when we shift from doing for young people to investing in their ideas, leadership and power to shape the world around them and what this can teach us about creating more youth-led, inclusive and impactful approaches to change.

Tom Lloyd, Director of Partnerships and Lily Mahoney, Events & Projects Co-ordinator at Unloc will host this session at 9.45am

Find out more about Changemaker Grants

WS2 – Developing Learner Voice: From Good Intentions to Meaningful Impact

This workshop explores how to build and develop an effective learner voice model, moving from basic feedback mechanisms to a culture where students actively shape and improve the college experience.

Through practical examples and lessons learned, delegates will explore how to establish strong student representation, increase engagement, ensure diverse voices are heard, and demonstrate the impact of learner feedback. The session will highlight how learner voice can become a powerful tool for quality improvement, student success, and organisational change.

Key themes:

Building learner voice structures from scratch
Developing effective student representatives
Increasing participation and inclusivity
Closing the feedback loop and demonstrating impact
Embedding learner voice into quality improvement
Moving from consultation to genuine partnership with students

Darren Heathcote, Head of Student Services and Leanne Alldred, Student Engagement Manager at Gateshead College will host this session at 11.15am

Find out more about Gateshead College

WS2 – Utilising AI for Learner Voice – A Journey with Fred

Feedback Fred is an AI tool built to promote and gather learner voice at our group of colleges in South Wales. In this workshop we explore the development of our idea to the execution of Fred V1 at the start of this academic year. We share the pros and cons of this approach and the collaborative way our service works with other departments to engage our hardest to reach learners. An insightful workshop led by Learner Services staff with the opportunity to see Fred in action and share ideas.

Sophie Gregory, Head of Learner Services and Alexandra O’Brien, Learner Services Lead at Coleg y Cymoedd will host this session at 11.15am

Find out more about Coleg y Cymoedd

WS2 – How can colleges move beyond student voice and create meaningful opportunities for students to lead change?

In this interactive session, participants will explore how youth social action can strengthen enrichment provision, support personal development and create a culture of student leadership.

Led by the Regional Enrichment Coordinator for the Pears Youth Social Action & Enrichment Programme (Phase Three), delegates will first explore how youth social action can be embedded within college enrichment strategies before taking part in a condensed youth social action workshop facilitated by Youth Social Action Apprentices. Participants will leave with practical ideas, planning tools and a personalised action plan to begin implementing youth social action within their own setting. Delegates will also receive an update on the Regional Enrichment Pilot in Yorkshire and Humber.

Florence Smith-Drayson, Regional Enrichment Coordinator will host this session at 11.15am

Find out more about the Pears Youth Social Action & Enrichment Programme

WS2 – BBC Verify: Filter the Fakes

These days, it’s harder than ever to know what to trust online-there’s so much information flying around. That’s where the BBC Verify masterclass comes in. It’s designed to help young people build their news literacy and strengthen their critical thinking skills. By the end of the session, the aim is for participants to start questioning what they read, watch, and hear, especially on social media, and to think twice about where that information comes from and whether it’s worth believing or sharing.

Ian Moss, Senior Service Delivery & Dev Manager at the BBC, will host this session to demonstrate the resources available to college from the BBC at 11.15am

Find out more about BBC Verify

WS3 – Strengthening your enrichment offer and delivering against enrichment benchmarks with DofE

The strongest enrichment is not an add-on; it is part of a well-rounded education. DofE provides a practical way to make that happen, giving students a pathway to build their self-belief through real-life experiences.

DofE helps colleges meet and evidence their enrichment offer against the enrichment benchmarks, enabling students to access all five enrichment categories through one comprehensive programme. DofE is also cited as an example of best practice in the enrichment framework itself.

The Government’s new enrichment guidance is an opportunity for every college to strengthen their enrichment offer. Whether you already run DofE or are considering it for the first time, we can help you scale up and evidence your enrichment more strategically for your college.

Claire Shea-Simonds, Programme Manager – Post 16 at DoE will host this session at 2.45pm

Find out more about Duke of Edinburgh

WS3 – The Enrichment Framework – identifying opportunities and risks 

Lisa will delivery a session examining the enrichment framework, sharing progress from colleges so far on embedding this and identifying the key opportunities and risks to organisations when considering actions that embed the framework. This will be a practical session but also consider what is required strategically.

Lisa, Chair of NAMSS, will host this session at 2.45pm

Find out more about NAMSS.

WS3 – Changing Students, Changing Approach: Our Student Voice Journey

A few years ago, we noticed something was changing. While student voice remained a priority, fewer students were engaging in the opportunities available to them. It made us stop and ask why.

As our student community evolved, we realised that some of our approaches hadn’t kept pace. Rather than expecting students to engage in the ways we always had, we started redesigning student voice around the students we have today.

This session shares that journey. We’ll explore how we moved from traditional feedback methods to a more inclusive, year-round approach that gives students different ways to get involved, have their say and make a difference. We’ll share what worked, what didn’t, and how connecting feedback, representation, enrichment and leadership has helped create a stronger culture of engagement across our colleges.

We have always recognised that effective student voice depends on people, and we needed to do more on that. By developing staff understanding of engagement and investing in Student Union Officer development, we’ve built stronger partnerships between students and staff and created more opportunities for students to influence change.

Together, these changes have helped create a more connected and sustainable student voice culture, where students and staff work together to shape the college experience.

Beth Hutchinson, Student Experience Team Leader and Ria Voice, Student Experience Co-ordinator at Chichester College Group will host this session at 2.45pm

WS3 – Opening Doors – International Mobility as a route to Social Mobility

International mobility should not be a privilege for the most advantaged students; it should be an opportunity for students who stand to benefit most.

This one-hour session helps college leaders, and student services managers, explore how international student mobility can support social mobility, widen participation and improve progression opportunities. The focus is on purposeful, inclusive mobility linked to learning, employability and student development—not travel for its own sake.

Learning outcomes
• Understand how international mobility may help students build confidence, skills and professional networks.
• Identify barriers that prevent disadvantaged or under-represented learners from participating.
• Identify one practical action the college can take to make mobility more accessible and purposeful

International mobility can help learners gain experiences and develop skills that support their next steps. It is not, by itself, a guarantee of social mobility; impact is more likely when opportunities are accessible, purposeful and connected to progression.

Gino Fox and Richard Hobday, both Directors at International Student Experiences, will host this session at 2.45pm

Find out more about our conference sponsors, International Student Experiences