This November, as part of National Care Leavers Month, we’re inviting all colleges to join us in Wanted Week, a collaborative campaign between NAMSS and the Care Leaver Covenant, celebrating and championing care experienced students throughout the NAMSS network.

National Care Leavers Month shines a light on the experiences and achievements of individuals who have experience of being “in care”. This year’s national theme, “Rising as Me” is a powerful reminder of self-worth, pride, and identity. It calls on us all to create spaces where care experienced students can rise with confidence, knowing they are seen, supported, and wanted.

What is Wanted Week?

Wanted Week is a week-long celebration (24 – 28 November) designed for colleges to get involved in a collective of raising visibility and awareness for care experienced students. You can take part in the full week or just choose the activities that best fit your setting. Every action helps build a collective message of belonging and opportunity.

Get Involved

Participation is completely flexible. The Care Leaver Covenant has put together a suggested plan for the week for institutions to take part in one activity or all (this was shared with all NAMSS members via jiscmail on 3/11/25)). The goal is simple: to show care experienced students that they are valued, visible, and wanted in further education and beyond.

If your college hasn’t yet signed up to the Care Leaver Covenant, this is the perfect opportunity. It’s a simple process that connects you to a national movement committed to improving outcomes for care leavers. You can find out more and sign up here

NAMSS are proud to be championing Wanted Week alongside the Care Leaver Covenant, as part of our shared commitment to inclusion, visibility, and opportunity for all care experienced students.

Thank you for everything you do to create environments where young people can truly rise as themselves.

This week we join the nation in celebrating Trustees Week, supported by the Charity Commission, to showcase the incredible work of charity trustees!

At NAMSS, we want to give a huge, heartfelt thank you to our dedicated Executive Trustees. Their commitment, and the many hours they give voluntarily, are the driving force behind our organisation and our sector advocacy.

What makes them so exceptional? All our Trustees balance their essential work for NAMSS with demanding full-time senior roles in colleges across the country!

Thank you for your tireless dedication to Student Services:

Lisa Humphries, Chair

Joe Baldwin, Deputy Chair

Wayne Dewick, Treasurer

Aimey Adamson

Julia Breakwell

Kay Burton-Williams

Sharon Cousins

Sue Dafter

Lisa Hartley

Carla Hayes

Lloyd Perry

We are incredibly grateful for the leadership and expertise you provide! 🙏

We are delighted to announce that our first-ever Tutorial Conference will be sponsored by The Skills Network.

With 9 workshops and a Q&A Panel the conference, on Tuesday 20 January at the Novotel in Birmingham, is a fantastic opportunity for delegates to learn about really practical ideas, strategies and resources to take back to their own college.   It is also a great chance to meet peers from other organisations who experience the same challenges and understand the issues faced by Tutorial Teams across the UK.

The full programme of workshops and tickets for this event will be shared after half-term.

We’re excited to introduce Denise Olander, Deputy Director, Post-16 Education, Training and Skills, as our third keynote speaker!

Denise is a qualified teacher and holds a Master’s degree in Leadership and Management. Her career is defined by her incredible breadth of experience across the sector:

She previously managed a massive range of college faculties and complex provision, including:

• Foundation Learning & ESOL
• Provision for Children Looked After and NEET learners
• Adult Community and subcontractors

Now, as a key leader at Ofsted, she brings expertise from leading inspections across General FE, Sixth Form, and Offender Learning.

Join us to gain a holistic view of the sector from a leader with practical experience in every corner of FE.

We are honoured to announce that the Hon. Dr. Stuart Lawrence will be joining us as a keynote speaker!

Stuart Lawrence—award-winning speaker, author, consultant, and younger brother of Stephen Lawrence-dedicates his life to empowering young people to achieve their potential and become the voices that change society.

A specialist in Diversity, Inclusion, Grief, and Youth Engagement, Hon Dr Stuart Lawrence will share his powerful story and invaluable insights on fostering tolerance and celebrating difference.

Dr. Lawrence, author of Silence Is Not An Option and Growing Up Black in Britain, has received an Honorary Doctorate from Greenwich University and the MBCC Special Recognition Award for his work in equality.

This is a session that will challenge and inspire you to drive change.

The full programme and tickets for Annual Conference will be available at the end of the Autumn Term.

We are delighted to announce that our Annual Conference will be opened by the brilliant Dr Paul Redmond; one of the UK’s leading experts on generational change and the future of work.

Formerly the Director of Student Experience and Enhancement at the University of Liverpool, where he continues to lecture regularly, Paul has held visiting lectureships at various leading universities and has been responsible for guiding the careers of thousands of students and graduates. Paul’s research into

‘Generation Z,’ the post-Covid world of work, the rise of ‘Zombie Jobs’ (the theme of his TED talk), techniques for building excellent inter-generational communications, and ‘Helicopter Parents’ has garnered him praise and respect from a range of national and international organisations.

In recognition of his writing and research, Paul was awarded a Fellowship of the British Royal Society of Arts.

More information about our Annual Conference on Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 March at the Park Regis Hotel in Birmingham, and the booking details will be shared nearer to Christmas.

Nominations for this year’s NAMSS Student Servcies Awards are now open and we can’t wait to read all the submissions.

The categories are:

– Student Services Team of the Year

– Inspirational Project of the Year

– Newcomer of the Year

Please carefully read the award criteria before completing the nomination form.

The closing date for all nominations and supporting evidence is 12noon on Wednesday 28 January 2026.

Successful nominees will be invited to attend our Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony at 7pm on Monday 9 March at the Park Regis Hotel in Birmingham.

We are thrilled to announce our support of  the AoC’s brand new Student Leadership in Further Education Programme.

Student leaders play an essential role in shaping life at college – representing peers, influencing decisions, and acting as key voices in your community. These roles require confidence, communication and leadership – but students can’t do it alone.

To support them, the Association of Colleges is launching a new Student Leadership Programme for 2025-26, supported by NAMSS, designed to develop the core skills student leaders need to succeed in their roles and make a real impact.

This new pilot will offer a blended mix of in-person events, online leadership sessions and on-demand resources.  It has been developed with input from ourselves, college practitioners and the FE Youth Collective, ensuring it reflects the reality of leadership roles within colleges.

We would encourage students currently in leadership, ambassador, or representative roles who are eager to grow their confidence and skills, and who can commit to the full programme, to apply for this course before the deadline of Thursday 16 October .

For more information, and to apply, visit the AoC’s event page.

We are delighted to announce that our 2-Day Annual Conference on Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 March 2026 will be sponsored by Smoothwall

We are back at the beautiful Park Regis Hotel in Birmingham and we are currently busy putting together a great programme of keynotes and workshops as well as picking the gala dinner menu and, of course, booking the live band!

Last year’s conference was attended by a record 140 delegates and each one of them was focussed on learning about services, resources, practices and initiatives to help support their students.  You can find out more about last year’s event here.

More details and tickets for 2026 will be available later in the Autumn Term.   We hope to see you there!