NNECL Annual Conference 2025
Join us at the London Canal Museum, Kings Cross, London.
NNECL Annual Conference, Monday 10 November 2025
Venue: London Canal Museum, Kings Cross,
London, N1 9RT
London Canal Museum on Google Maps
Tickets now on sale!
We are pleased to invite you to the NNECL's Annual Conference 2025 for education practitioners and care leaving teams.
Through thought-provoking keynotes and interactive workshops, delegates at this years event will gain fresh perspectives and practical tools to better support care experienced and estranged young people through their educational journeys and beyond. This years event will be a CPD certified event. The conference will run from 10.00 am to 17.00 pm.
- Keynote from Helen Hayes MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee
- Workshops led by Education Practitioners working in NNECL member colleges and universities
- A podcast recorded live by care experienced and estranged students
- A networking lunch and celebration closing drinks reception
With our carefully curated programme, as always, the NNECL Annual Conference is a day not to be missed. We look forward to seeing you there!
Registration & tickets
During the booking process, you will be invited to select one workshop taking place during the morning (1) and afternoon (2) sessions. You can find details of the workshop options below.
NNECL members and workshop speakers are offered ticket reductions as a thank you for the time and commitment they are investing to the conference. If you're organisation is not a NNECL member and you are not delivering a workshop please ensure you select the correct ticket type. Please get in touch if you need to check your membership status: [email protected]
Note: We accept payment by BACS or card. Please select the relevant ticket option when booking. The ticket booking form is at the bottom of this page.
The venue
The London Canal Museum is a fully accessible venue, with facilities that accommodate all mobility requirements, including the use of walking aids and other assistive devices.
Sustenance
Your ticket includes complimentary refreshments served throughout the day, along with a buffet lunch provided by a local caterer.
Workshop Sessions:
| Workshop Session 1 | ||
| Working with what you don't know, you know | Donna-Louise Harvey, University of Wolverhampton | This session focuses on the often subtle ways students disclose personal struggles during their university experience, without explicitly stating, "I'm struggling." It highlights the various touchpoints across campus where disclosures may occur, in academic settings, student services and informal conversations. By becoming more aware of these moments, staff can better recognise when support is needed and respond with empathy and care. The session highlights the importance of making students feel seen, heard, and valued, ultimately strengthening their sense of support and belonging. Delegates will gain tools to proactively foster a compassionate and responsive university environment. |
| Collaboration in Action: Shaping Outreach Through Care Experienced Ambassador Perspectives | Shauna-Aine O'Brien, University of Kent | This session, co-led by care experienced Student Ambassadors, shares University of Kent’s four-year experience co-creating outreach programmes for care experienced young people. Delegates will learn practical insights, successes, challenges, and tools to develop authentic, inclusive outreach initiatives that effectively engage care experienced students, carers, and professionals. |
| Amplifying student voice by supporting them to finding their strengths. | Deirdre Lynskey | This workshop aims to: - Illustrate the science and methodology behind the Cappfinity Strengths Profile. - Demonstrate practical ways to embed the tool when working with groups and/or individuals. - Highlight the benefits for student self-understanding, wellbeing and self-belief. So often students with care experience are unaware of the strengths they have which can lead to them not putting themselves forward for opportunities, whether that be a Student Rep, job opportunities or speaking up in class. This workshop will enable practitioners and others who support students with care experience to understand the Cappfinity strengths profile tool and how, when used with students it helps identify realised strengths, unrealised strengths, learned behaviours and weaknesses. This self-awareness and understanding allows students to gain a nuanced understanding of their unique strengths and areas for growth. As part of the workshop a sample debrief will take place which will allow for all participants to understand how they can facilitate a reflective conversation with their cohort of students. Students cannot amplify their voice unless they have the confidence and self-belief to be able to express themselves. The workshop will open the opportunity for discussion about how the strengths profile tool can be used. |
| Workshop Session 2 | ||
| Mentoring for care experienced and estranged students - what we've learnt | Alison Taylor, Concrete Rose | Facilitated by Concrete Rose who work with students at Cambridge University, this workshop offers an in-depth exploration of the mentoring and supported lodgings models developed to support care experienced, estranged, and independent students. Delegates will learn how tailored, trauma-informed approaches can help students feel settled, supported, and equipped to thrive during their time at university. This initiative was developed in response to the expressed needs of students who are care experienced and/or estranged from family. Mentors are carefully selected individuals from the local community who are trained, vetted, and supported to provide regular in-person one-to-one sessions. These sessions focus on building trusted relationships that offer pastoral care, emotional support, guidance, and practical help navigating the challenges of university life. Mentoring is provided on a voluntary, non-clinical basis, rooted in relational and consistent engagement. Alongside its student mentoring offer, Concrete Rose operates a supported lodgings model for young people aged 16 to 23, including university students in need of stable accommodation. In this model, young people are placed in the homes of trained hosts, who have a spare room and a desire to make a meaningful difference. Each young person living in supported lodgings is assigned a professional youth worker who offers weekly one-to-one sessions, as well as access to therapeutic support and mentoring. This workshop is relevant for university staff, widening participation practitioners, college tutors, student services teams, local authority professionals working with care leavers, and anyone involved in student wellbeing, housing, or access to higher education. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the importance of community-based, trauma-informed approaches in promoting equity and wellbeing in the university context. |
| Winter Support Calls: Adapting NTU's Call Campaigns to support individuals and foster community | Kathryn Gardiner, Nottingham Trent University | There are approximately 620 students at NTU who identify as care experienced or estranged and, of these, 263 receive either our Estranged or Care Leaver Bursary of £1000 per year. We know the weeks preceding the Winter Break can be a challenging time for these students who are at risk of increased isolation and/or disengagement during the festive period. Therefore, for the past three years we have contacted all our care experienced and estranged students as part of a coordinated call campaign offering tailored advice and support in the run up to, and over, that break. Support calls have been shown to have had a positive impact on the number of care experinced and estranged learners seeking support from university services. This session will provide attendees with an outline of what NTU have learned from the last three winter call campaigns, and how we have collaborated with other university services to expand the use of calling to support students at additional critical points in the year. The session will guide delegates to consider whether a similar call campaign could help to engage with students at their institution and offer guidance in terms of data, script and support to complete this successfully. |
| Supporting Estranged students into and through HE | Vanessa Conman and Dan Hall, University of York | This workshop will provide an overview of the support offered to estranged students across the whole student lifecycle at the University of York. Particular focus will be on the university’s bespoke pre-entry VIP visit package, and how the Student Support team supports learners to access financial support as an estranged student. A presentation will be delivered before moving on to an interactive activity to look at what other FE and HE institutions are doing to specifically support estranged students, including the challenges faced and any success stories. This will be an opportunity to share best practice, as well as provide peer advice to each other. |
Any questions or for anything else, please email us at [email protected]
