Sixth Form Leadership Conference 2025: Leading with Excellence, Culture & Care
CONFERENCE AIMS
Sixth form leaders face the unique challenge of delivering adult-ready outcomes while supporting adolescent vulnerabilities. Join us for a dynamic and thought-provoking day designed for current and aspiring leaders of post-16 education. This brand-new conference aims to provide leaders with the strategic insight, practical tools, and personal resilience required to lead exceptional sixth forms in today’s complex educational landscape. Through expert-led sessions, delegates will explore how to define and sustain excellence, lead with vision and empathy, navigate inspection demands confidently, and cultivate a thriving, aspirational culture for young adults. With a focus on integrity, wellbeing, and real-world challenges, from safeguarding to student ownership, the conference creates space for reflection, inspiration, and practical development. Delegates will leave reenergised, with a clearer sense of purpose, a stronger understanding of what great sixth form leadership looks like, and actionable strategies to drive improvement and impact in their own settings.BENEFITS OF ATTENDING
- Gain clarity on inspection expectations and how to prepare confidently
- Define what excellence looks like in sixth form leadership, with a focus on high-impact behaviours and strategic alignment
- Explore how to handle complex safeguarding issues with confidence and care
- Learn how to shape a strong, student-led culture that promotes responsibility, aspiration, and identity
- Develop sustainable leadership habits that protect your energy, purpose, and mental health over the long term
- Connect with other sixth form leaders to share ideas, challenges, and solutions in a supportive, professional environment
- Leave with practical tools and strategies ready to apply within your unique context, whether school or college based
Programme
9.50am
Steve Smith Director of Professional Development, Keynote Educational
10.00am
- Key behaviours, habits, and mindsets of highly effective sixth form leaders
- Strategic vision: aligning sixth form goals with whole-school improvement
- Leading teams with credibility, clarity, and care
- Balancing operational demands with long-term development and innovation
Kathryn Gorman, Founder of Clarion Leadership
11.00am
11.20am
- Understanding the key similarities and differences between EIF and FE & Skills inspections
- What ‘quality of education’ looks like in post-16: intent, implementation, and impact across settings
- Preparing evidence and conversations around curriculum, destinations, safeguarding, and skills
- Practical preparation tips for leaders: managing the process, empowering staff, and staying strategic under scrutiny
Sam Robinson, National Education Leadership and Strategy, Lift Schools
12.10pm
- Prioritising purpose and values to stay motivated and fulfilled
- Recognising the early signs of overload, burnout, and compassion fatigue
- Practical strategies for time management, boundaries, and delegation
Dr Emma Kell, International keynote speaker, coach, teacher, author and researcher
1.00pm
2.00pm
- Defining what makes your sixth form distinctive – and making it aspirational
- Shaping attitudes: professionalism, inclusion, accountability, and ambition
- Building a culture of respect and responsibility without micromanaging behaviour
- Co-creating leadership, voice, and student ownership of their space and community
Dr Jo Trevenna, Consultant JMC Education
2.50pm
2.55pm
- When “nearly adults” face adult dangers: substance misuse, toxic relationships, and digital exploitation
- Sextortion, self-harm, and student disclosure: responding with confidence and care
- The dangers of generative AI
- Creating safeguarding systems that respect independence but don’t overlook vulnerability
- Building staff confidence in handling complex issues that don’t fit easy categories
Luke Ramsden, Senior Deputy Head & Director of Safeguarding, St Benedict’s School
Alex Heald, Director of Sixth Form, St Benedict’s School
3.45pm
Conference - Code: C0012
Sixth Form Leadership Conference 2025: Leading with Excellence, Culture & Care
London | Friday 28 November 2025
SPEAKERS
Kathryn Gorman
Kathryn Gorman is the founder of Clarion, a leadership consultancy working at the intersection of values, strategy and governance. With a career spanning senior leadership in schools, latterly Headship, governance and policy advisory, she brings over 25 years of experience supporting leaders to lead with clarity, courage and humanity. She works with CEOs, senior teams and boards across the education and non-profit sectors, helping them build collective leadership and governance cultures that are both purpose-driven and future-ready. Earlier in her career, she oversaw the development of Sixth Form provision in a high-performing girls’ school. This project successfully delivered enhanced breadth, improved outcomes and increased roll in line with whole-school strategy. She has a good understanding of the opportunities and challenges of leading ‘a school within a school’ in what is often a critical leadership role. She is known for her thoughtful, values-led approach to leadership development, combining strong relationships with strategic rigour. She is MHFA trained, an accredited workplace mediator and will soon be a L7 Executive Coach.
Sam Robinson
Sam Robinson is national education leader with responsibility for strategy and improvement at Lift Schools, supporting 34,000 pupils across a network of 57 schools. Her work focuses on building powerful, sustainable educational communities and driving excellence at scale. With over a decade of senior leadership experience in two Outstanding independent schools, she has led whole-school strategic change, specialising in sixth form, enrichment, and partnerships. She is the architect of the Ignite programme - an innovative model for meaningful whole-school enrichment. A published education writer, Ofsted Inspector, and recognised national voice on post-16 education and futures, she also serves as the Founder and Chair of the MAT Sixth Form Group and is an active school governor.
Dr Emma Kell
Dr Emma Kell is director of Those That Can Ltd. She has 25 years of experience as a teacher and leader in UK secondary schools and currently teaches in Alternative Provision. She is a qualified Performance Coach and speaks regularly on teacher wellbeing, recruitment and retention, she writes for a variety of publications including TES and BBC Teach. She has completed a doctorate on teacher well-being and parenting at Middlesex University and is author of How to Survive in Teaching (Bloomsbury, 2018) and A Little Guide for Teachers: Wellbeing and Self-Care and A Little Guide for Teachers: Engaging Parents and Carers. She is currently writing her fourth book, Real Lives of Teachers, due for publication with Sage Education in 2025. She is also Mum to two teenagers and a golden retriever.
Dr Jo Trevenna
Dr Jo Trevenna is an experienced school leader and academic researcher, who has worked from primary through to secondary, further, and higher education. She has over 20 years’ experience of educational leadership from early years to post-graduate level. She supports pastoral teams to embed vision and policy into every day, consistent practice. She is driven by an inclusive ethos and her work is research informed. Her research interests centre on leadership and inclusion. She leads Potential Education, which specialises in the leadership of EDI in schools. Building understanding of the Equality Act (2010) and ensuring compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty.
Luke Ramsden
Luke Ramsden is Senior Deputy Head and Director of Safeguarding at St Benedict’s School, where he leads on academic excellence, pastoral innovation, and whole-school strategy. A former Head of History at Tonbridge and lead A Level teacher at Ampleforth College, his work is grounded in intellectual ambition, student wellbeing, and values-led education. Nationally recognised for his pastoral leadership, winning NACPE Pastoral Leader of the Year (2021–22) and the Pastoral Care Award (2023), Luke also drives innovation in education technology. He has led St Benedict’s integration of AI across pastoral systems and staff development and founded the Education in AI conference. Beyond school, he is Chair of Trustees for the Schools Consent Project, a safeguarding advisor for The Diana Award, and an ISI inspector, regularly contributing to national conversations on leadership, inclusion, and ethical education.
Alex Heald
Alex Heald has been a dedicated member of the St. Benedict’s School community in Ealing since 2006. He has served as Director of Sixth Form since 2019, leading the post-16 provision with a focus on academic excellence, personal development, and university and career readiness. Prior to this, Alex was Head of History for five years and has held several pastoral leadership roles, including Head of Year for Years 8, 9, and 11. When not in a head of year role, he has continued to support students as a committed form tutor. Outside of school, Alex is also a parent to two teenagers, a son and a daughter, giving him valuable insight into the challenges and experiences facing young people today.
Course Brochure
