Sam slack , regional prevent co-ordinator for fe/he

department for education

Sam is the Dep't for Education's Regional HE/FE Prevent Coordinator for the East Midlands, a role that he has held for over 5 years.

Sam took up his role as Prevent Coordinator in 2013 & has worked closely with a huge range of organisations across the HE & FE sectors throughout this time developing & delivering staff training, advising re policy & plans & supporting organisations to navigate the more recent challenges presented by the Prevent Statutory Duty. For almost 3 years from 2015 Sam additionally covered an extended area comprising S. Yorkshire, Humber & North East providing him with broader experience of the HE & FE sectors.
During his tenure as Prevent Coordinator Sam has undertaken extensive work in the area of freedom of speech, developing a variety of training materials, including the LFHE Prevent Duty package, delivered training to many Student’s Unions & supported them to plan & assess events. He is currently leading on national work relating to work-based learners & apprenticeships in the FE Skills sector & recently conceived & published guidance for the sector.

Sam has completed terrorism & associated studies with Leiden University, University of Maryland, Tel Aviv &the University of Derby where he recently successfully achieved a Post Graduate Certificate in Understanding Radicalisation. He is qualified to Level 4 as a Designated Safeguarding Lead an area which he leads on for the DfE Prevent team.

Prior to working with the DfE Sam enjoyed a career with Derbyshire Police serving throughout the county in a variety of roles including Senior Detective, firearms officer & commander. Sam retired from the police in 2012 as a Detective Chief Inspector, Head of Crime. He has extensive experience in senior command & the field of crime investigation including murder & many other major enquiries.

In addition, Sam was the Chair of the Board of Trustees for SV2 (formerly Derbys' Rape Crisis) for 4 years until 2017 & remains an active Trustee & supporter.