Make a soldering iron safer

I work in a special needs school. Some of my students find it very difficult to control soldering irons and this causes them to be frightened. To overcome this I have made a stand that holds the soldering iron to lift up and down (and rest in the air when not in use). To make the only really hot part of the soldering iron the tip, I have covered the rest of the heating element and tip in sugru. This means that there is less chance of them burning themselves..