Dear members,

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome you back for the start of a new academic year – one which will no doubt be unlike any we’ve experienced before.

Some of you reading this will have already welcomed students back and I hope that you’ve found the guidance we’ve published around safe reopening useful as you’ve been preparing for their return. We’re constantly updating the COVID-19 resource hub on our website, so please do visit this or contact us if you do need any further advice or support in this area.

On top of COVID-19, 2020/21 is already shaping up to be another important year for BSA supporting members. In this newsletter, I wanted to draw your attention to some new and existing services which may be of interest to you, and also conferences and learning opportunities we will be hosting in the coming months.

Rescheduled annual heads’ conference

We’re delighted that our 2020 Conference for Heads, which had to be postponed earlier this year, will now take place on September 22/23 as a virtual event.

We’re working on ensuring that the virtual programme is as current, relevant and thought-provoking as possible. We hope you’ll be able to join us – there’s still time to book if you haven’t done so already, so please visit our website for further information.

Diversity and Inclusion in Boarding virtual conference

Recent months have highlighted the complex issues surrounding Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion. We have put together a programme of knowledgeable and important speakers to challenge and lead our thinking in our first ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion’ virtual conference on October 14. We’ll be releasing further details about the conference on our website in the coming weeks, but booking is available now.

BAISIS

The British Association of Independent Schools with International Students (BAISIS) is now a member of the BSA Group. BAISIS’s mission is to define and share best practice in academic and pastoral provision for international students in British independent schools and colleges. To learn more about how BAISIS supports schools with international students, please take a look at our website. These are the key features of BAISIS’s work which may be of particular interest to your school:

• Training of teachers in practical strategies for teaching and learning of international students
• Training of pastoral and admissions staff in international issues
• An active network of experienced Heads of EAL and senior management to advise schools developing new international programmes
• Free termly meetings, free CPD sessions and free regular updates
• Webinars and BSA certificated training courses with discounted fees for BAISIS members
• BAISIS membership is recognised by agents and parents as an indicator of best international practice.

As a member of BSA, we are delighted to offer your school membership of BAISIS at £295 per annum which is a 50% reduction in the annual subscription of £590. To take advantage of this offer, please email chris@boarding.org.uk.

Safeguarding and Child Protection Association (Sacpa)

Also a member of the BSA Group is The Safeguarding and Child Protection Association (Sacpa), which champions excellence in safeguarding and child protection. Sacpa is the voice of safeguarding, providing a channel to government and other key agencies. The association represents organisations, associations, agencies and individuals involved in safeguarding the welfare of children and vulnerable adults in the UK and overseas. Sacpa’s services include:

• CPD and training
• Information
• Advice, consultancy, policy and compliance support
• Networking opportunities
• Resource and policy hub
• Newsletters and an online forum
• Government and key stakeholder representation.

Sacpa offers three different types of membership: Professional, Charity and Organisation. Again, a 50% discount is available to BSA members (schools or individual staff) who wish to join – please email chris@boarding.org.uk if you would like to become a member.

School Places

We’ve teamed up with Bulldog Publishing to launch Schoolplaces.org, a dedicated live information resource for schools, parents and education agents. Schoolplaces.org is designed to help agents and families easily find available school places, all in one location. And it’s also the ideal platform for schools to showcase themselves and let parents and agents know what they are offering.

If you’re interested in getting your school listed on Schoolplaces.org, please email hello@Schoolplaces.org.

BSA Certified Guardian and Agent Schemes

The BSA Certified Guardian and Agent Schemes continue to grow, providing reassurance for schools and families.

The schemes' training and certification programmes assure BSA boarding schools that they are dealing with educational guardians and agents who have the highest standards in the safeguarding of children, safer recruitment and training of staff and host families, and careful liaison with parents and schools. The schemes are a clear demonstration to BSA boarding schools of the quality and intention of the educational guardians and agents who reach certified status. More information about the schemes is available on our website.

Consultancy support

We are receiving renewed demand for our In House consultancy service, which is discounted for member schools. In House can support schools on projects related to any area of boarding and safeguarding, including strategy, marketing, boarding operations and facility reviews. If there any schools with projects needing BSA support please contact me so we can ensure diary dates and resources are identified and secured.

Exeats and half term

Schools will no doubt be focused on getting their pupils back for the start of term but we would urge members to look ahead to exeats, October half term and the end of term. International pupils will be understandably unwilling to leave their boarding houses this term and we suggest that schools strongly consider keeping their boarding houses open for these holidays. Unless the situation has changed dramatically by the end of term, many international pupils will be unable to go home if they come from a country, such as China, where they would have to enter quarantine to go home and then again to return to the UK.

Membership subscription

Finally, it’s that time of year when we invite schools to renew membership subscriptions. By now the vast majority of members should have received their renewal details and please can I thank all those who have already paid.

We really appreciate your continued membership during these difficult times and we look forward to working with you in the year ahead.

Best wishes, 

Robin Fletcher
Chief Executive, BSA and BSA Group

COVID update

BSA’s previous COVID-19 guidance was published on August 17, and contains links and references to many of the key documents from WHO and across the home nations. This update should be read in conjunction with that guidance. BSA is delighted that now over 350 member schools worldwide have signed up to the BSA COVID-SAFE Charter. If your school wishes to sign up but has not yet notified us, or if we have inadvertently missed you off the list, do please get in touch at bsa@boarding.org.uk.

There have been further updates in recent days as follows:

England: The Guidance for Schools: Coronavirus received two further updates, both of which were also issued as standalone items. The first was an update to the position on face coverings, and the second a clarification on home testing kits being held and issued by schools. BSA welcomes the clarification on face coverings, and notes that the guidance gives school leaders the opportunity to consider where and when the use of face coverings would be appropriate within their own schools. Colleagues will be aware that BSA has, through the BSA COVID-SAFE Charter, consistently urged for pupils to be able to wear face coverings if they wish.

With regard to testing kits, the guidance indicates that “all schools” will receive ten kits for use when pupils cannot access other testing facilities. BSA is seeking urgent clarification that “all schools” includes our independent school members, as some schools have been told locally that it does not.

Over the summer an addition was made to the guidance on attendance codes, to include a new code X for use when a child is absent in circumstances related to Coronavirus. BSA is seeking clarification as to how this would relate to pupils who are absent for a protracted period, for example with international pupils who are unable to return.

As of today the promised update to guidance relating to self-isolation in schools has still not been published. In the meantime schools are to use the guidance on self-isolation for residential establishments alongside the guidance on entry to the UK. BSA notes, and would ask schools to be aware, that current guidance allows for pupils showing symptoms or who have tested positive to be either isolated within school or allowed to return to the family home in the UK. There is no provision under the guidance for pupils who have developed symptoms to be sent to guardians, and this could only therefore happen as an agreed response with the relevant health authority. Guardians are, however, assisting with accommodating some of the non-symptomatic pupils who need to self-isolate on arrival in the UK in line with entry requirements

Scotland: SCIS has circulated a number of updates to member schools. These include the updated guidance on schools reopening, to cover changes to rules on face coverings. Also there was a sector advice card, a useful “keep your distance” poster and guidance on staff accessing testing (please scroll down to 'Government guidance - Scotland' section).

United Kingdom

Compliance audits to resume shortly: Fragomen has reported that the Home Office is resuming on-site audits for prospective and existing UK sponsors, after these were halted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prospective and existing UK sponsors should be ready in the event they are subject to a compliance audit. Visits can be announced or unannounced. For more information, please click here.

International

Support for Chinese students: We are delighted to have been able to help our member schools with getting their Chinese boarders back in time for two weeks’ quarantining before the start of September term. There is a shortage of flights coming out of China because regulations there state that at present airlines can only run one flight in and out per week and these are subject to cancellation at short notice. We worked with China Travel, a joint venture with CITS, a Chinese state-owned enterprise, to offer flights to all our schools. The first of these arrived safely last Friday August 21; the second is due to arrive into Heathrow tomorrow (28 August).

Nigeria to resume international flights: Nigeria’s aviation authority has announced that International flights are to resume in the county on August 29. Flights will commence with the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos.

BSA COVID-19 supplier list

BSA has a list of suppliers of vital equipment on our website, and the list continues to grow. BSA does not officially endorse any of the products listed. Schools are urged to perform their own due diligence checks on any company they plan to approach:

• Active Sanitiser & Protection Tunnel: PTC XtraSAN
• Branded Face Masks: Funky Face Mask 
• Goldpro (please see the BSA Supplier page for full details of Goldpro)
• Disinfectant: Safe Tech Installations Limited
• Liquid hand sanitiser: ClearWater Hygiene
• Software: AssetPool Covid19 Safeguarding Compliance & Verification Software who have now also set up a “back-to-school” blog on how to be safe with AssetPool
• Testing: Chronomics
• Testing: COVID-19 Rapid Test: Fortress Diagnostics
• Testing and Tracking: Taylor Education: Covid-19 testing and tracking app
• Thermal Temperature Camera System: Eclipse Strategic Security Ltd  
• Tracking: WerAreWe.

For more detail on each of the suppliers, please visit the BSA COVID supplier page here.

News

Collaboration with IASC: BSA and Sacpa have been working closely with the Office of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) regarding the role of independent schools in safeguarding international students. The IASC has written to the education secretary to outline some of the current issues in the sector, including risks around trafficking, exploitation and lack of statutory regulation for guardians of international students. A copy of the IASC's letter can be viewed here. We hope to be able to provide an update on this in a future edition of the newsletter.

Immigration school: This autumn Fragomen’s UK offices will hold an immigration school for school leavers who collected their A Levels this month and are interested in immigration or a career in law. The virtual school will be run over six evenings between October 13 and November 10. More information can be found on the school’s registration page.

Member News

BSA Certified Agents

We are delighted to announce that Cherry Education Consultancy has joined the BSA Certified Agent Scheme. Welcome to the BSA family.

• Academic Asia (China)
• Academic Families (worldwide) (Certified Agent and Certified Guardian)
• Barbara Glasmacher Internationale (Germany)
• BOSSS UK (China)
• Britannia StudyLink (HK)
• NEW: Cherry Education Consultancy
• Connexcel (China) (Certified Agent and Certified Guardian)
• J3 Group (HK)
• Mark Brooks Education (Ghana, Nigeria, worldwide)
• School Britannia (France)
• The Independent Education Consultants (worldwide)
• The Watanabe Office (Japan) 
• UK Education Guide (Middle East, worldwide)
• UK Tuition Services (China).

BSA Certified Guardians

We are delighted to announce that Study Links and UK Tuition and Services have joined the BSA Certified Guardian Scheme. Welcome to the BSA family.

• Academic Families (Certified Agent and Certified Guardian)
• Amber Education
• Belgravia Guardians
• Berkeley Guardians
• Connexcel (Certified Agent and Certified Guardian)
• Cotswold Guardians
• Elite Anglo-Chinese Services 
• English Country Guardians 
• Guardians International Support
• Regent Guardians
• St George’s Guardians
• NEW: Study Links
• ​The Guardian Family Network
• UK Guardians
• NEW: UK Tuition and Services.

Events and training update

Webinars

Start the year with six essential emotional supports
September 04, 14:00 - 15:00: This workshop, co-hosted by two boarding school psychologists, will outline the six essential emotional supports that schools must have in place to ensure a smooth start for both on-site and online students.

'KCSIE 2020' highlights for boarding staff
September 07, 14:00 - 15:00: This webinar will increase familiarity with the impact of KCSIE on boarding practice in schools in England, and update colleagues with the 2020 changes. These changes put a much greater focus on mental health and wellbeing than before, and there is also a concentration of the relevant factors of the post-COVID response.

BSA & AGBIS joint webinar: Safeguarding highlights for Governors
September 09, 17:00 - 18:00: This webinar will give Governors an overview regarding their safeguarding responsibilities and will focus on recent updates relevant to the sector. There will also be a focus on ensuring appropriate responses to the safeguarding situation post-COVID.

Promoting positive mental health: 'Toolkit for resilience for wellbeing'
September 14, 14:00 - 15:00: This webinar focuses on how we can best look after our own mental health and resilience using the latest in neuroscience/positive psychology giving practical strategies which can help to reduce stress and alleviate burn out in education.

Day seminars (virtual)

Boarding essentials
September 10, 10:30 - 15:30
September 17, 08:00 - 13:00
Twilight sessions, September 15, 16 and 18, 17:00 - 18:30
This seminar will cover the Duty of Care framework, the legal context, roles and boundaries, and meeting boarders' needs. By the end of the session, delegates should feel more confident in their role, understanding the basic principles and expectations of their role within boarding.

Induction training for Graduate and GAP assistants
September 11, 10:30 - 15:30
Enabling new Graduate and GAP assistants to join their new boarding team with confidence and understanding of their role, this session compliments a school-based induction. Delegates will consider safeguarding implications and Duty of Care throughout the session as well as their role in supporting boarders as part of a wider team.

Accredited training

Our highly respected Advanced Certificate courses are now open for booking. These courses are run at various locations around the country and give practitioners all the necessary skills and knowledge to be successful in a boarding environment.

Diploma in Boarding Practice (Leadership) - 2020-2021
A Diploma level course for senior boarding staff. This module is now available in face-to-face and live online format.

Face-to-face event: November 10, 2020; March 08, 2021 and May 18, 2021
Location: London
Reserve your place here

NEW: Online live event: In response to popular demand we are now offering a live online format of the Diploma. This module is comprised of three, tutor-led study days, with interactive morning and afternoon sessions which allow for discussion.
Day 1: January 18, 2021; Day 2: March 15, 2021; Day 3: May 26, 2021
Platform: Zoom 
Reserve your place here.

BSA Certificate in Boarding Practice (Pupil Welfare & Support)
Study dates: November 16, 2020; January 15, 2021; March 16, 2021 and June 16, 2021.

BSA Advanced Certificate in Boarding Practice (School Nurses)
Study dates: November 18, 2020; January 12, 2021; March 10, 2021 and May 11, 2021.

BSA Certificate in International Boarding
Dates: December 03, 2020 and March 17, 2021
Location: London (Hotel Melia, Kensington)
Reserve your place here

NEW - Live Online Certificate in International Boarding. Each study day has one morning and one afternoon session. Morning session: 10:30-12:30. Afternoon Session: 13:30-15:30.
Dates: January 26, 2021 and March 24, 2021
Platform: Zoom 
Reserve your place here 

Member Services

Keep in touch

Please note the BSA office is now closed and the team is working remotely. If you would like further advice from the BSA, please email bsa@boarding.org.uk or contact the team directly:

• Chief Executive - Robin Fletcher
• Chief Operating Officer - Aileen Kane
• Director of Safeguarding, Standards and Training - Dale Wilkins
• Member Services Director - Chris Ryan
• International Director - Caroline Nixon

• Director of Guardianship and Inclusion - Ammy Davies-Potter

• Head of Member Services - Beth Waddington
• Senior Training Manager - Liz McDonald
• Communications and Partnerships Manager - Andrew Gray
• Member Services Co-ordinator - Chantelle Howell-Walker.

T. +44 (0)207 798 1580
E. bsa@boarding.org.uk
W. www.boarding.org.uk