www.boarding.org.uk No images? Click here A message from our ChairAs BSA Chair 2021 I would like to say Happy New Year to all our members and stakeholders. As well as BSA being the largest association of boarding schools, with more than 600 schools in 35 countries, BSA Group also represents more than 150 members of Sacpa, 85 members of BAISIS, nearly 50 Certified Guardians and Agents and over 550 BSA Accredited Practitioners (ABP). That’s a powerful collective under the BSA Group Mission to ‘champion boarding and safeguarding excellence’. The events of the past year have been extraordinarily testing and I pay tribute to everyone for their resilience and hard work in supporting young people (and staff) and keeping them safe. It would be premature to say we have reached the beginning of the end of COVID-19. But to quote Winston Churchill, I think we can say we have reached the end of the beginning. The promise of the roll out of vaccines gives us hope in the year ahead that we will gradually see some sort of return to normality. However, as we have said before, the opportunity that it will bring is to find the new normal. We left pre- COVID-19 Model A and are working in the blend of remote and virtual environments through the midst of COVID-19 Model B. The challenge now is to understand how we harness the best of what we have learnt in Model B to enrich our old ways of working and create Model C. Whatever challenges face us, the role of BSA, Sacpa and BAISIS is to support its members in whatever way possible. Whether that’s through influencing the government, giving advice, delivering training, hosting events, forums and webinars or offering ways for boarding staff, agents and guardians to be recognised for their quality, the Group’s three associations will always endeavour to be there, day or night, seven days a week. And in pledging that continuing support I would of course like to thank the BSA team for its relentless hard work too over the past year. Finding the right answers, at speed, for hundreds of members managing their own challenges is not always the easiest task, but we certainly have valued those updates that guide us all and answer the pressing questions. While we all face another interesting (!) 12 months ahead, I would like to highlight three things on the immediate horizon – the BSA Boarding Conference for deputy heads, heads of boarding and boarding staff on February 2-3 (hosted by Gavin Horgan from Millfield), the BSA Annual Conference for Heads on May 4-5 which I will Chair and BSA’s new INDEX (Inclusion and Diversity Excellence) programme, supporting schools with their important work in this area. I hope as many delegates as possible can join these two important gatherings, and explore INDEX, and I hope in turn they are useful for our members. Finally, huge thanks on behalf of the BSA Group Board and all our members to Mark Lauder from Strathallan School for his sterling and amazing work as BSA Chair 2020 during an extraordinary year - and best wishes to everyone supported by BSA Group for the year ahead. I know that BSA will provide the inspiration and tools for its stakeholders to make the most of the silver lining to this COVID-19 cloud and ensure we move strongly forward with Model C.
COVID-19 updateThroughout the week, BSA has been publishing regular bulletins featuring any updated COVID-19 related guidance for schools. Below are links to the latest guidance from England and devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: England Scotland Wales
Northern Ireland Included below is a round-up of additional guidance and information which has not been featured in our previous updates. EnglandPrivate Fostering BSA has fielded many queries relating to the position on Private Fostering for boarders who will remain with guardians for 28 days or more. Updated advice is being sought from DfE, but at the moment the situation is that any person aged under 16 in England (or 18 with disabilities) who is accommodated by a person other than a close family member for 28 days or more is being privately fostered, and this needs to be reported to the Local Authority. Details can be found on the relevant local authority website. Education Secretary outlines plans to support young people Support for the continued education of young people has been outlined by the Education Secretary. The full package of measures set out in parliament includes:
For more on the outline plans, please click here. Exam updates The DfE has advised the following regarding admissions tests:
Following the Prime Minister's announcement earlier this week, a number of bodies have issued statements in response: Sporting guidance GOV.UK has updated its grassroots sports guidance for the public and sport providers. To view the updated guidance, please click here. Updated: Coronavirus (COVID-19) contingency framework for education and childcare settings Please note: Different education restrictions apply during the national lockdown from January 5, 2021. GOV.UK has published an updated version of its Coronavirus (COVID-19) contingency framework for education and childcare settings. Please note that the restrictions described in this framework do not currently apply to any areas of England. The following update has been made to the guidance regarding boarding schools:
To read the updated guidance in full, please click here. Legal update and guidance for schools Farrer and Co and ISBA has issued a coronavirus legal update and guidance for schools. ISBA has also provided an updated version of its Competition Law guidance for schools. To access these documents, please log in to the Members area of our website (the updated documents can be found under 'Other Advice and Guidance'). Mandatory COVID-19 testing introduced to bolster border measures Passengers arriving from all international destinations will be required to present a negative COVID-19 test result before departing for England to help protect against new strains of coronavirus circulating internationally. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced that from next week inbound passengers arriving by boat, plane or train will have to take a test up to than 72 hours before departing the country they are in For more information, please click here. ScotlandCoronavirus (COVID-19): supplementary national child protection guidance The Scottish Government has updated its Supplementary National Child Protection Guidance. To view the updated version, please click here. BSA COVID-19 supplier listBSA 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:
For more detail on each of the suppliers, please visit the BSA COVID supplier page here. Other newsScottish Child Abuse Inquiry - boarding schools hearing postponed The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry's case study hearings to examine the abuse of children in boarding schools, which were due to begin later this month, have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, please click here. Important information on the EU Settlement Scheme - correction In Issue 194 of our newsletter issued on December 4, 2020, we ran a piece titled 'Points-based immigration system go live'. Unfortunately one of the links we were supplied with was incorrect. The correct link for applying to join the EU Settlement Scheme can be found here and we have also updated the Visas and Immigration section of our website accordingly. We apologise for any confusion. Keep in touchPlease 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:
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