www.boarding.org.uk No images? Click here Dear membersThis week, I joined colleagues Dee Guillemot-Rodgerson, Pete Upham and Richard Stokes from the boarding schools' associations in New Zealand, USA and Australia to offer 'A Boarding Message' to parents and boarders across the world during the Covid-19 crisis.Members are welcome to share this message with their boarding community. Please click here to view the message. BSA Certified Guardian SchemeI am delighted to announce the launch of the BSA’s Certified Guardian Scheme (CGS). This follows on from the recent publication of the BSA Register of Guardians (member log in required) and the appointment of Ammy Davies-Potter as BSA’s Director of Accreditation and Guardianship from September 2020. It also aligns with BSA Group’s mission to ‘champion boarding and safeguarding excellence’. This BSA’s Certified Guardian Scheme (CGS) has been created in response to increased demand from BSA member schools for quality, certified guardians to care for their international students. The scheme is designed to be accessible to, and inclusive of, all guardianship organisations and to enable the sharing of best practice with all. BSA training of guardians and subsequent certification will provide assurance to you that you are dealing with guardians who have the highest standards in safeguarding of children, safer recruitment and training of staff and host families, and careful liaison with parents and schools. More details can be found on our website here and we encourage you to suggest that the guardians your school works with, whether big organisations or individual relatives of students, apply. Guardianship services are now being offered by BSA independently of Aegis, which continues to run its own accreditation scheme and act a membership association for schools and guardians, separate to BSA. Guardians can obviously decide if they wish to be part of BSA’s Certified Guardian Scheme (CGS), or Aegis accredited, or both. Likewise, schools can decide which scheme they support, or both. Tier 4 guidanceThe guidance on the concessions currently agreed and in place for Tier 4 students and institutions was published this week and can be viewed here. This guidance sets out temporary policy concessions for Tier 4 sponsors, Tier 4 students and short-term study students in response to the outbreak of coronavirus. The concessions will all be kept under regular review and will be withdrawn once the situation returns to normal. The guidance includes information on extensions of leave for students whose leave expires prior to May 31, switching concessions that enable students who would have otherwise been unable to switch in country (e.g. STS/ VISIT), distance Learning provisions and sponsor responsibilities such as compliance and educational oversight. The overarching guidance on visas is available here. EU exit arrangementsOn 9 April, the government published information to help employers prepare for the UK’s new points-based immigration system. To access the guide please click here. The EU Exit Engagement Team has contacted us about the guidance:
A message from the ISCSummer catch-up courses for disadvantaged children - might your school help? Would you be willing to provide summer catch-up courses for disadvantaged children? We are exploring the possibility of courses hosted by member schools and paid for by the government, although payment rates are yet to be clarified. If your school might be interested in offering a day or residential course in August, please contact: ceo@isc.co.uk. Julie Robinson is keen to hear from schools who might help shape a course offer: for instance, two weeks of GCSE preparation for Year 10 pupils in English, Science and maths. Best wishes
BSA AcademyBSA Boarding AwardsThe deadline for entries to the BSA Boarding Awards has been extended until the end of May 2020. Winners will be announced during the rescheduled Heads' Conference in September. For more information on the Awards please visit our website, and email Amy Wilson if you have any questions. Virtual day seminarsBSA has converted the summer term day seminar training programme so it can be accessed remotely worldwide. Our virtual day seminars enable the delivery of the same training, sharing of resources and materials and opportunity to interact with the speaker and other delegates as our typical training programme. Boarding on a budget Medical matters for non-medical staff Mental health support (staff) WebinarsThe BSA webinar series continues to grow, with webinars in the coming weeks for pastoral staff, Admissions staff, Marketing staff and the Leadership team. These one-hour intense training bursts are easily accessible worldwide and, if you can't join live, it is possible to order a recording of any past webinar in the series. To see the BSA webinar series as a whole, visit the dedicated page on our website. From there, you can order a recording of any of our webinars at a small fee. Managing school closures: staying connected with parents COVID-19 impact on schools: Home Office policy and practice Is your website as good as it looks? To see more webinars, please visit our Events calendar. Accredited Boarding Practitioner SchemeBSA has always been committed to outstanding boarding practice in member schools, to achieve the best possible outcomes for every boarder. BSA has developed the BSA Accredited Boarding Practitioner scheme, an individual recognition for boarding staff to show their development and commitment to boarding. All readers of this newsletter are almost certainly eligible for one of the ABP Levels and now is a great opportunity to apply. If you've attended BSA training in the past, all you need to do to apply is click the applicable link below:
If you have any questions about an application, or nominate a colleague, please email Liz McDonald, BSA Senior Training Manager. ConferencesSBF Virtual Conference Annual Conference for Heads Boarding House Staff Conference Deputy Heads and Heads of Boarding Conference Policy reviewsA number of members have been in touch as they use the lockdown period to review boarding policies. If you would like any best practice support around this area, please contact Dale Wilkins, Director of Safeguarding, Standards and Training via dale@boarding.org.uk. In House consultancy serviceWe are aware many schools are reviewing their boarding strategies as a result of the current challenges facing the sector. BSA’s In House consultancy service is able to offer support to schools on this, or on other areas such as policy or staffing reviews. Although this is a chargeable service, we are reducing fees for this by 40% between now and the end of the academic year to recognise school budget pressures. If anyone is interested in this service, please email robin@boarding.org.uk. Member ServicesCOVID-19 supportThe latest BSA advice regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from April 20, 2020, can be found on our website. Thank you to all our members who have responded to our call to support local services, health workers and the vulnerable. Please contact Director of Member Services, Chris Ryan (chris@boarding.org.uk), with your stories of #BSAHeroes. In the UK offers of accommodation for NHS workers and Vulnerable Groups. As of 4pm, Thursday, April 23 we had received offers of 10,623 beds from 74 schools. Our international schools are also working hard to support their local services. If you wish to provide accommodation for NHS workers please could you register your offer at https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus-support-from-business and contact your local hospital directly and present your offer to their Estates Manager. When you respond please could you also give details of your car parking facilities, if you have any and how many spaces are on offer. Please can you also inform BSA Director of Member Services, Chris Ryan (chris@boarding.org.uk) as we are sending a daily update of accommodation offered to government. InterGreat Education Group have now helped 292 students to repatriate to China. They are still contacting any schools/pupils/guardians who are still in the country. Please email bsa@intergreat.com for further information. Resources and activitiesOne of the positive results we are already seeing in response to the widespread lockdown in response to COVID-19 is the range of free online resources and activities being made available. We're happy to share some that we've come across and if you know of any others and want to share, do let us know via bsa@boarding.org.uk.
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:
|