BSA Weekly Newsletter

Issue 189

Dear Members,

COVID-19 tests for pupils returning home to Hong Kong

Many members are being asked by parents and guardians for help with COVID-19 testing for pupils returning to Hong Kong for the Christmas holidays. Please note that the NHS test report does not meet the Hong Kong entry requirements and will not be accepted.

The laboratory or healthcare institution providing the COVID-19 test needs to be accredited by UKAS or ISO 15189.

We’ve published further information about the requirements on our website – please click here to read it in full.

Welsh safeguarding guidance published

The Welsh Government has published guidance on keeping learners safe and peer sexual abuse, exploitation and harmful sexual behaviour. Thank you to our colleagues at WISC for bringing this to our attention - both pieces of guidance can be viewed by clicking on the links below:

ISI update

The Independent Schools Inspectorate has published its Autumn term update to schools. You can view a copy of the update by clicking here.

Survey

Thank you to the 165 members schools which have replied to our survey. Of the 165 responses, 154 provided usable data. The total number of boarders registered at the 154 schools for 2020/21, is 22,726 and 20,003 (88%) have returned to school. The schools also report that 1,604 (7%) of boarders have delayed their return and are working remotely.

Conferences

Thank you to all the panellists and delegates who took part in our first ever Inclusion and Diversity in Boarding Conference earlier this week. If you weren't able to join us on the day, recordings from all of the sessions are available to purchase - please email us at bsa@boarding.org.uk for more information.

BSA Group Annual Safeguarding Conference
November 12, 2020
Our fourth Annual Safeguarding Conference takes place in November. Run jointly by BSA and Sacpa, this conference highlights the importance and increasing relevance of safeguarding and child protection in the delivery of care and support of young people. You can find more information, including details on how to book your place, by clicking on the event title above.

NEW BSA COVID Conference: lessons learned and planning ahead
November 18, 2020
This conference will take stock of the impact on boarding schools so far and help schools shape their plans. Key topics will include a sector overview, cases and testing, lockdown case studies, insurance and legal, government guidance and compliance, recruitment and international, and exam planning.

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. You can also download a copy of the Schoolplaces.org media pack by clicking here.

Happy half term

As this is the final BSA Weekly Newsletter before half term, I'd like to end this week by wishing everyone a safe and relaxing break. The newsletter will also be taking a two-week break and will return on Friday, November 6.

Best wishes,

Robin Fletcher
Chief Executive, BSA and BSA Group

COVID-19 update

At a recent regional forum meeting, some schools reported being contacted by public health officials suggesting they were COVID hotspots. This appears to relate to symptomatic former students still registered with the school’s GP, hence the alert. Members are recommended therefore to check which students are registered with their local GP and remove former students from the list.

England

For pupils in England, DfE has clarified that there is no reason in most cases why students cannot go home, to guardians or to host families this half-term, unless either party is self-isolating. In the latter case BSA advises contacting local health professionals for guidance. At the moment travel for education is allowed, even in Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas.

Guidance for staff who have been close to symptomatic children has changed, and also relates to driving them to and from testing facilities:

Any members of staff who have provided close contact care to someone with symptoms (even though wearing a face covering or PPE), and any pupils who have been in close contact with them, do not need to go home to self-isolate unless:

They develop symptoms themselves (in which case, they should also arrange to have a test)
The symptomatic person subsequently tests positive
They are requested to do so by NHS Test and Trace or the PHE advice service (or PHE local health protection team if escalated).

GOV.UK has updated its guidance on applying for a visa if your visa application centre (VAC) is closed. You can apply for a visit visa from any UK VAC. You should apply for all other UK visas from the country you’re living in.

If your VAC is closed due to coronavirus restrictions, you can apply online and select a VAC in another country worldwide to submit your application and biometrics. You’ll need to make sure you’re permitted to travel to that country beforehand.

It has also made a number of revisions to its Safe working in education, childcare and children’s social care settings, including the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) guidance. Among the updates are revised guidance for staff who have been in close contact with a positive case and may need to self-isolate even if they have been wearing PPE, and fresh guidance on the use of face coverings in education settings and how to safely wear, remove and dispose of them.

In addition, it has also provided additional guidance on tiers of national restriction for education and childcare.

Channel Islands

ITV News has reported that children returning from boarding schools to Jersey this half term will not have to quarantine if they have come from COVID-free schools. This rule will apply to all children in care and educational facilities in the UK.

For the full story, click here.

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
NEW: Pre-flight test certification: Belgravia Guardians
Testing: Chronomics
Testing: Sirkka Networks
Testing: COVID-19 Rapid Test: Fortress Diagnostics
Testing and Tracking: Elite Anglo-Chinese Services
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.

Partner news

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.

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.

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 offers three different types of membership: Professional, Charity and Organisation. A 50% discount is available to BSA members (schools or individual staff) who wish to join meaning membership prices start from £55 – please email chris@boarding.org.uk if you would like to become a member.

Other news

Service Children’s Profession Alliance (SCiP) questionnaires: SCiP is conducting research as part of an ongoing, long-term project, funded by the MoD into the education progression of military families’ children. It is looking for schools with any service children among its pupils, and pupils from military families, to fill in the questionnaires below. All responses are anonymous.

Questionnaire for Pupils from Military Service Families

Questionnaire for Staff working with Children from Military Service Families

Entries open for China-Scotland Business Awards 2021: Applications are now open for the China-Scotland Business Awards 2021 and include a category which may be of interest to our member schools, 'Educational Partnership of the Year.' For more information about the awards, eligibility criteria and how to enter, please click here.

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.

BSA Certified Agents

For more information on the BSA Certified Agent scheme, please visit our website.

BSA Certified Guardians

We are delighted to announce that Hostlink UK has joined the BSA Certified Guardian scheme. Welcome to the BSA family!

Abby Plumb Education Guardian Service
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
NEW: Hostlink UK
Regent Guardians
St George’s Guardians
Study Links
The Guardian Family Network
UK Guardians
UK Tuition and Services.

For more information on the BSA Certified Guardian scheme, please visit our website.

We have also had a number of requests from schools for our BSA Certified Guardian logo to use on admissions information or school websites - you can access a copy of the logo by clicking here.

BSA Academy

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.

Listed below are all our upcoming courses - to find out more, or to book your place, please click on the course title. If you need any further information about our Accredited Training programme, please contact Liz McDonald, Senior Training Manager, at liz@boarding.org.uk.

Diploma in Boarding Practice (Leadership) - 2020-2021
BSA Certificate in Boarding Practice (Pupil Welfare & Support)
Study dates: November 16, 2020; January 15, 2021; March 16, 2021 and June 16, 2021.
NEW - Live online course: 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.
NEW - Online Certificate in International Boarding. Dates: January 26, 2021 and March 24, 2021

To see the entire 2020-21 training programme, click here.

Become a BSA Accredited Boarding Practitioner

BSA Accredited Boarding Practitioner status is an individual recognition of those boarding staff who are making a personal, professional commitment to best boarding practice. To be considered, all applicants are expected to meet the following core commitments:

• Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children
• Achieving the best boarding practice and the best outcomes for boarders
• Reflecting on practice and undertaking regular training
• Working collaboratively with other boarding colleagues.

Find out more here.

Member Services

Regional forum meetings (Virtual)

We are delighted to announce dates for the next round of regional forums. The following have been confirmed and members in these regions will receive calendar invitations and joining instructions:

October 16, 14:00-15:00 – East of England
October 21, 14:00-15:00 (BST) – International
November 5, 10:30-11:30 – Scotland
November 6, 11:30-12:30 – South East
November 9 , 14:00-15:00 – Midlands
November 11, 14:00-15:00 – South Central
November 18, 14:00-15:00 – North
November 19 – Ireland (as part of the Irish Conference)
November 27, 14:00-15:00 – London.

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: