BSA Weekly Newsletter

Issue 191

Dear Members,

Thank you to everyone who joined us this week for our fourth BSA Group / Sacpa Safeguarding Conference. We welcomed 70 delegates from a range of sectors to the event, which focused on the latest trends and headlines in safeguarding and child protection.

If you weren't able to join us on the day, recordings of several of the sessions will be available to purchase. Please email bsa@boarding.org.uk for more information.

COVID-19

For the latest updates, please see the next section of the newsletter.

Events and training

The BSA Group programme of accredited training, online conferences, day seminars, and webinars continues over the next few weeks, with some of the highlights included below. More events are being added every week, so please do take a look at our full 2020/21 training calendar.

BSA COVID conference: lessons learned and planning ahead
November 18, 2020
Next week, we will be holding our COVID conference. 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.

Sacpa Conference: Peer-on-peer abuse, spotting the signs
November 26, 2020
Peer-on-peer abuse is now recognised as a signiﬁcant growth area of abuse suﬀered by young people. Included in KCSiE 2019 for England and Wales and in the speciﬁc sexual harassment guidance for schools, this is a topic professionals need to recognise and understand. This event is suitable for any professional working with children and teenagers.

Boarding School Magazine, Spring 2021 - send us your news

The spring 2021 edition of Boarding School magazine is due to be published in February 2021. If you would like to submit an article for the next edition, please email bsa@boarding.org.uk with your contributions by Friday 8 January 2021.

New BSA website - please send us your images

We've been sent lots of images for potential inclusion on our new website, which will be going live in early 2021, so many thanks to all of our members who have shared their photos with us already. If you have any images you would be happy to send to us for this project, please send them to Andrew Gray, Communications and Partnerships Manager. If you have multiple large file images to send, please send them via file sharing services such as WeTransfer or Dropbox.

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.

Revised national guidance for child protection in Scotland - consultation

Scottish Government has launched a consultation into the revised National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland which runs until January 17. The guidance references independent schools, boarding, and both SCIS and BSA.

BSA office move

Finally, a reminder that the BSA Group will be moving to new offices from December 1, 2020, sharing quarters with colleagues at the ISC. Our new address will be:

27 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9BU.

Our main contact telephone number, +44 (0)207 798 1580, will remain the same.

Best wishes,

Robin Fletcher
Chief Executive, BSA and BSA Group

COVID-19 update

Pupils returning home to Spain
Member schools need to be aware that the Spanish government has announced new COVID-19 measures which will affect pupils returning home to Spain. The Ministry of Health in Madrid has declared that, starting on November 23, all those travelling from the UK to Spain need evidence of a negative PCR test taken less than 72 hours before departure.

Wales
Earlier this week, the Welsh Government announced that all GCSE, AS and A-level exams in summer 2021 have been cancelled, with grades based on classroom assessments instead. You can read more about the Welsh Government's approach for qualifications in 2021 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
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.

For more on forthcoming BAISIS training and events, please see the BSA Academy section below or visit the BAISIS website.

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.

Sacpa runs a comprehensive training programme, inviting experts from across the safeguarding sector to speak on important and current topics relating to safeguarding, child protection and the care of adults at risk.

For more on forthcoming Sacpa training and events, please see the BSA Academy section below or visit the Sacpa website.

Other news

Our colleagues at ISC have asked us to pass on this update:

School Partnerships Week: The ISC will be running the second annual 'Partnerships Week' social media campaign this month, in parallel with the publication of this year's Celebrating Partnerships booklet. The event will take place across our social media channels next week (week commencing Monday 16 November), and will serve as an opportunity for the sector to promote meaningful partnership work between independent and state schools.

School communities continue to cope with significant challenges due to the pandemic but we hope you will join us by posting about your collaborative projects – this might be a particular partnership you’ve been able to adapt in order to continue despite coronavirus restrictions, or simply highlighting your dedication to this important area of work and your commitment to resuming partnership activity as soon as is safely possible.

We are encouraging you to use the hashtags #schoolstogether and #powerofpartnerships in your posts (as we will be) to help unify our content and reach a wider audience. Please tag us - and perhaps your local MP, whose details you can find on the ISC Member Zone under ‘Your MP & Constituency’ - on social media so we can spread the good news further. If you have produced any partnerships booklets or videos, please also send these to press@isc.co.uk.

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

Abby Plumb Education Guardian Service (China and Hong Kong) (Certified Agent and Certified Guardian)
Academic Asia (China)
Academic Families (worldwide) (Certified Agent and Certified Guardian)
Barbara Glasmacher Internationale (Germany)
Better School! Internatsberatung (Germany)
BOSSS UK (China)
Britannia StudyLink (HK)
Chamberlain Educational Services (Hong Kong and China)
Cherry Education Consultancy (China)
Connexcel (China) (Certified Agent and Certified Guardian)
Crest Education (China)
Dickinson School Consulting (Germany and worldwide)
ITEC (Russia)
J3 Group (HK)
Mark Brooks Education (Ghana, Nigeria, worldwide)
Overseas Personal Development Services (China)
Rise Smart Overseas Education Centre (Hong Kong)
School Britannia (France)
The Independent Education Consultants (worldwide)
The Watanabe Office (Japan)
UK Education Guide (Middle East, worldwide)
UK Tuition Services (China) (Certified Agent and Certified Guardian).

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

BSA Certified Guardians

Abby Plumb Education Guardian Service (Certified Agent and Certified Guardian)
Academic Families (Certified Agent and Certified Guardian)
Amber Education
Belgravia Guardians
Berkeley Guardians
Cambridge Guardian Angels
College Guardians
Connexcel (Certified Agent and Certified Guardian)
Cotswold Guardians
Elite Anglo-Chinese Services
English Country Guardians
Guardians International Support
High Schools International
Hostlink UK
Overseas Personal Development Services (Certified Agent and Certified Guardian)
Regent Guardians
St George’s Guardians
Study Links
The Guardian Family Network
Trusted Guardianship
UK Guardians
UKGuardianship
UK Tuition Services (Certified Agent and Certified Guardian).

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 open for booking. These courses are all currently being run online 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.

LAST CHANCE TO BOOK

BSA Certificate in Boarding Practice (Pupil Welfare & Support)
Study dates: November 16, 2020; January 15, 2021; March 16, 2021; 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; May 11, 2021.
BSA Advanced Certificate in Boarding Practice (Pastoral Care)
Study dates: November 19, 2020; February 03, 2021; April 29, 2021; June 21, 2021.

MORE COURSES

BSA Advanced Certificate in Boarding Practice (Boarding Management)
Study dates: November 23, 2020; January 21, 2021; March 02, 2021; May 20, 2021.
BSA Advanced Certificate in Boarding Practice (Boarding Management)
Study dates: November 26, 2020; January 25, 2021; March 23, 2021; May 12, 2021.
NEW - BSA Diploma in Boarding Practice (Leadership)
Dates: January 18, 2021; March 15, 2021; May 26, 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)

The dates for the remaining regional forum meetings still to take place this year are listed below. Members in these regions will receive calendar invitations and joining instructions:

November 18, 14:00-15:00 – North
November 19 – Ireland (as part of the Irish Conference)
November 27, 14:00-15:00 – London.

Successful weekly boarding programmes - can you help?
Kim Elwood, Head of Boarding at Luckley House, is looking to speak to any forum members outside of the South East who are running successful weekly boarding programmes. If you are able to help, please email Kim at Kim.Elwood@luckleyhouseschool.org.

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, Professional Development and Accreditation - 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
Finance and Administration Manager - Danielle Cuthbert
Business Support Manager - Ellie Reed
Member Services Co-ordinator - Chantelle Howell-Walker.