www.boarding.org.uk No images? Click here 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-19For the latest updates, please see the next section of the newsletter. Events and trainingThe 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 Sacpa Conference: Peer-on-peer abuse, spotting the signs Boarding School Magazine, Spring 2021 - send us your newsThe 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 imagesWe'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 PlacesWe’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 - consultationScottish 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 moveFinally, 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:
Our main contact telephone number, +44 (0)207 798 1580, will remain the same. Best wishes,
COVID-19 updatePupils returning home to Spain Wales 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. Partner newsBAISISThe 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. SacpaAlso 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 newsOur 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 schemesThe 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
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 AcademyAccredited TrainingOur 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
MORE COURSES
Virtual conferences
Virtual day seminars
Webinars
To see the entire 2020-21 training programme, click here.Become a BSA Accredited Boarding PractitionerBSA 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 Find out more here. Member ServicesRegional 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:
Successful weekly boarding programmes - can you
help? 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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