www.boarding.org.uk No images? Click here Dear Members,Welcome to this week's edition of the BSA member newsletter. The situation in Afghanistan continues to dominate the headlines around the world this week, and our thoughts are very much with everyone affected by the ongoing events in the country. As we've been hearing from members who've contacted us, the boarding community has been quick to offer its help. With this in mind, our colleagues at ISC have asked us to share the following update on how you can provide support to those affected if you are able to do so:
Visa and immigration updateIn last week's edition of the newsletter (Issue 219, 3/9/21), we advised we were seeking clarification on on whether the updated 'Coronavirus (COVID-19): advice for UK visa applicants and temporary UK residents', released September 1, 2021, applies to students outside the UK, as well as those already in the UK. The Home Office has responded confirming that the concession applies only to people who are allowed to switch in the UK, so someone here as a visitor would not benefit from being able to start the course for which they had made an overseas visa application, and would need to leave the UK and re-enter once that visa had been issued. They have also clarified and confirmed the following:
CPD, training and eventsOur CPD, training and events is continuing at pace, with a wide range of webinars, virtual seminars, conferences and training all taking place in September and beyond. Highlights for the coming week include a selection of seminars: the BSA-led Boarding essentials on September 14, and Induction training for Graduate and GAP assistants and Leading a Boarding Team, both on September 16. Sacpa will also be running Cultural competence - safeguarding the needs of the individual on September 14, while on the following day (September 15), you can join the Hieda team for Medications management. The week closes with our webinar, Black History Month and beyond – recommended resources and activities, on September 17. Looking slightly further ahead, you can also still secure your spots for our first conferences of the new academic year, the Sacpa-led Mental Health and Safeguarding conference, on September 20, and our second Equity, diversity and inclusion conference (INDEX): identity, belonging and connectedness, taking place on September 28. Open for bookings too is our full Accredited Training Programme, with our first course of the new academic year, Online BSA Certificate in Professional Practice - Mental Health & Wellbeing, getting under way on September 22. For more information on our forthcoming CPD, training and events, please scroll down to the BSA Academy section. COVID updateThe Department for Education's Schools COVID-19 operational guidance was last updated on August 27, 2021. This guidance explains the actions school leaders should take to reduce the risk of transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) in their school. This includes public health advice, endorsed by Public Health England (PHE). Following enquiries received from some of our members, a reminder regarding ‘control measures’ and the actions school leaders should take include: Follow public health advice on testing, self-isolation and managing confirmed cases of COVID-19
Immigration legal adviceFor the start of the new academic year, we've welcomed a new addition to the BSA team. Sabrina Kadi has joined us as our new In-House Legal Counsel to support members on immigration advice. The service will include five hours pro bono immigration legal advice time per week for BSA member schools during term time (approx. one hour per day). Maximum call times are limited to 15 minutes and member schools are entitled to up to three free calls per term. Anything over 15 minutes or over three free calls per term will be chargeable by agreement and free calls cannot be banked to carry over to future terms or academic years. For more information about the new service, please email Sabrina at Sabrina.Kadi@bsagroup.org.uk. International Student University Fair, September 29, 2021Book now for our International Student University Fair, a free online event taking place from 11:00-17:00 on Wednesday, September 29, for international students in Years 11, 12 and 13 and the staff who support their university applications, e.g. Heads of Careers and EAL. This event addresses feedback from over 30 BSA and BAISIS schools who attended a forum earlier this year on how to best support international and ex-pat students as they make the transition from school to higher education. The fair offers:
Please book now by clicking here, and further details will follow on booking in as many international and ex-pat students as you wish. School site securityAs part of our consultancy service, we can now offer a physical security health check to our member schools. This includes a site visit to assess access and egress control, perimeter resilience and supporting technologies, focusing particularly on boarding houses and procedures, and will include an optional resilience check on unauthorised site access by an ex-police officer as well as our recommendations. For more details please contact Bethan Waddington, Head of CPD, Events and Consultancy. BSA Magazine autumn edition - send us your contentLastly this week, another reminder that the autumn edition of the BSA Magazine is currently in production, with publication due in October. If you would like to send any contributions for this edition, please email them to Andrew Gray, Communications and Partnerships Manager, no later than close of play on Friday, September 17. Best wishes,
BSA AcademyAccredited trainingThe BSA's programme of Professional Development and training is the most comprehensive CPD package offered to staff in boarding schools. It includes a series of professional practice Certificate courses specifically designed to meet the practical needs of boarding staff and provide an internationally-recognised qualification in Boarding Education. We are delighted to announce that bookings are now open for the 2021-22 accredited training courses! Certificate Course FIVE PLACES LEFT: Online BSA Certificate in Professional Practice - Mental Health & Wellbeing This module is comprised of three tutor-led study days featuring guest speakers, interactive morning and afternoon sessions. Breakout groups allow for discussion and time with the course tutors. Study day sessions will include:
Click here to reserve your place. TWO PLACES LEFT: BSA / Hieda Advanced Certificate in Boarding Practice (School Nurses) The course is tutor-led and will consist of four separate live online study days spread over a full academic year. The sessions on each study day will be a mixture of presentations often with an external expert, and group discussions. Find out more or reserve your place here. BSA Certificate in International Boarding BSA Certificate in Professional Practice - Inclusion Lead Training Participants will receive high-quality training and support from a range of experts to further develop the skills and confidence needed to establish, embed and sustain equity, diversity and inclusion work in their school. Throughout the two days there will be opportunities to meet, collaborate and discuss with other participants and to learn from case studies and good practice from other schools. Click here to reserve your place. Autumn Diploma in Boarding Practice (Leadership) - 2021 - 2022
This is comprised of three, tutor-led study days, with interactive morning and afternoon sessions that allow for discussion. Find out more or reserve your place here. BSA Certificate in Professional Practice for Pupil Welfare & Support 2021-2022 Sessions for this course include:
Click here to reserve your place If you need any further information about our Accredited Training programme, please contact Liz McDonald, Head of Accredited Training, at liz@boarding.org.uk. Conferences - 2021-22We look forward to welcoming you at our range of virtual conferences, running throughout the year. To help with CPD planning, here are the events we are running in the autumn term:
In addition to the one-day conferences running in the autumn term, we are delighted to publish the dates for a number of our other conferences for 2021-22. Please do 'save the dates' in your diaries and if you'd like to register interest, please email us.
Induction training - 2021-22Our CPD programme is under way, with induction training options for staff joining boarding for the first time, taking on new responsibilities or joining a new setting, and for senior staff looking to develop their leadership and strategy within boarding. We are running our day seminar programme virtually throughout 2021-22 to ensure training is accessible for all:
Safeguarding training - 2021-22Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and the start of a new academic year provides a clear marker to ensure that all staff have received appropriate training relating to safeguarding and their responsibilities. The virtual sessions below will be appropriate for most practitioners working in education settings:
Other training and eventsPlease see below a selection of other training and events taking place this month:
To see our latest training programme, click here.Index (Inclusion and Diversity Excellence)Following our inaugural inclusion conference in October, BSA Group launched Index, a programme of support to help members in this area. This includes the BSA Index Framework and Toolkit - guidance documents to promote the values of equity, diversity and inclusion (they can be accessed here via the EDI area). Our second Index (EDI) conference will take place on September 28, 2021 – a number of exciting speakers have already been confirmed for the event. You can find out the latest by visiting the event page on our website, with more details to be announced soon. Inclusion Leads/Staff with an EDI Leadership role - we are collating names and email contact details of anyone in a BSA school with an EDI leadership role. Please email bsa@boarding.org.uk with your full name, school and full job title/role. For more information about our Index programme, please email Ammy Davies-Potter, BSA Group Director of Guardianship and Inclusion. BSA Certified Supplier SchemeThe organisations below are members of the BSA Certified Supplier Scheme, which aims to connect members and organisations. BSA Gold Certified Suppliers
BSA Certified Suppliers
For more detail on each of the suppliers, please visit the BSA Certified Supplier Scheme page on our website. Please note: The suppliers listed are not endorsed by BSA, nor does the association accept any liability for the quality of the goods/services listed on this page. All suppliers below have entered into a commercial arrangement with the BSA to promote their goods/services. Certified Agent and Guardian schemesThe BSA Certified Agent and Guardian 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. Partner newsOnline recruitment fair: British Council East Asia Study UK is holding an online fair on October 7-9, which may be of interest to member schools looking to recruit pupils from Hong Kong and Thailand. For more information, please visit the British Council East Asia Study UK website. 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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