BSA Weekly Newsletter Issue 173
Dear membersDuring the last two weeks, BSA’s regional forum meetings have gone digital, providing valuable opportunities for members from Wales, London, Scotland, South Central and the South East to share ideas and experiences as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.Our remaining forums will take place over the coming weeks. If you wish to attend any of the above and have not received an invitation please could you contact chris@boarding.org.uk. Upcoming forums: - Midlands: May 14, 14:00 -15:00
- East of England: May 15, 10:00-11:00
- North: May 15, 14:00-15:00
- South West: May 19, 14:00-15:00.
A BSA Forum for international members will be held in the week commencing May 18. Member schools will be emailed details of how to join the meeting shortly, and full details will be contained in next week’s newsletter. BSA Certified GuardiansThe newly launched BSA Certified Guardian scheme has been created in response to the demand from schools at the end of last term 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. I am delighted to
announce the first three educational guardians who have achieved certified status are: I know that colleagues who work with these guardians will agree that they are all excellent and worthy recipients of the very first few places on the scheme. Congratulations to all three and welcome to the BSA family! We encourage you to suggest that the guardians your school works with, whether big organisations or individual relatives of students, apply. Please click
here for more details. Re-opening boarding It is hoped the UK government will share some of its thoughts about lifting the lockdown this weekend, with any details on arrangements for school following in the days afterwards. Until these arrangements are known for definite, BSA has meanwhile prepared a checklist of things for schools to consider. We are also grateful to have received, with thanks to our sister associations ABSA and NZBSA, the relevant guidance from those countries. All these documents are available on the safeguarding page of the BSA website. BSA/AGBIS webinarOn May 21, BSA will host a joint webinar with AGBIS looking at COVID-19 related implications and issues for boarding governors and senior leaders. The webinar will assess the latest information about Covid-19 and review the known impact it has had on boarding schools. The hosts, Richard Harman (AGBIS), Robin Fletcher (BSA) and Aileen Kane (BSA), will discuss the implications of schools potentially reopening for boarding in the summer term and look at potential scenarios for the normalisation of boarding school operations
in 2020-21. Please click here to book. International membersBSA has 104 members in 34 countries outside the UK, and we are conscious that some are moving cautiously towards reopening or have already reopened. BSA would be pleased to hear from our member schools worldwide as they begin this process. Please email us at bsa@boarding.org.uk with your news and your questions. IICSA and SCAIThe Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has confirmed that phase two of the residential school strand, scheduled for the next two weeks, will now be held from November 16-27. The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has not yet confirmed a date for the inquiry there. InvestmentIn these difficult times, it may be that some schools are considering joining up with other schools/school groups or looking for external investment. BSA often receives approaches from prospective groups or investors, so if
any school/Head would like a confidential conversation please email me at robin@boarding.org.uk. Confidential supportTwo former BSA Chairs who are retired from boarding Headships, have kindly offered their support to any BSA heads who may appreciate confidential support at this difficult time. If you would like to be put in touch, please email me via robin@boarding.org.uk. BSA 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. Best wishes Robin Fletcher
Chief Executive, BSA and BSA Group
National Boarding Week
sponsored by SquadkitMonday 22 - Sunday 28 June, 2020 Now into its 5th year, we will again celebrate National Boarding Week in June. This year, the week is set to celebrate the importance of health and wellbeing in boarding life in collaboration with our generous sponsors, Squadkit, a unique brand that offers high-quality sportswear to many of our member
schools. From home, we encourage everyone to get involved in fun and innovative activities that support mental health and wellbeing. Don’t forget to post all activities using the #iloveboarding #squadkit. Ideas include: - 2k run challenge
- Charity challenge
- Kindness challenge – go that extra mile
- Press up challenge
- Keepie uppie challenge
- Inter-house
zoom bake-off
- The boarding zoom choir
- Audiobook challenge.
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. "The training day has certainly done what I wanted it to do. Found it very useful and think it is a good way to access training easily." Delegate,
April 2020.
Improving induction
June 16, 2020
This virtual day seminar will address the importance of a good and rigorous induction for both students and staff. We pride ourselves on having strong communities within our schools but this means we need to be considerate and conscientious in welcoming and inducting people. Suggestions and ideas will be shared to encourage delegates to review the induction processes for both new staff and new students. Taking on a new Boarding House
June 17, 2020
Promotion to Houseparent, and the associated responsibility for running a House is an exciting prospect, but it can also be stressful. This seminar will provide an opportunity to review and consider key issues relating to identity, students, staff, policies and procedures as well as the management of the physical House itself. Tier 4 sponsor workshop
June 23, 2020
An essential update for staff with responsibilities relating to the issuing of visas, CAS and international admissions. This seminar will take attendees through the latest UKVI Tier 4 sponsor guidance, focusing on how to make sure your school is compliant with the various sponsor duties and responsibilities. Delegates will be talked through a series of factors to consider including recruitment/admissions, record keeping and reporting.
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. Planning and running a successful virtual open day
May 12, 14:00-15:00
Just because your wonderful schools are currently closed, it doesn't mean the show has to stop! The show must go on! With Interactive Schools, learn how to blend your content strategy and technology to deliver an impressive open day experience: one that still fits with your wider strategy - and long term goals. This is a real opportunity to try something new and experiment. Is your website as good as it looks?
May 18, 12:00-13:00
Chris Knight, MD at InnerMedia, will run through what Google and your users really want from your website, and examine what lies under your website hood. Using real examples of where schools can go wrong, Chris will share how to fix them for a boost in rankings. In addition, if you sign up more than a week before the webinar, Chris and his team have offered to do a full audit on your website and send you the findings. BSA and AGBIS Webinar: Covid-19 Implications and issues for boarding school governors and senior leaders
May 21, 17:00 - 18:00
This webinar will assess the latest information about Covid-19 and review the known impact it has had on boarding schools. The hosts will discuss the implications of schools potentially reopening for boarding in the summer term and look at potential scenarios for the normalisation of boarding school operations in 2020-21. Stategically leading and flexing in response to the current challenging landscape June 01, 11:00-12:00
For Governors and membership of SLT/SMT, this webinar will provide a valuable opportunity to reflect on consider how to lead and manage within your community, in particular given the impact of COVID-19 and the considerable upheaval this has caused. Practical tips, strategies and discussion points will be presented for you to utilise as you guide your organisations through this turbulent time. To see more webinars, please visit our Events calendar.
ConferencesBSA Boarding Future Project?
June 11, 2020
Topics will include: - Introduction to the BSA Boarding Future Project
- The immediate future - what school opening plans look like as the UK comes out of lockdown and looks ahead to the autumn
- Talking Heads on the Future
- The future for international student recruitment because of COVID
- Future of boarding – an international perspective
Audience: Heads and SLT. Please click here to book now. SBF Virtual Summer Conference
June 17, 2020
The programme will include an update on the boarding sector, with more detail focused on Brexit, the impact on Covid, safeguarding and NMS.
Boarding provision to support vulnerable children in care
Please click here to book now.
Annual Conference for Heads
September 2020
This has now been postponed until September. More details to be announced very shortly. Please click here to book now. Boarding House Staff Conference
Brighton. October 7-8, 2020
This event was due to take place on April 1-2, 2020, but due to COVID-19 this has now been postponed until October 7-8, 2020, in Brighton. Places already booked will be transferred to the new date automatically, and if you have not yet booked your place, please click here to book now SAVE THE DATE: Deputy Heads and Heads of Boarding Conference
Edinburgh. February 02-03, 2021
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. There are four levels recognising staff who have completed at least one year in boarding, have demonstrated a commitment to safeguarding and undertaken key training, such as a BSA day seminar (Level 1) to staff who have completed 12 or more years in boarding and completed the BSA Diploma, or equivalent qualification, and have made a significant contribution to the wider boarding community outside their own setting (Level 4). Levels 2 and 3 can be worked towards by completion of the BSA Advanced Certificate Course and BSA Diploma respectively. 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: - Level 1 - Practitioner (BSA day seminar equivalent)
- Level 2 - Advanced Certificate Course
- Level 3 - Diploma Course
- Level 4 - BSA Diploma + 12 years in boarding.
If you have any questions about an application or wish to nominate a colleague, please email Liz McDonald, BSA Senior Training Manager
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