Irish boarding conference

• Date: Tuesday November 19, 2024
• Time: 09:00 – 16:30
• Cost: BSA Full Member – £110, BSA Affiliate Member – £140, Non-member – £165
• Audience: Head, Deputy Head, Bursar, Registrar, Head of Boarding, Marketing, Admissions, Medical, Head of EAL, DoS, Pastoral staff.
• Venue: Blackrock College, Dublin

In the current climate, Ireland and Northern Ireland have a good opportunity to showcase the opportunities boarding can afford to the international market, demonstrating close links with Europe, strong academic credentials, English learning and, often, more affordable fees. Our annual conference will consider strategies to boost your school globally, working with agents and differentiating approaches for different markets. It will also include guidance on monitoring your financial performance indicators and external macro-economic trends, as well as how you can embed meaningful strategies and processes to promote positive mental health for students and staff.

Sessions will include:

• Global marketing and positioning
• Financial stress
• Supporting complex needs in boarding
• Blue sky thinking, focussing on issues and trends in Irish boarding
• Child protection and safeguarding headlines for 2024-25
• Results of the BSA boarding survey for Northern Ireland and ROI
• BSA and ISBA Q&A

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The conference is suitable for anyone in a boarding role, and traditionally has a good mix of both school leaders and other boarding practitioners.

The annual Irish Boarding Survey is now open and will help inform discussion at the conference. We would love to hear about the experience in your school. Click here to complete the survey.

Speakers:

Bethan Hudson, Executive Director Specialist Services and Director, BAISIS, BSA Group

Bethan Waddington joined the BSA team as Training Manager in September 2017. Bethan has worked in two independent boarding schools in the UK and Switzerland, the latter as Housemistress to 36 pupils. Following her time in Switzerland, she was a Pastoral Manager for an inner-city state academy before working in the charity sector for Debrett’s running the ‘Debrett’s Foundation’ training programme.

In her role, Bethan plans and manages all Day Seminars, Conferences, INSET and Consultancy, as well as being Director of BAISIS. She believes boarding can be a positive force for young people and in order to fully support their needs staff can never learn too much. As such she is passionate about the CPD BSA delivers to our pastoral communities in the UK and worldwide.

Dale Wilkins, Executive Director, Scotland/Wales and Accredited/Compliance

Dale joined BSA in 2017 with responsibility for safeguarding and standards, having previously been a course tutor since 1998. In 2019 he assumed responsibility for the BSA’s training programme, including seminars and accredited training courses. Dale leads on safeguarding and inspection matters for BSA, including managing the Commitment to Care Charter, and has developed a process of BSA Accreditation for international members. He liaises with ISI, Ofsted and DfE on matters relating to compliance and inspection standards, and compiles the BSA Self-Assessment toolkit, which he first produced in 2002, since which time he has been closely involved in inspection in state and independent boarding. For 31 years Dale was a boarding practitioner. After boarding positions at Norwich School and Tettenhall College, Dale became Housemaster at Old Swinford Hospital in 1992, followed by Deputy Head in 2007, and subsequently also DSL. He has been a multi-agency trainer for the Dudley Safeguarding Children’s Board.

David Walker, Executive Director, Boarding and Director BSA/TIOB

David is the BSA Director and joined the BSA group in August 2023. He has over 20 years’ experience in boarding schools and has worked in a range of schools in the UK and Africa, alongside being a prep school governor and a trustee of a MAT. Before taking up his post at the BSA, David was Deputy Head Pastoral at a large co-ed independent school in the South-East.

John Murphie, COO, Independent Schools’ Bursars Association 

John has been with the ISBA since February 2017. He is responsible for the head office internal organisation and functions and he is the main point of contact for advice and guidance to schools. John spent 31 years in the Royal Navy retiring in 2007. Since then, he has worked as the Chapter Clerk in Portsmouth Cathedral, managed a Barristers’ Chambers in London and been Bursar in two schools before joining ISBA.

Kathleen Sweeney, Scotland and NI & Republic of Ireland Regional Secretary, Independent Schools’ Bursars Association 

Kathleen is a qualified accountant (ACCA) who has worked exclusively within Charity and Education. She spent 21 years working in Higher Education in posts with Glasgow Caledonian University and Glasgow University. The next 16 years were as both Bursar and Company Secretary in a large Scottish independent school. She joined the team at the Independent Schools Bursars Association in April 2023 as Regional Secretary for Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Having also served as a Trustee on the Board of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, and as a current Trustee and member of the Finance Committee of Glasgow Clyde College, she is experienced in Governance and operating at Board level.

Yvonne Markey, Principal, Blackrock College

Tiernan Mealiffe, Director of Boarding, Blackrock College

Rene Droomer, Associate Research Psychologist, Pneuma Healthcare

Dr Colin Gorman, Clinical Psychologist, Ulster University & CEO, Pneuma Healthcare

Sophy McFarlane, Associate Psychologist, Pneuma Healthcare