BSA/TIOB – Annual Boarding Conference

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• Date: January 28-29, 2025
• Time: 09:00 – 17:00
• Audience: All those involved in boarding
• Cost: BSA/TIOB members: £595, BSA Affiliate members: £895, Non-members: £1190
• Venue: Crowne Plaza Nottingham, Wollaton Street, NG1 5RH
• Accommodation: TBC
• Exhibiting and sponsorship: We are delighted to be able to welcome organisations sponsorship and exhibition opportunities at this event, for full details please reach out to Neil Rust, Head of Commercial neil.rust@bsagroup.org.uk or Laura Brain, Senior Commercial Consultant, +44 (0)207 798 1580, laura.brain@bsagroup.org.uk

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We’re looking forward to welcoming you to our Annual Boarding Conference on January 28-29, 2025.

Chaired by Will Goldsmith, Headmaster, Packwood Haugh School, the theme is ‘Boarding perspectives: Learning within, Leading beyond’.

Come together with colleagues to consider the latest trends, challenges and opportunities in boarding. Sessions will range from compliance to health, from pro-active inclusion to boarding on a budget, and from life skills to strategy.

The conference also includes the BSA/TIOB Annual Conference Dinner, which will take place on January 29, 2025.

BOOK NOW

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Programme – Day one:

10:30

Registration

11:00 – 11:25

Boarding perspectives:  Learning within, Leading beyond

Chair: Will Goldsmith, Headmaster, Packwood Haugh School

11:25 – 12:15

Keynote Speaker

12:15 – 13:15

Lunch

13:15 – 14:15

Global village round table

Round table discussions on key sector areas

14:15 – 15:15

Breakout session

1. UK compliance

• Dale Wilkins, Executive Director, Scotland/Wales and Accredited/Compliance, BSA Group
• Kate Hollyer, Executive Director Legal  & Public Affairs & Partner, BSA Group

2. Running international (outside UK) boarding houses

• David Walker, Executive Director, Boarding and Director BSA/TIOB
• Bethan Hudson, Executive Director Specialist Services and Director, BAISIS, BSA Group

15:15 – 15:45

Refreshments

15:45 – 16:30

Pro-active inclusion

19:00

Drinks reception

19:30

Conference dinner

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Programme – Day two:

09:30 – 10:00

Global boarding trends

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

10:00 – 10:45

All roads lead to boarding

10:45 – 11:15

Refreshments

11:15 – 12:00

Breakouts

1. Legal update: TBC
2. Who is the boarding parent? TBC
3. State boarding: Dale Wilkins, Executive Director, Scotland/Wales and Accredited/Compliance, BSA Group

12:00 – 12:15

Session TBC

12:15 – 13:15

Lunch

13:15 – 13:45

Evaluating practical life skills development and recognition in BSA member schools

Speaker: Paddy Rockett, Head of Middle School Boarding, Teacher of Biology & Physics, Reed’s School

14:15 – 15:00

Why are young people still smoking and vaping?

15:00 – 15:30

Refreshments

15:30 – 16:15

Session TBC

16:16 – 16:30

Conference close

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Speakers:

Will Goldsmith, Headmaster, Packwood Haugh School

William Goldsmith has a career spanning almost twenty years in boarding education and leadership. He is currently Head of St George’s School Windsor Castle. William is a passionate about a skills and mindset-based learning philosophy and has a background in emotional wellbeing and mental health. He is a founding fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and Royal Society of the Arts.

 

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

Dale joined the BSA during Summer 2017 with responsibility for safeguarding and standards, having previously been a course tutor since 1998. In July 2019 he also assumed responsibility for the BSA’s training programme, including both day seminars and accredited training courses. Dale leads on all safeguarding and inspection matters for the BSA, including managing the Commitment to Care Charter and has also developed a process of BSA Accreditation for our international members. He also 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 a Housemaster at Old Swinford Hospital in 1992, and was promoted to Deputy Head in 2007, and subsequently also DSL. He has also been a multi-agency trainer for the Dudley Safeguarding Children’s Board.

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Kate Hollyer, Executive Director, Legal & Public Affairs & Partner, BSA Group

Dale joined the BSA during Summer 2017 with responsibility for safeguarding and standards, having previously been a course tutor since 1998. In July 2019 he also assumed responsibility for the BSA’s training programme, including both day seminars and accredited training courses. Dale leads on all safeguarding and inspection matters for the BSA, including managing the Commitment to Care Charter and has also developed a process of BSA Accreditation for our international members. He also 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 a Housemaster at Old Swinford Hospital in 1992, and was promoted to Deputy Head in 2007, and subsequently also DSL. He has also been a multi-agency trainer for the Dudley Safeguarding Children’s Board.

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

David is the Executive Director, Boarding and Director BSA/TIOB  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.

 

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

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.

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Paddy Rockett, Head of Middle School Boarding, Teacher of Biology & Physics
Paddy Rockett is the Head of Middle School Boarding/Housemaster at Reed’s School in Surrey. Paddy has been through the Pastoral Care module and Boarding Management module run by the BSA and is currently completing his Masters in Residential Education with the University of Buckingham. His current area of research is focussed on the development of life skills in boarding houses and the development a national programme for life skills development.

Previously, Paddy was a lead  in the “Broadening the Curriculum” strategy of the University of Limerick designing a social responsibility module undertaken by first year students. As a Biology teacher he is interested in the use of VR and AR in the teaching of Science. He is also in interested in Pastoral care, the development of Boarding nationally and internationally and social mobility.

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