the BSA FoUNdAtioN LAUNCheS: AN oPPortUNity to APPLy For reSeArCh GrANtS

The BSA Foundation launches: an opportu to apply for research grants

The BSA foundation officially launched at the BSA Heads’ conference in oxford in May, this new philanthropic venture – a charity - which the BSA Board was keen to launch in support of great educational practice in education, and the boarding sector in particular. The foundation’s focus will be on offering grants to practitioners to research into best practice approaches to inclusion, safeguarding, community engagement and wellbeing in boarding/residential education … so, on behalf of the new BSA foundation Board, let me tell you about it …

My entire teaching and leadership career was in boarding schools, and so I felt honoured and delighted last year when Robin Fletcher asked if I would consider becoming the Chair of the BSA Foundation, to help create and lead this new charity. It felt important to me to volunteer to help support a sector which has provided –and continues to provide – so much, to so many children, staff and parents. It was a pleasure to accept the invitation.

A year ago, the BSA Foundation was just a concept; over the course of these past twelve months, however, we have created a strong Board of Trustees who have worked together to hone a set of focused objectives and to develop a comprehensive Constitution.

This Constitution has now just been lodged with the Charities Commission. The bank account is up and running, and we have started to approach potential sponsors, including organisations and companies who work with the sector; the BSA Foundation, subject to any last-minute amendments and approvals from the Charities Commission, is ready to go. One of the (many) things I have learned since moving on from my 13 years of Headship in boarding schools is that governance is a lot harder than it looks! Luckily, we have some excellent Trustees who will be familiar names: Martin Reader (Head of Cranleigh), Wendy Griffiths (Chair of ISEB, former Head of Tudor Hall), Andrew Nott (Chair, IAPS) and Matthew Robinson (Head of Boarding, West Buckland School). We also benefited in the early stages of our development from input from Richard Harman, (AGBIS).

We will be looking for new Trustees over the next few months, and we will also be looking for people who are willing to support the charity, perhaps through becoming involved in the grant-awarding process, and perhaps through fundraising, so please do contact me directly if you are interested – we would welcome your support.

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E o O F L S S T U G r B R I T I S H A S S O I A T I O N N D E P N D E N T S C H O W I T H I N T E R N A T I O N A L C What is the BSA foundation? It is an independent charity which is being funded initially by the BSA Group. It was launched in 2022 as part of the philanthropic commitment of the BSA Group to support educational practice in the UK and internationally. E What is its purpose? Its main focus, as set out in its charitable objectives, is “the advancement of education for the public benefit to improve the lives of children and young people in residential educational settings by the funding of research” . This will include research into any area of residential life which might benefit from research, and might include any of the following – or, indeed, other areas: o f h e B S A

Dr Helen Wright MA (Oxon), MA, EdD,

P DGCE, MIoD, FRSA Chair, BSA Foundation International Education Advisor, Executive Leadership Coach So the O.. a quick BSA Fou guide to ndation what is … improving and enhancing anti-racism, diversity, equality and inclusion education; sexual consent education; the provision of mentoring, training and other assistance; mental health in residential educational settings; or the benefits of the provision of physical, educational, mental health and other activities. These are examples only, included here only to start people thinking – we really want to encourage research into residential education which can be shared widely, for the benefit of children and young people. We are very grateful to the BSA Group for enabling us to

forge ahea td in doing this.

What does it do?

Once the charity is fully operational, we will – hopefully early in 2023 – be setting up a process to provide grants to practitioners in residential education in the UK and internationally. There will be an application and selection process, obviously, and we will be looking for proposals for projects which will make a difference to pupils’ lives.

These grants are intended to be used to cover the costs of research into activities and practices, and could cover materials, time, travel and other expenses etc. We will consider each application on its merits, and will aim to make a number of grants, of varying sizes, each year.

How can you apply for a grant?

Our inaugural grant funding programme will begin in the calendar year 2022-2023, and more details will be available through communications to schools who are part of the BSA Group network. Watch this space…

I am sure that you will agree that this is a great new initiative. If you think you might be interested in applying for a grant to do some research, then start thinking now about the basic outline – the why, what, how, where, when. You will then be well on the way to putting together an application when the details are announced!