As many of you are aware, I have the privilege this year to have been appointed Chair of the Boarding Schools Association. Last week was the BSA Annual Conference for Heads, which I chaired.

I was delighted to be able to open the conference with my address to the 150 delegates of boarding school heads from the UK and around the world. I have copied below parts of my opening speech, which I hope will be of interest to you.

The conference also included the BSA’s Annual Awards and Conference Dinner ,which was a wonderful evening of celebration of all things boarding. I was particularly proud that some of our own Queenswood students, supported by Miss Phillips, performed at the drinks reception before the dinner started. They truly were incredible ambassadors for Queenswood. Not an easy gig performing in front of 150 Head teachers!

Another highlight of the conference was the launch of The Boarding Declaration. This is a set of words setting out the transformative benefit of modern boarding that I hope all boarding schools will adopt:

The aim of the declaration is to have a universal statement that anyone connected to the world of boarding can support. This includes not only school staff but also parents, guardians, governors, students, alumni and suppliers. I hope that those of you who are “boarding families” recognise and endorse the benefits outlined in the statement and those of you who are yet to experience boarding are drawn to its opportunities.

I also enjoyed very much hearing from one of our speakers, Dame Inga Beale. Dame Inga was the first female CEO at Lloyd’s of London between 2014-2018. With over three decades of global business experience she was awarded her damehood in 2017 for services to the UK economy. Drawing on her own experiences, Inga inspired us all with what it means to lead cultural change and steer a company through a technological transition without losing its core character. It was astonishing how many parallel challenges there are between finance and education. I truly enjoyed this thought-provoking session from an incredible lady.

At the end of the final day of Conference it was my job to provide the closing remarks and handover the baton to the next Chair of the BSA: Chris Pyle, Headmaster, Lancaster Royal Grammar.

EXTRACTS FROM MY SPEECH

“It is wonderful to see once again the largest gathering in the UK of boarding heads. And, given our location at London Heathrow, it is a great pleasure to welcome several international delegates along to conference this year.

We welcome The International School Bangalore, from Switzerland we have Aiglon College and College du Leman; from Vienna, Amadeus International School; from Malaysia, Epsom College and KTJ; and from Thailand, Bromsgrove International School and Harrow International School. We also welcome Woodstock School, India, St Columba’s College, Ireland, the Oak International Academies group, St Gilgen International School, Austria, and Whanganui Collegiate, New Zealand.

This year we have decided to celebrate the dynamism, our differences and our diversity for which boarding is renowned.

Differences and diversity are bread and butter to us all, but I must admit I struggle a little with dynamism on a Friday afternoon with a full and busy weekend of matches, house dinners and chapel services ahead of me. But I guess that is the point…

We are different, we are holistic, our schools are everything to our students, they wake up in our boarding houses, they learn in our classrooms, they seize opportunities in sport, music, theatre, they build lifelong friendships, they make mistakes, we pick up the pieces, we support, we nurture, we challenge, we care. We are boarding schools, and we give our all to lead our communities the best ways we possibly can keeping all our students at the heart of every decision we make…

It is this that sets us apart. We are a group of schools with exceptional diversity. Yet we are united by the common bond that our students experience life and live in our communities day and night.

So how diverse are we? Small schools, very large schools, UK schools, international schools, prep schools, single sex schools, co-ed schools, state schools, independent schools, SEND schools. This diversity is unique to us and it is something of which we should be immensely proud. This two-day conference will bring together leading boarding heads to reflect on the benefits of boarding and how to support heads in their leadership roles.

One of the largest is United World College in Singapore which has 5,500 pupils whilst Westminster Abbey Choir School is home to just 27 boarders.

Our diversity also highlights our differences and how wonderful those differences are. We must continue to excel, build on our reputations as experts in education and boarding. But to do this in an ever changing and, yes, challenging world we need dynamism in bucket loads.

Leading our schools as dynamic, forward-thinking, ever changing and adapting organisations is the key to our success as communities and the providers of an exceptional education for all our students. Some of us will be looking to introduce more flexible boarding models; some looking to recruit from new international markets.

My emotional attachment to boarding education was formed at a relatively early age when I attended a boarding school in the south of England. From the very first day I was hooked. I loved every bit of the experience, from the sense of freedom it gave me to follow my interests, to the friendships I made that I still treasure to this day. My school provided the educational start in life that I am committed to pass on to the students in my care. Looking back on what my school stood for I now realise that it encapsulated something I am absolutely passionate about. This is why I do what I do. I am sure we all have stories like this that provide us with ‘the why’. I urge you all to connect with your personal ‘why’ and share it over the next few days with colleagues and friends.

Our international reputation continues to set us apart. We are dedicated to providing a modern boarding school education that fosters independence and cultivates lifelong friendships, providing a holistic environment where students excel academically, socially, and emotionally, preparing them to thrive in an increasingly interconnected world. A modern boarding education is positive, secure and transformative. Boarding environments are inclusive spaces which offer an opportunity to be a part of a global community helping to shape the future.

Finally, I am incredibly proud to be Chair of the BSA and I feel like this not because of a self-fulfilling agenda but because our schools really are the best in the world, we need to believe in what we do and why.

We are dynamic.
We are different.
We are diverse.”