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BSA virtual day seminar – Supporting senior boarders
Tuesday 16 May, 10:30 am - 3:30 pm
- Date: May 16, 2023
- Time: 10:30 – 15:30
- Cost: Full Member – £145, Affiliate Member – £215, Non-member – £290
- Audience: Boarding staff, Head of Boarding, Deputy Head, mental health leads working with senior boarders (16+).
- Platform: Zoom (online)
Course outline
This day seminar will highlight the common issues that older teenagers face and look at how to support them as they progress towards leaving school. Managing the increase in choices that boarders will have to make as they approach the significant transition towards life after school, they may find themselves under increasing pressure and in need of support from those around them. This course is designed to help boarding staff to grow in confidence in their role and promote the knowledge and skills required to meet the needs of senior boarders fully.
Older teenagers face an increasingly diverse set of pressures and many of them need additional support in coping with them. Certainly, they need to feel that they are in a safe environment where they can discuss the concerns that they have and build their resilience and independence. Boarding staff have a role in helping young people to make good choices around the risks they face and, therefore, they need to have an understanding of the issues that teenagers may require.
Training topics will include:
- Common issues for the older teen – academic/professional (parental and peer pressure, success, managing transition to adulthood, preparing for life after school)
- Common issues for the older teen – personal/social (relationships, social media and online safety, drugs/alcohol, risk taking and dangerous behaviours)
- Supporting teenagers – promoting resilience, self-worth and making good choices
- Case studies and group discussion.
Learning outcomes:
- Improved understanding of the common issues for older teens
- Increased confidence in supporting older teens.
Speaker: Tom Hadcroft, Headteacher, Berkhamsted Boys School
Tom joined Berkhamsted Boys School in January 2022 following a period at DLD College London, overseeing the boarding and pastoral areas of the College. Before that, Tom was a Senior Houseparent at Collège Alpin Beau Soleil for five years, an international boarding school located in the Swiss Alps. Prior to this experience he worked for seven years as Assistant Boarding Housemaster and Head of Department at St John’s School, Leatherhead. Previous to that, he worked both in the UK and Europe in the education and finance sectors.
Tom has a particular interest in the emotional wellbeing of students. He is focussed on providing an enhanced framework, ensuring the whole community is focussed on realising the individual potential of the students. At DLD College London, he worked to develop the College’s Wellbeing Centre alongside a culture of coaching within the College and also to define the urban boarding experience.
Tom has experience as an International School Accreditor for CIS, he is a course tutor for the Boarding Schools’ Association, a Mental Health First Aid
