The Future of Boarding conference
🏷️ From £235
🎧 Heads, deputy heads, heads of house, senior leaders, boarding staff
📍 Online
Course overview:
The Future of Boarding Conference brings together sector leaders and practitioners to explore how boarding schools can evolve to meet the needs of the next generation. Through a series of forward-thinking sessions, the conference will examine long-term strategic planning, emerging mental health trends, and the future of recruitment in an increasingly competitive global landscape.
Delegates will also explore how boarding environments and spaces must adapt to support wellbeing, community, and changing student expectations. With a focus on innovation, resilience, and sustainability, this conference offers practical insights and big-picture thinking to help schools future-proof their boarding provision for the years ahead.
Programme:
Session 1: 10:00 – 11:00
Planning for 2036: What do boarding schools need to do now to plan for the future?
This forward-thinking session explores what boarding schools need to consider today to remain relevant and successful in 2036. It will examine emerging trends in education, student expectations, technology, and wellbeing, alongside the evolving global landscape. Delegates will gain practical insights into strategic planning, innovation, and long-term decision-making to help future-proof their boarding provision.
Speaker – David Walker, Executive Director, Boarding & Education and Director, BSA/TIOB
Session 2. 11:15 – 12:15
Building Meaningful Parent Engagement in Boarding
This session explores how boarding schools can move beyond basic parental involvement to foster deeper, more meaningful engagement. It will examine common barriers to effective communication, the importance of psychological safety for both staff and families, and best practices for building trust and transparency. Delegates will also gain practical strategies for handling difficult conversations with parents sensitively and confidently. With a focus on strengthening relationships, this session will support schools in creating a more collaborative and supportive boarding experience for pupils and their families.
Speaker: Alicia Drummond, Founder of Teen Tips Ltd
Session 3: 13:15 – 14:00
The future of boarding recruitment
This session will explore how boarding recruitment is evolving and what schools need to do to remain competitive in a changing global market. It will consider shifting parent expectations, the role of agents, emerging markets, and the increasing importance of digital engagement. Delegates will gain practical insights into developing effective, future-focused recruitment strategies to attract and retain students in the years ahead.
Speakers:
- Guy Schady-Beckett, Director at Next Step Education Limited
- Fiona Hughes D’Aeth, Head of Content Strategy (Consultant), Independent Schools Show
Session 4: 14:30 – 15:30
Future of boarding spaces
This session will explore how boarding spaces need to evolve to meet the expectations of future generations. It will consider the balance between privacy and community, the role of design in supporting wellbeing, and how spaces can adapt to changing lifestyles, technology, and student needs. Delegates will gain insight into creating flexible, inclusive, and future-ready environments that enhance the boarding experience.
Speaker: Karl Hearn, Noble and Eaton
Session 5: 15:45 – 16:20
Closing keynote
This closing keynote will bring together the key themes of the conference, offering a forward-looking perspective on the future of boarding. It will reflect on the insights shared throughout the day and challenge delegates to think strategically about the opportunities and responsibilities ahead. Attendees will leave with renewed clarity, inspiration, and practical takeaways to support their next steps.
Speakers:
- Julie Robinson, ISC
- Simon Nathan, ISC
Speakers:
David Walker, Executive Director, Boarding & Education 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.
Alicia Drummond, Founder of Teen Tips Ltd
Alicia is passionate about providing evidence-based support to parents, teachers, and those caring for young people, helping them take a proactive approach to mental health and wellbeing. She works directly with young people, empowering them to manage their own wellbeing, and draws on research from psychotherapy, psychology, and neuroscience alongside her experience as an adolescent therapist.
A BACP-accredited therapist, parenting expert, and keynote speaker, Alicia has worked with schools across the UK for over a decade. She is the founder of the award-winning Wellbeing Hub, now supporting over 130,000 pupils across more than 220 schools.
Simon Nathan, Deputy Chief Executive & Head of Policy, Independent Schools Council (ISC)
Simon leads the policy and political affairs team for the ISC – a trade association representing 1,400 independent schools. This includes managing ISC’s relationships with Ministers, civil servants and MPs on behalf of member schools. Since taking post in January 2019, Simon has led ISC’s work on promoting the value of independent schools within political debate and co-ordinating the sector’s response during Covid. Prior to joining ISC Simon worked for trade bodies in construction and the education policy team at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). He has a degree in economics and politics from Cambridge University.
Julie Robinson, CEO, Independent Schools Council (ISC)
Julie was head of Ardingly College Junior School and then Vinehall Prep School in Sussex before becoming education and training director for the Independent Association of Preparatory Schools (IAPS). At IAPS, she served on the Standing Group of Teachers Associations and the Independent Schools Examination Board. Julie also chaired the Independent Schools Council’s Cross Association Leadership Group. In 2015, Julie became General Secretary of the ISC, representing schools across the independent education sector. She serves on the School Partnerships Oversight Board for the Department for Education promoting independent-state school partnership work. Julie liaises with influencers in education across schools, government and the media, serving the interests of ISC constituent associations and member schools.
Karl Hearn, Noble and Eaton
Karl Hearn works with independent schools to help translate educational ambition into practical, future-ready learning and boarding environments. At Noble+Eaton, he brings a strategic understanding of how space influences pupil experience, staff culture, wellbeing and retention. His work focuses on helping schools make thoughtful decisions about their estates, from improving existing buildings to planning long-term development. Karl is particularly interested in how boarding environments can support safety, belonging, independence and community, while also improving the conditions for the staff who shape daily pastoral life. He combines commercial awareness with a strong appreciation of school culture, operational reality and strategy.Cappuccino2025!
Guy Schady-Beckett, Director at Next Step Education Limited
Over the past 12 years, he has analysed changing demand for UK private education — studying the preferences of over 60,000 visitors to Independent Schools Shows in the UK and internationally, as well as 2,500+ high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients of Bonas MacFarlane’s tuition and consulting services. He also works with the main public demographic and wealth datasets to map the wider landscape of school and university demand.
Guy has over 30 years’ experience advising schools, universities and education groups on research, marketing and communications, and speaks regularly to professional audiences across the sector.
His interest in how data shapes decisions has deep roots: his doctorate examined the role of statistical evidence in political debate and policymaking — through the lens of colonial governance in the early nineteenth century. It’s a question, he would argue, that turns out to be just as live in a senior management team meeting as it was in Whitehall two hundred years ago.
Fiona Hughes D’Aeth, Head of Content Strategy (Consultant), Independent Schools Show
Dr Joanne Ladds, MChem, MA, NPQH, FCCT, Educational Consultant
Dr Joanne Ladds, MChem, MA, NPQH, FCCT is an educational consultant and learning space designer at Noble + Eaton. With 20 years of experience in schools and a lifetime in education Joanne brings passion, creativity and a love of learning. Working with those who want to bring about educational change, to embed self-directed learning and a learner-centred approach. Joanne provides evidence informed ideas and the drive and commitment to help schools succeed.
With a vision of ‘people, pedagogy and place’ Joanne works with the Envoplan Group to use the environment as the driver for change. Intentional design is underpinned by educational research, the most up to date neuroscience and the collation of data to inform design which works in harmony creating a culture of learning for all.
