Our accredited training programme is kindly sponsored by Witley Jones.
The BSA’s programme of professional development and training is the most comprehensive CPD package offered to staff in boarding schools. It includes a series of professional practice Certificate courses specifically designed to meet the practical needs of boarding staff and provide an internationally-recognised qualification in boarding education.
The BSA Advanced Certificate has been some of the best training I’ve ever done, I will genuinely miss the study days!
BSA & HIEDA Certificate in Professional Practice for School Nurses
We offer a self-funding route for all courses. We can arrange payment plans for manageable monthly amounts to make training accessible and affordable. To find out more, please e-mail Liz McDonald at liz.mcdonald@bsagroup.org.uk
New 25/26 course dates added!
BSA Advanced Certificate in Professional Practice for School Nurses
Context:
School nurses form a key part of the safeguarding and pastoral care framework within our schools however staff CPD opportunities seldom focus on the key areas to support their professional development. As part of a refocus of the training available through the BSA, we can now offer a standalone Professional Practice Certificate for school medical staff.
This course will link professional practice with current research and best practice to provide a unique opportunity for school nurses, whether working in relative isolation or as part of the medical team, to development their knowledge, skills and practice across a wide range of the key current themes/topics most relevant to their role. In addition, there will be a linked research project which will provide the chance to focus on a specific aspect in more detail.
Course Outline:
The course is tutor led and will consist of 4 separate live online study days spread over a full academic year. The sessions on each study day will be a mixture of presentations often with an external expert, and group discussions.
BSA – HIEDA Certificate in Professional Practice for School Nurses
The medical centre in the wider context: inspection planning, managing medicines
Where to now: progression and development within the medical centre: auditing/department development plans
Working with children with ASD and ADHD
Travel Health and immunisations
Managing a critical incident
Drug misuse and screening, Guest Speaker, Dave Parvin, Drugsense UK
Delivering health education in a school setting
Working with young people with disordered eating
Mental health risk assessment/working with a mental health lead/pastoral team
legal issues
Policy writing
Sexual health, contraception and screening
Managing children from overseas with medical conditions
Supervision/revalidation and clinical supervision
Working with external agencies
Course Assignment & Reflection
Course Assignment:
The course assignment provides course students with an opportunity to focus on a specific area of particular relevance to their school/role. This can range from ‘supporting a student with a complex medical condition; a review of the nursing provision in the school; the development of a new appraisal system; the management of medical records across a whole school; health promotion models; to a student guide to accessing specific support for an emotional health issue.
The assignment will take the form of a 2000 – 3000 word written project which can be an essay or a report which must be submitted by August 2025. These will be assessed by the course tutor and the results published/certificates issued in the early Autumn.
Course Tutor
Sinead O’Grady, Lead Nurse, Harrow School
Sinead is an Advanced nurse practitioner with over 15 years of nursing experience across hepatology, haematology and emergency medicine. She now specialises in school medicine and is the lead nurse at Harrow school medical centre.
Sinead’s aim is to improve the health literacy of her pupils and empower them to utilise the variety of health and wellbeing services available to them. She has a passion for health promotion which involves reactively and proactively engaging and educating her pupils during face to face consultations and through pupil-led committees, awareness campaigns and anonymous school health forums.
BSA – HIEDA Certificate in Professional Practice for School Nurses – November Module
NB: Please be aware that it is crucial to remain on your assigned course path and tutor group to gain the very best out of your training. Of course, we understand some things are unavoidable however we cannot guarantee alternative placement days, and this may incur an admin charge
BSA & HIEDA Certificate in Professional Practice: Non-Healthcare Practitioners on Medical Matters
We offer a self-funding route for all courses. We can arrange payment plans for manageable monthly amounts to make training accessible and affordable. To find out more, please e-mail Liz McDonald at liz.mcdonald@bsagroup.org.uk
Certificate in Professional Practice: Non Healthcare Practitioners on Medical Matters
Audience:
Non-registered medical practitioners who have a responsibility for medical issues in the school setting and who wish to gain a professional certificate in medical matters
Course outline:
Medical conditions, both physical and mental, are often related and form a key part of the safeguarding and pastoral care framework within our schools. However, staff CPD opportunities seldom focus on these key areas.
As part of a refocus of the training available through the BSA Group and Hieda, we can now offer a standalone Professional Practice Certificate for school staff on medical matters.
This course will link professional practice with current research and best practice to provide a unique opportunity for non-registered medical staff, whether working in relative isolation or as part of the medical team, to development their knowledge, skills and practice across a wide range of the key current themes/topics most relevant to their role. In addition, there will be a linked project which will provide the chance to focus on a specific aspect in more detail.
The course is tutor-led and will consist of three separate live online study days spread over a full academic year. The sessions on each study day will be a mixture of presentations often with an external expert, and group discussions.
The role of a medical co-ordinator in a school setting
Medical issues in the wider context: inspection planning, managing medicines
Working with children with ASD and ADHD
Common illnesses and infection control
Managing common injuries
Delivering health education in a school setting
Working with asthma anaphylaxis
Mental health risk assessment/working with a mental health lead/pastoral team
Policy writing
Managing children from overseas with medical conditions
Working with external agencies
Course assignment and reflection.
Course assignment:
The course assignment provides course students with an opportunity to focus on a specific area of particular relevance to their school/role. This can range from ‘supporting a student with a complex medical condition; a review of the medical provision in the school; the management of medical records across a whole school; health promotion models; to a student guide to accessing specific support for an emotional health issue.
The purpose is for the delegate to explore and compare their practice to guidance and whether it meets the needs of the child.
The assignment will take the form of a 2,000+/-10% word written essay which must be submitted by July 2025. These will be assessed by the course tutor and the results published/certificates issued in the early Autumn.
Learning outcomes:
To gain confidence in the role of medical management
To evaluate and reflect on current practice with a view to improving standards of care
To understand and be aware of current guidance that influences the practice we deliver
To network and develop awareness of the support available
To be able to work within the guidance safely.
Course Tutor
Sinead O’Grady, Lead Nurse, Harrow School
Sinead is an Advanced nurse practitioner with over 15 years of nursing experience across hepatology, haematology and emergency medicine. She now specialises in school medicine and is the lead nurse at Harrow school medical centre.
Sinead’s aim is to improve the health literacy of her pupils and empower them to utilise the variety of health and wellbeing services available to them. She has a passion for health promotion which involves reactively and proactively engaging and educating her pupils during face to face consultations and through pupil-led committees, awareness campaigns and anonymous school health forums.
NB: Please be aware that it is crucial to remain on your assigned course path and tutor group to gain the very best out of your training. Of course, we understand some things are unavoidable however we cannot guarantee alternative placement days, and this may incur an admin charge
BSA/HIEDA Certificate in Professional Practice – Mental Health & Wellbeing
We offer a self-funding route for all courses. We can arrange payment plans for manageable monthly amounts to make training accessible and affordable. To find out more, please e-mail Liz McDonald at liz.mcdonald@bsagroup.org.uk
NEW Online BSA Certificate in Professional Practice – Mental Health & Wellbeing
This module is comprised of three tutor-led study days featuring guest speakers, interactive morning and afternoon sessions. Breakout groups allow for discussion and time with the course tutors.
Timings for each study day: 10:00am – 15:30pm GMT/BST
Key elements of the new Certificate Course Programme:
Understanding Child and Adolescent Mental Health: social media, body image and anxiety, Guest Speaker, Dr Tara Porter, Clinical Psychologist and Writer
Looking after Yourself : Building Personal Resilience and Wellbeing
Creating Balance in the workplace : A Coaching Approach
Safeguarding Considerations and Mental Health, Dale Wilkins, BSA Senior Director
Supporting Students
Managing Difficult Conversations, Alicia Drummond, Founder of The Wellbeing Hub
Emotional Regulation – A Whole School Approach, Alicia Drummond, Founder of The Wellbeing Hub
Looking after the Team : Building healthy high performance
Positive Psychology : Developing an Emotional Literacy Toolkit, Guest Speaker, Dr Jody Walshe, Educational and Child Psychologist
Managing Resilience and Wellbeing in the Boarding Context
This course can be undertaken by both graduate teaching and non-graduate house staff, including matrons, assistant house staff and house-parents; indeed any member of school staff with responsibility for the care and wellbeing of team members and boarding students.
The programme is organised around a combination of three intensive study days which contain a variety of teaching methods and opportunities to learn in different ways, which include lectures, presentations and discussions led by students, together with group problem solving exercises and case studies. Group discussion is a particularly important aspect of this course, enabling delegates to look at the theory in light of their own practical experience. Students will be encouraged to contribute ideas, opinions and questions, taking responsibility for their own learning, whilst contributing to the learning of the group as a whole. The course is run by senior members of the BSA staff.
Dr Tara Porter, Clinical Psychologist and Writer.
She worked in the NHS for over 25 years in child and adolescent mental health and has her own successful private practice. She is the author of the Sunday Times Best Selling “You Don’t Understand Me: The Young Woman’s guide to Life” which has also been translated and published around the world. She writes articles about mental health in journals and the mainstream media. Tara is an Associate Tutor on the doctorate programme for Clinical Psychologists at UCL. She has a special interest in mental health in schools and worked previously at the Anna Freud Centre on their Schools in Mind project; and is a judge on the Times Educational Supplement School of the Year award.
She tweets @drtjap and is on Instagram @drtaraporterpsychologist.
Alicia Drummond, Founder of The Wellbeing Hub
Alicia is passionate about providing evidence-based advice to parents, teachers and all those looking after children and young people, so they can be proactive in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of those in their care. Alicia also works directly with children and young people empowering them to look after their own mental health and wellbeing. Alicia draws on the latest research from psychotherapy, psychology, and neuroscience, along with her experience of working as an adolescent therapist. Alicia is a BACP accredited therapist, parenting expert, sought after keynote speaker, member of the All Party Parliamentary Group for a Fit and Healthy Childhood, author and a mother. She is regularly asked for her expert opinion by the media. Having worked with schools across the UK for more than a decade delivering webinars, talks and workshops to parents, carers, staff, and pupils; in 2020 Alicia created The Wellbeing Hub. This
award-winning platform provides schools with a whole school, proactive approach to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people, now in over 220 schools in the UK, impacting over 130,000 pupils.
Dr Jody Walshe, HCPC Registered Educational and Child Psychologist and Author
Dr Jody Walshe is an Educational and Child Psychologist and a registered member of the Health and Care Professions Council. After completing an English Literature degree at Cambridge University, she achieved a second degree in Psychology whilst teaching and working in SEN provision. She then completed her doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology at the University of East London, which explored self-harm in educational contexts. Jody is experienced in contributing to the assessment and psychological treatment of developmental difficulties, learning needs and child/adolescent mental health. She is also a Consultant Psychologist, providing consultations for foster carers and supervising social workers with the Compass Community as part of their REACH approach. She has delivered training to the students on the University of East London Professional Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology programme.
Jody has extensive direct therapeutic experience with children and young people. She works with looked after children, young offenders, and children/young people with complex needs. Jody has training in Video Interaction Guidance, with Level 1 accreditation. She has a range of experience working with children, adults, families and professionals in both clinical and educational contexts and with local authorities and specialist services. Jody is experienced in individual and group supervision, in a range of therapeutic contexts.
Jody is an experienced presenter and has delivered to groups including the Centre for Child Mental Health and Nurture UK. She facilitates training on topics including: techniques to support the emotional development of children and young people; staff resilience and well-being; self-harm; anxiety; attachment in the classroom; bereavement; critical incidents; trauma informed approaches.
Jody has written a number of books and other resources on topics including mindfulness; self-harm; solution focused brief therapy; positive psychology.
Kate Boyd-Williams, Founder of Eduvie and an accredited Education and Wellbeing Coach
Kate Boyd-Williams, founder of Eduvie and an accredited Education and Wellbeing Coach, is a dynamic leader in empowering students and educators. With over 10 years of hands-on experience as a teacher, housemistress, and head of wellbeing in leading UK and Swiss schools, Kate has an intimate understanding of the pastoral and academic demands within schools. Recognising the critical need for coaching skills and tailored wellbeing training for pastoral staff, she expanded her expertise to include a range of impactful wellbeing methods—Sophrology, RTT hypnotherapy, teen yoga, and EFT—alongside comprehensive coaching qualifications.
Kate’s passion for fostering resilience, purpose, and success in educational environments has led to the creation of Eduvie’s pioneering accredited training programme. This unique programme integrates Kate’s broad expertise, equipping educators with essential coaching skills and mind-body wellbeing techniques that empower them to inspire, support, and lead both colleagues and students. Through Eduvie, Kate is dedicated to cultivating school communities where educators feel confident in their roles, and students are empowered to thrive.
Kate’s work with Eduvie is about more than just training—it’s about creating lasting, positive change that uplifts entire school communities and enables every student and educator to navigate life’s challenges with calm, confidence, and purpose.
Timings for each study day: 10:00am – 15:30pm GMT/BST
NB: Please be aware that it is crucial to remain on your assigned course path and tutor group to gain the very best out of your training. Of course, we understand some things are unavoidable however we cannot guarantee alternative placement days, and this may incur an admin charge
Sinead O’Grady, Lead Nurse, Harrow School
Dr Tara Porter, Clinical Psychologist and Writer. 
Alicia Drummond, Founder of The Wellbeing Hub
Dr Jody Walshe, HCPC Registered Educational and Child Psychologist and Author
Kate Boyd-Williams, Founder of Eduvie and an accredited Education and Wellbeing Coach