The ongoing pandemic is making this a difficult time for all of us. From governments to individuals, we are all trying to find a balance between safety and relative normality, especially for our children. Fortunately, the British government recognises the importance of in-school education, so our schools remain open and we are impressed by how well they are adapting their provision and policies to accommodate the needs of families from all over the world.

As a summer term like no other draws to a close, so does the run of virtual visits and online open days. That said, many of the British boarding schools we work with have innovated to help families get a feel for them from the comfort of their own homes and whenever suits.

Towards the end of May, the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA) launched its Covid-Safe Charter. This is a voluntary code, aiming to give confidence to everyone that the school is following all appropriate measures to ensure that boarding is a safe environment for pupils.

Member schools choosing to adopt the Charter must guarantee to meet all its requirements. These include measures to be undertaken:

While some UK schools reopened to limited numbers of pupils on Monday 1^st June, for most the new term sees them resuming their home-based online learning. This is being delivered in a number of ways over a variety of digital platforms, so we thought we’d feature a few examples.

Our brilliant British boarding schools may be closed to the vast majority of their students but, behind closed doors and/or from the safety of their homes, some of their staff are working hard to help bolster supplies of essential personal protective equipment (PPE) for key workers and to support them in other ways. To name but a few…

While it is impossible to visit our wonderful British boarding schools in person at the moment, most have virtual or video tours available on their websites, and many are innovating to offer virtual open days.

Once again, we hope you are keeping well, staying safe and staying at home.

During these strange and unsettling times, with the situation ever changing, it can be hard to strike the right balance between taking each day as it comes and looking ahead to when the storm has passed. The British boarding schools we recommend are doing well on that score, adjusting their offering to best serve their students and the communities around them right now, while also ensuring their Admissions departments are staffed and ready to take applications for this September and beyond.

All of us here at Dickinson School Consulting hope that you and yours are staying well at this difficult time.

The coronavirus, and trying to avoid it, is affecting life everywhere in a wide variety of ways and we wanted to provide a brief update as to how the British boarding schools we work with are responding to its many challenges.