BSME Response to Middle East Regional Tensions

The impact of recent regional events has been felt deeply across the BSME community and we know the immense pressure this is currently placing on school leaders, staff members, students and families. Our priority is to ensure that no member school navigates this period alone so we are also offering support to AoBSO, FOBISIA and COBIS member schools in the region, in addition to our own BSME members. 

BSME is in direct contact with UK officials at the FCDO to advocate for the needs of the international school sector and ensure accurate, timely guidance is shared across our network.

We strongly encourage all schools and families to remain guided by local Government advisories for the most up-to-date, country-specific security information.  

The UK's FCDO Travel Advice for your country will also provide:

  • Real-time security assessments and travel guidance
  • The ability to register your presence with UK authorities
  • Direct links to embassy support and emergency protocols

BSME was founded on the principle of collaboration, and it is in times of crisis that the strength of our community network is most evident. We remain fully committed to facilitating the collaborative sharing of resources, supporting staff wellbeing, and advocating on your behalf.

Here are some resources that you may find useful in the coming hours, days and weeks: 

  • Access the latest FCDO advice for your country here and register your presence here.  
  • Talking to children about scary world events - Guidance from the Mental Health Foundation 
  • Things are feeling different - a story to help younger children and neurodivergent children identify their feelings and emotions and be reassured - produced by Edsidera and Widgit. This resource is also available in Arabic.
  • Classroom 200 by ABRSM - this is free for any teacher to sign up to and use. It contains 200 free lesson plans with resources and can be filtered by music subject/age group etc. If you search for "mental health" there are a few lessons  that are suitable for online and in-person classes.
  • The Teacher Hub is free for any teacher to sign up to. This platform is full of free courses, guidance and videos, and has a short course on "Improving your Mental Health".
  • If your learners are currently working remotely and you're looking for a way to keep them engaged, FlashAcademy's free, downloadable EAL holiday challenge can be used to help multilingual learners stay active with language learning at home. Usually used during school breaks, it’s simple to share with families and designed to keep pupils practising in short, manageable activities. You can access it for free here: https://bit.ly/4097qFL
  • Komodo has provided Quick Guides for Navigating Unsettling Times, tailored to students, teachers, parents & caregivers, and SLT
  • The Safeguarding Alliance has produced a Critical Response Checklist that you may find useful at this time. 
  • Educake have offered BSME Member schools free access to some useful resources here and a revision pack available to download here. 
  • Everway have offered free access to Read&Write unitl the end of June so students can continue to have access to literacy support tools throughout any distance learning. This short video shows the functionality of Read&Write. Access needs to be manually arranged so if you would like to avail of the offer, please contact c.gibson@everway.com directly. 
  • myHappymind have created a short video and a simple one-page guide with practical ways to support children during difficult world events. This can be accessed for free here.
  • Crisis Prevention Institute offers a guide with tips on developing resilient staff in schools. This can be viewed here.
  • youHQ are offering free supportive wellbeing content to help students reflect, regulate and feel heard. Any schools in the region who currently do not use youHQ, but feel that additional structured check-ins and wellbeing resources would benefit their staff and students can access this here.
  • Wellio is offering free access to wellbeing and PSHE lessons until the end of June. Topics include anxiety, emotional regulation, staying calm, help-seeking, and misinformation. Access is arranged manually, if you wish to avail this offer please click here.

The safety and wellbeing of every individual within our member schools remains our highest priority. The BSME Team is available to provide direct assistance and we will continue to support our community through the days and weeks ahead. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us at any time via support@bsme.org.uk. 

View our Regional Update from BSME's CEO, Debra Forsyth
 
Listen to the Update on All Major Podcast Streaming Platforms
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Last Updated: 05/03/2026, 13:00PM GST

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