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New Guardian Families Required

It can be one of life’s greatest pleasures to see a nervous young student new to the UK relax and grow into a confident and self-assured young person, knowing that you have made a vital contribution to their progress. A guardian family provides a much needed break from boarding school routine with a welcome change of scene and company, a home-from-home where warm and long-lasting friendships are created.

Being a Guardian to an overseas student

It is a huge decision and an enormous commitment by parents to send their child all the way to the UK for their education. Not all of our parents are wealthy and some make great sacrifices to make it possible. Recent natural disasters and political situations in countries like Japan, Chile, Thailand, and the Middle East have not deterred parents from looking to send their children to the country that is still considered to offer the best education in the World. Schools have also come on board to offer assistance in the form of increased scholarships and bursaries.

When asked why she chose a boarding school education for her daughter in England, one of our Chinese parents said; “We want her to have an international education and experience, which will help her to meet international challenges when she grows up. As you know, the world is becoming more and more blended with all kinds of cultures; people even say that the world will be soon becoming a village of the earth.”

She has undoubtedly made this decision as an investment in the future of her daughter. However, when choosing a school that is 5,000 miles from home, she needs assurance that her daughter will be well cared for.

The guardian families that we appoint to our students are very carefully matched to parent and child’s requirements. These families range from couples with their own children and single parent families, to retired couples whose own children have left home. They all have a common love of children and a genuine desire to welcome a foreign child into their homes and families.

One of the benefits of being a guardian is that our students and their parents are very keen for them to experience as much as they can of British life and culture, including outings out when they stay with their guardians during exeat weekends and half term holidays. For our families this means that they can go on exciting leisure and cultural trips with the entire family, safe in the knowledge that travel expenses (petrol, parking) and entry costs for the student and one accompanying adult will be recompensed.

The guardian role is extremely varied and offers many rewards and opportunities both financially (termly retainer, daily and weekend rates, petrol allowance etc) and personally. Many of our guardians have been working with us for ten years or more and continue to enjoy the benefits which guardianship brings to them and to their families:

“We have had a wonderful time with our student this holiday - we are so very fond of him, like another lovely son. I am sure he enjoyed himself; he joined in with family bbq’s, went fishing with a friend and went on a long bike ride with another of our friends. Oh and he bought me a lovely bottle of champagne for my birthday and joined us at the local cafe bar for celebrations! He is just so great to have around and it seems quiet without him. He sings very loudly with his headphones on - brilliant - we miss him when he isn’t with us. He does study too!” Mrs Kershaw

New Guardian Families Required

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