School selection and a child's welfare: an approach with a difference!
The quality of education and guidance children experience is considered to be one of the critical factors determining their future. A spectrum of other criteria including family values, level of ability, and personality traits, also play an extremely important part in the development of a young individual.
Most parents wish the best for their offspring and, whether it means having to part company with them for periods longer than they would wish in order to secure the best possible education or to make big financial sacrifices to be able to afford good education, they will try to make a knowledgeable decision regarding the future choices of a school and adequate level of care.
UK day and boarding schools offer a plethora of options. No school in the UK suits every child, but for every child there is a suitable school. Every pupil or student, therefore, can find an environment that will fully satisfy his or her needs. I do not only mean academic standards. What is almost more important is for a pupil to feel that their strengths have been recognized and further developed by a school, and also their weaknesses have been carefully diagnosed and given every possible opportunity to be overcome and turned into strengths. Idealistic as this may sound, this is a purpose we should all share for each and every child and engage in. For this to happen a child needs to be placed in a caring and observant environment, sensitive to individual needs and capable of developing a child's full potential. A high level of pastoral care, a variety of interschool activities to develop a coherent school community, and ongoing support at school and beyond its gates, are important elements of this process.
Whilst the school selection decision has far reaching implications, the assurance of a child's welfare and protection is crucial. If parents are miles away from the UK, either working on overseas contracts or living there permanently, they do appreciate the ability to delegate some of their parental responsibility to a reliable third party who will represent their wishes and their child's interests in the UK and will be available 24 hours a day to provide the support needed in the area of welfare and educational development. In other words, this will be their insurance premium ensuring that the funds invested in their child's education are well spent and somebody is monitoring their child's progress and reporting it back to them regularly. This type of arrangement with an assurance of quality care guarantees optimum benefits and is bound to bring peace of mind.
International Friendships
In independent day and boarding schools in the UK today young people from every part of the world can enjoy each other's company and develop truly international friendships. This opportunity for expatriate children to still benefit from the international experience whilst at the same time continuing their British education despite their parents moving around to different posts in various parts of the world. Overseas students studying in the UK can also experience other cultures whilst living in an English-speaking environment. This can positively change their lives. With this in mind more and more parents are sending their children to study in the UK.
Finding a suitable school
At Sutherland Education we believe that this decision is the most crucial one, as it will impact on a child's development for the rest of his or her life. Very often we are at the receiving end of having to solve problems resulting from children being very unhappy due to the unsuitability of the school in respect of their individual needs. And I am not talking here just about academic level, subject options and school facilities. This will more often than not include such aspects as the level of discipline, pastoral support, internal procedures for dealing with difficulties, numbers of students from different language speaking groups, the overall atmosphere in the school community. All these elements are almost impossible to pick up from a school's prospectus or even one visit to a school. This type of knowledge is acquired over many years of monitoring schools, their policies and staff changes, especially at the senior level, and within boarding houses. This is also gleaned quite uniquely through years of looking after the children from these schools who will always say what a school is really like!
Students' Security Outside School
The UK independent sector education enjoys the enviable and yet well earned reputation of being a safe haven for young students living away from their parents.
However, one of the most important questions faced by parents overseas when they decide to place their child in a school so far away from their country of residence, is how to make sure their child has the same degree of first hand support that they would provide as parents if they were living in the UK. Every child should have a listening ear close at hand throughout the school term but even more important is the need for a responsible adult to play a parental role during half-term breaks and weekend exeats when an overseas student is staying away from the school. Sometimes a child will be living throughout a year in a family whilst attending a day school.
What is vital is to ensure that all arrangements made and the care provided adheres to the wishes of the parents and to the best childcare practice in the UK.
AEGIS & Best Practice in Hosting International Students
In the last few years schools, government departments and guardian organizations, have been working together to ensure that the standards of care for all students whose parents live overseas are of the highest quality. The BSA (Boarding Schools Association) is now incorporating all the requirements of recent childcare legislation (The Children Act 1989, The Child Protection Act 1999, and the Care Standards Act 2000, and the National Boarding Standards 2002) within its own standards for accommodation.
Similarly, AEGIS (The Association for the Education and Guardianship of International Students) has established a Code of Practice that does the same regarding the accommodation and guardianship of children when living outside school. AEGIS also accredits Guardianship Organizations to certify that they are meeting all these special requirements.
The Role of a Guardian
UK schools are well known for their pastoral care and for educating the whole individual. For this reason they pay special attention to the area of care outside the school when overseas students go to stay with their guardian during weekend or half-term exeats. Very wisely, schools have always asked overseas parents to appoint a guardian for their child. Most of them will require a guardian to be over the age of 25 years, and not an older brother or sister resident in student accommodation in a university or college in the UK. The responsibilities of a guardian are defined in various ways but would be likely to include the following:
1. Providing suitable accommodation - a home from home - during school weekend exeats and half-term holidays
2. Being available on a daily basis as a point of contact for parents, student, and school
3. Acting on behalf of parents in the case of any emergency or crisis
4. Providing a child with both pastoral and educational support
5. Liaising with the school and parents over holiday and exeat arrangements
6. Making appropriate arrangements for medical care and insurance
7. Being responsible for all travel arrangements and informing the school accordingly
A relaxing and culturally enhancing time
Most importantly parents should consider what arrangements they would find acceptable when their child has weekends and sometimes half-term breaks longer than a week when he or she has to reside somewhere outside the school. The domestic students normally go home to their family and hopefully return to school refreshed and invigorated by the rest. The student coming from overseas deserves the same opportunity to relax in a 'home from home'. At the same time it helps an overseas students progress if this time allows a student to visit places of interest and to extend further the intercultural opportunities of being at school in the UK. The last thing we as the hosts and educators of international students wish to find is a student who only knows the school, the airport and the route between the two!
Finding and appointing a guardian
It is often very difficult for overseas parents to find a suitable guardian for their son or daughter through their own contacts. Some parents feel embarrassed to ask a friend or a relative to take on the responsibility. For others, this can prove the ideal solution - someone who knows you and your family or a relative taking care of your child whilst in the UK. The experience of most schools, however, is that the majority of parents need some help in finding a good guardian.
How then do parents choose a Guardian? A popular response might be, "With difficulty!" Schools are always very concerned that parents have the best possible help. Although some schools arrange their own families, most do not because of the extra legal responsibility. However, the choice of a guardian and the arrangements made with a guardian are entirely the responsibility of the parent.
The Schools' Approach
Schools may choose to make it a rule that parents have satisfactory guardianship arrangements in place and that every guardian undertakes certain responsibilities. If a school considers a student is going to be without adequate adult care during a weekend exeat or half-term break, following due notice to parents, it might choose to act in the best interest of the student and to make suitable arrangements. This is because the school knows that it might be held responsible for releasing a child into the community without ensuring that adequate arrangements are in place. The schools always act with the utmost integrity to ensure that they undertake in full their pastoral responsibility for each and every child and that they alert parents to any situation considered undesirable.
Guardianship Arrangements
One has to remember that every family and every student's needs vary and whilst a very young pupil coming to the UK for the first time is going to need a great deal of personal attention a sixteen year old who has already visited the UK several times may need quite a different approach from a guardian. Some sixteen year olds will tell their parents that they really don't need one! As a caring parent you might wish to investigate the situation a little further first. A particular advantage of turning to a good guardian organization is that your particular needs can be addressed and accommodated with a large degree of flexibility and with the opportunity to make changes should you so wish. But most importantly, there will always be someone on 24 hour call for either your own urgent enquiry or as immediate support for your child in times of special need.
At Sutherland Education we consider the benefits of a professional guardianship arrangement to include the following:
- A wide choice of carefully selected families with an opportunity to find the ideal guardian for your child and to change if your child is unhappy
- The assurance of proper legal checks having been conducted on every guardian and host family, as well as personal visits and spot checks to ensure the security and suitability of the environment
- A contractual agreement regarding the undertakings for each individual child
- Full professional indemnity insurance to cover all their responsibilities - as is required of schools.
- Clearly stated responsibilities, procedures and lines of communication
- Guidelines for parents, students and guardians
- 24-hour support - someone always at hand to provide support in any emergency or crisis at all times whether your child is in school or staying with a family.
- A wide knowledge of schools and long term experience in caring for students
- Flexibility - an ability to adapt to your needs and to tailor the guardianship to suit your child by offering a variety of options
- Proper management of expenditure - the provision of an accurate record of your child's expenses, sound estimates, and a clear statement of costs
- Access to additional services to cover all your needs as a parent living overseas - travel, itineraries, and accommodation for parents, booking tickets, holiday revision or language courses, management of your child's finances, arranging mobile phone accounts, visa extensions, passport renewals, etc.
© Copyright 2003
An appeal
Dear Parent
Please remember that whether you choose Sutherland Education or another reputable company you would be wise to ensure that you have checked their credentials, testimonials and references. Whoever you choose needs to have in place sound practices and pro forma and to be able to provide excellent personal contact and communication. Also the longer they have been working in the area of private education the better and more professional advice they are likely to provide which is based on long term experience and a personal knowledge of schools and the families that may be hosting your child!
You can never be too sure so the more precautions you take and the higher quality advice you obtain, the more likely your child is going to thoroughly enjoy their UK educational experience!
Please contact us should you have any questions or concerns.
Yours truly
Grażyna Anna Wilson & Andrew Sutherland
Co-Principals of Sutherland Education Ltd
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