Advice for parents

UK guardians

Guardians act on behalf of international pupils’ parents while their children are in the UK during school holidays and exeat weekends, as John Dunston explains

Covered here:

 The role of a guardian
 The benefits of appointing a guardian
 Quality control
 Finding and appointing a guardian

International students at UK independent boarding schools have often come, literally, from halfway around the world. The schools have a long tradition of offering excellent pastoral care to these students, recognising what a big decision it will have been for their parents to allow them to study so far away from home. The benefits of such an education are enormous, and schools take their responsibility very seriously.

As a consequence, UK boarding schools are keen to work in co-operation with parents to try to ensure the welfare of international students. An important part of this is covered by the parents’ appointment of guardians in the UK.

What can parents expect from a guardian?

Guardians – whether an individual or a family – have a responsibility to support the students in their care in ways that help them to thrive and make the most of their time at a UK boarding school. They provide a home from home, where the student can go at exeat (leave) weekends or other weekends by arrangement with the school, and during half-term and other school holidays.
The guardian acts as a link for the student: someone who will take an interest in their work and progress, who will attend parents’ meetings (and report back to parents abroad afterwards), and generally monitor the academic and social development of the students in their care.

They are also a vital point of contact for the school – for example, in an emergency where a student falls ill and needs to be away from school for a time, and is unable to return home. The guardian will be expected to help out with medical and possibly insurance arrangements, and to keep in close touch with the school.

The guardian will also be someone with whom the student can get in touch at any time, whether to talk about a problem that may have arisen, or simply to discuss travel arrangements, for example, for the end of term, when a student may stay overnight with a guardian before the long journey home. Above all, the guardian will do everything possible, as will the school, to safeguard and promote the student’s welfare, and this alone should help to set parents’ minds at rest.

Is it necessary to have a guardian in the UK?

The advantages listed above should almost make this question unnecessary, though it is still often asked. The answer is, without any doubt, yes.

Whether a student is aged 11, 15 or even 18, there are times when someone outside the school is needed in order to complete the package of pastoral care essential for the successful education of an international student at a UK boarding school. Quite apart from the practical issues already outlined, it can be of great benefit for a young student to spend time with another family, learning more and experiencing another cultural environment. Guardian families will often include their international students in family activities and excursions, enabling them to see more of the UK, meet other people and, indeed, make new friends. Guardianship at its best is about more than just being a phone number or e-mail address at times of crisis, and good schools will want to make sure that parents are fully informed about the enriching value of good guardianship, as well as its importance in the day-to-day care and peace of mind of both students and parents.

Schools will want to know that someone trusted by the parents will, for example, help as necessary with welcoming students when they arrive from abroad, providing accommodation if they arrive before the start of term. It is also vital to be able to share details of students’ progress with someone who is really standing in for parents, and to see them at sports matches, plays or concerts in which the student might be involved.

The role of the guardian will obviously change as the student grows older, but the need for one remains for as long as the student is at school in the UK. It is the responsibility of the school to keep guardians fully informed, so that they in turn can give the support needed.

How do we find a guardian for our child?

This is another frequently asked question. There are a number of options available to parents looking for a guardian for their child.

Appointing a family member or friend

In some cases, a family member, friend or business associate could provide the ideal solution. This is likely to be someone who knows either a parent or, indeed, the whole family well, someone the parents can trust with the responsibility of looking after their child.

Quite often, however, the parents of an international student have no such family member or friend in the UK and naturally turn to the school for advice. Although schools should be happy to give such advice, they are unlikely to be in a position to arrange guardians directly, because legislation in the UK rightly requires a separation of responsibilities. What schools can do is explain in more detail what is required. Sometimes this clears up misunderstandings about the role of the guardian and prompts parents to think of someone suitable whom they might not have previously considered.

Using a guardianship organisation

The other action schools can take is to explain how a number of guardianship organisations can help with finding guardians of the highest quality. In recent years, the Government, schools and guardianship organisations have worked closely together to ensure such quality in order to protect the interests of the students, and many of these agencies are now fully accredited after rigorous testing and inspection.

The Association for the Education and Guardianship of International Students (AEGIS) has been leading the drive for higher standards. AEGIS can help parents with finding a guardian, and all the guardianship organisations that are admitted to membership of AEGIS have met those standards. All guardianship organisations in membership of AEGIS are regularly monitored by inspectors from the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) and the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI), and they are required to undergo inspections in order to continue to support the welfare, health and safety of the international students in their care.

Schools should be able to provide parents with a complete list of guardianship organisations that have been accredited by AEGIS and on whom parents can rely. AEGIS has the support of the British Council, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), and the Independent Schools Council.

A vital part of the UK boarding experience

In the same way that nobody would expect an airline to fly without cabin crew, or a hospital to run without nurses, no school should expect an international student to be enrolled without a UK-based guardian. Parents need to be reassured that, as their children’s care is of the greatest importance throughout their time in the UK, schools, guardians and the parents themselves can work closely together to support it. The right guardian can make all the difference.

John Dunston has been Head of Leighton Park School, Reading, since 1996. He is a former Chairman of AEGIS, a former Chairman of the Society of Headmasters and Headmistresses of Independent Schools (SHMIS), and an ISI Reporting Inspector