We understand that guardianship can be a new concept for many of our parents. Families often ask us, “Why do we need a guardian? We are the parents. Can’t the school just contact us?”
However, every boarder whose home is overseas or whose parents currently live or are posted abroad must have a nominated guardian for the duration of their stay at boarding school in the UK.
This guardian must be a resident in the UK. In the event of an emergency, the guardian will be the first point of contact. We will, of course, contact parents too, but the guardian will act in their absence with delegated parental responsibility.
Below are some useful facts about what Academic Families will do as your child’s guardian.
The guardian should be an adult or company such as Academic Families who takes charge of the student and represents the parents in their absence. Guardians must live in the UK.
Academic Families is your guardian and we take care of matching your child with the best host family, plus all travel and police disclosures and a number of other services.
The host family is the family that your child stays with during holidays or term breaks.
We like to compare ourselves to the parent and the host family are the grandparents who can enjoy the children!
We have a range of packages starting from £295 per term for our Emergency Package through to £800 per term for our Premium Package, which is a bespoke service including interpretation and translation support.
Payments can be made through Flywire, which allows you to pay in your local currency and by your preferred payment method (such as a credit card or debit card). The Flywire online system guides you each step of the entire payment process and has support in many languages.
Yes. Once you sign up with Academic Families we will hold an Expense Deposit Fund (EDF) and from this we can give your children pocket money, pay for taxis, meals out, etc. At the end of the guardianship, the remaining balance will be credited back to you.
We do try our hardest to place a child with the same host family but on occasion, the host family may be unavailable. In these cases, we will match the child with another one of our fabulous families.
Switching families is often beneficial, as it gives your child more exposure to different lifestyles, British accents and the chance to make even more new friends.
We pride ourselves on our matching and take a lot of time getting to know your child, however, if there is an occasion that your child is not happy we will find an alternative host family.
Our fleet of drivers will happily transfer your child from school to their host family and back again. All of our drivers undergo security screening and police checks.
Yes! As your child’s UK guardian, we’re happy to help them through the airport. We have a fantastic service which is very popular with our younger children. Our chaperone will meet your child at the plane door, escort them through the airport (Passport Control, changing terminals and shops) and then take them to the gate for their connecting flight.
Absolutely! We have a team of experienced staff members who can attend the meetings and write up a report for you as well as convey any concerns you may have about your child’s progress.
Academic Families are delighted to help your child plan which open days and talks they would like to attend as well as accompany them.
Yes, we can take your child to the dentist and the orthodontist.
This article appears in the following categories FAQs & Resources, Guardianship
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