Page 34 - StudyTravel Magazine November 2018 Issue

secondary Focus studytravel magaZIne november 2018

Secondary Focus: Responsible
guardianship

A recent partnership between the UK Boarding Schools’ Association and
AEGIS has put a spotlight onto the question of oversight in the guardianship
sector. So, what exactly are the issues to be aware of? JANE VERNON SMITH reports.

Appointing a guardian is standard practice for school For John Zhang, Director at fellow AeGIS member,
students studying away from their home country. the connexcel www.connexcel.co.uk, lack of regulation
problem, according to Lana Foster at Bright World also sometimes means lacking awareness. “parents
Guardianships www.brightworld.co.uk, an AeGIS- are lacking knowledge about guardianship,” he says.
affi liated guardianship organisation, is that, “lack of “they will spend days and weeks to shortlist boarding
regulation means that anyone can be a guardian or a schools, but with no real interest to understand the
guardianship organisation, with no one checking on guardianship side.” he adds, “Students coming to the
them or the children they are taking care of”. uk are far from home and need someone to provide
guidance in place of their parents. this
????? is how we approach our guardianship
services. We think that guardianship
should include advice, care and emotional
support alongside safeguarding.”
As chris michelmore, Director at Quest
Guardians www.questguardians.co.uk,
points out, “child safety is the obvious
problem, with young students staying in
ThE AGENT RElATIONShIp inappropriate accommodation without

Guardianship organisations believe that agents have a key role to play in any adult supervision. Schools have an
promoting high-quality guardianship among their clients. obligation to provide a good standard of
“Good agents do a lot of preparation work with their clients, educating
both parents and students on life in the uk, boarding schools and guardian- child safety, even when they are closed,
ship, says chris michelmore, Director at Quest Guardians. and a good guardianship organisation (Go)
“Working with agents is incredibly valuable,” agrees Will hume of White
house Guardians, “as they will hopefully highlight the importance of guardi- can do this. From a tier-4 visa perspective,
anship in the parents’ native language and how to choose one.” a school needs to know where all students
According to Lana Foster at Bright World Guardianships, a good working
relationship between guardian and agent also reaps benefi ts when there is are at all times. unregulated Gos may fi nd
a safeguarding issue with the child. “Schools, guardians and agents have to this information diffi cult to provide.”
work together in these instances, as it is vital we all share information. We
need a good level of trust with our agents so that they can help us to action Indeed, there is hard evidence of
our safeguarding processes accordingly,” she highlights. some guardianship arrangements proving

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