Aims

Education Guardianship UK Ltd aims to be the premier provider of education guardianship services in the South East of England. Working with international children between the ages of 14 to 18 in boarding schools across the region.

Principles

Our core principles are to provide a safe, caring and supportive environment for the students we look after and their parents. Supporting our partner schools and host families to ensure the highest levels of pastoral and educational support to the international student in our care.

We want to provide the supportive foundations to enrich our students’ lives, gain the most out of their educational experience, thrive and ultimately fulfil their full potential.

Practice

With our dedicated team we provide introductory visits and settling in services, regular communication and termly student visits. We ensure that at all times we will offer a personal, caring and compassionate service.

We are professional and courteous at all times and take a genuine interest in the well-being of the students in our care.

We encourage every student to fulfil their potential and are fully committed to safeguarding and promoting their welfare.

We support the ethos and principles that AEGIS promote, which form the core of the services that we provide.

AEGIS Gold Accredited 2024

AEGIS (Association for the Education and Guardianship of International Students) inspects and offers accreditation to guardianship organisations who provide the highest levels of care and support to students, parents, agents and schools. Education Guardianship UK Ltd re-inspection and successful award of Gold membership in July 2024 provides you with peace of mind that we can safely look after your child throughout their education in the UK.

Lead Inspector Overview from our latest Inspection in July 2024.

“Education Guardianship UK Ltd. is a very professional organisation. Their aims are clear and simple: they want to be the best at what they do, and they strive to be caring and compassionate at all times, in order to support each student in reaching their potential. They have been particularly successful when helping students who have had special needs, whether they are academic or emotional. Their student numbers are rising, from five when they started two years ago to an expected thirty plus this September. The two co-directors are the guardians for the students and split the workload depending on the schools the students attend. They communicate daily with each other and genuinely know their students very well. Education Guardianship UK Ltd. works with agents to recruit some of their students and currently care for students from all over the world.

The two co-directors share the roles and responsibilities between themselves, and these are clearly defined. However, they are both fully conversant with all that is happening within their company and especially about their students.

Currently, Education Guardianship UK Ltd. has ten host families that they regularly work with, and they are actively recruiting three or four more. By restricting themselves to Kent, Sussex and Surrey, they can give a very bespoke, personal service to their students and their respective schools. Comments from schools and homestay families deemed communication and support from Education Guardianship UK Ltd. as excellent.

The directors know their students and homestay families very well and are in regular contact with them. All the students who engaged with the AEGIS accreditation process said they were happy with their guardian.

All homestay families that are deployed have been subject to the necessary pre-employment checks. These are all stored safely on a database; a very comprehensive Single Central Record (SCR). All documents are now electronically stored. Travel arrangements are well organised. Travel details are logged for all journeys whether they are organised by the parents, school or by Education Guardianship UK Ltd. All relevant parties are informed of the details. Many journeys are organised by the schools, but where Education Guardianship UK Ltd. organise the transport, reputable, checked, companies are used.

Prior to a student arriving in the UK for the first time, the directors will meet parents and students on-line to explain how the arrival system works. Care is taken to ensure that first time students are well supported and all parents and students who responded to the questionnaires were happy that they had enough information prior to arrival. The appointed guardian will then visit the student during the first two weeks at their school. They take a welcome pack which includes home-made baked goodies, a UK adaptor and some stationery. They are also trialling a ‘getting to know you’ form for new students this year, which may also form part of their first visit.

Education Guardianship UK Ltd. currently has ten homestay families that they are using regularly, and they are in the process of recruiting more. The directors both visit homestay families prior to engaging their services as well as an annual formal inspection. The initial visit serves as an induction covering information about safeguarding, codes of conduct and what accommodation is required. The follow up visits, some informal, some formal, include the completion of checklists to ensure that the standards of provision are being upheld. This is all recorded appropriately on the checklist. Education Guardianship UK Ltd.’s paperwork, including policies, handbooks and record keeping, are extremely comprehensive and of a very high standard.

Keeping the students safe is of paramount importance to Education Guardianship UK Ltd. One of the co-directors undertakes the role of Designated Safeguarding Lead and fully understands what this entails. The other co-director can deputise, if necessary. Homestay families are requested to re-do their safeguarding training every three years as recommended, and they are also asked to complete Prevent training too. A yearly update is sent out in September and the company is trying to bring all updates and training into the month of September to streamline the process.

Education Guardianship UK Ltd. has an effective complaints policy and the facility to maintain records. To date there have been no formal complaints.

In line with their service level agreement, the guardians keep in contact with schools and attend events as required. Comments received from schools as part of the accreditation process were extremely positive and particularly complimentary about the level of communication.

The size of the company enables the directors to have personal contact with all homestay families, schools, students and their parents. They have very high standards for the service they provide and clear focus on ensuring these standards are maintained. Education Guardianship UK Ltd. are recommended for gold AEGIS accreditation without hesitation.”

AEGIS report July 2024

A copy of the full report is available on request.