Oxford Guardians provides comprehensive and personal guardianship services for international children and students studying at UK educational establishments from primary/preparatory school through to university.
We provide our services to students at boarding schools as well as independent day schools and Sixth Form Colleges and Universities. Our team of local guardians and our homestay families operate in most regions of England and Wales.
We take care of the student’s needs before they come to the UK by helping with documentation and travel plans as well as preparing the student for their new life at a British School or University. On arrival we meet the student and take them to their new place of study. After that Oxford Guardians is there to support them for the duration of their stay in matters related to Health, Welfare, Homestay, Academic, University Decisions, Interests and Hobbies, Travel and Visas and so much more besides.
Our Team of Local Guardians, Homestays, Translators and Tutors are truly here to help each of our students to be successful.
We offer four levels of Guardianship Services and are always happy to adjust these to fit the individual requirements. Central to our guardianship is building up the relationship between the local guardian and the student so all of our guardianship ‘packages’ include meeting and visiting the student throughout the academic year. We also recognise that for many parents the UK education system may not be very familiar and this is why we offer all students and their parents academic support and why we always attend parents’ evenings as an integral part of our guardianship services.
The main areas the services cover are listed below:
| Premium | Main | Basic | University | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HELPING YOUR CHILD IN THE FIRST FEW WEEKS OF THE STUDIES | ||||
| Emailing information pack to our students before they come | ✓ | ✓ | ✓* | ✓ |
| Arranging homestay for early arrivals | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Meeting between our students and the local guardian in the first week | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓* |
| Buying items for school including school uniform, sports equipment and books | ✓ | ✓ | ✓* | |
| Ensuring your child has their Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) and assisting with police registration for 16+ students | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓* |
| Communication between OG native speaker (available in most languages) and parents before their son/daughter arrives | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| PASTORAL CARE | ||||
| Visiting your child according to guardianship package | Every 10-14 days | 13 times/yr | 7 times/yr | once/term |
| (Extra visits can be provided at additional cost) | ||||
| Being in text/other communication with your child once a week | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Monthly |
| Seeing House parents at least twice a term | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Arranging medical and dental care | ✓ | ✓* | ✓* | ✓* |
| Christmas & Easter holiday guardianship | ✓ | ✓* | ✓* | ✓* |
| STUDY SUPPORT | ||||
| Meeting the student’s personal tutor/form teacher once a term/as needed | ✓ | ✓ | ✓* | By Email |
| Email contact with personal tutor/form teacher once a term | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Attending parents’ evenings & sending a follow up report | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Advice with university and school selection | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Organising university tours for parents and students | ✓ | ✓* | ✓* | |
| Study meeting and assessment practise with IELTS specialist | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Arranging specialist supplementary IELTS tuition & arranging IELTS testing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Arranging specialist IELTS tuition | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Accompanying students on school & university visits | ✓ | ✓ | ✓* | |
| Arranging holiday courses | ✓ | ✓ | ✓* | |
| HOMESTAY | ||||
| Arranging caring and friendly homestay families | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ensuring the homestay family environment is safe and suitable; carrying out Criminal Records Bureau & Social Services checks | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Checking how the student is getting on when in the homestay | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Ensuring homestays are given full information about the student’s needs, and are regularly visited and checked | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Finding holiday homestay outside term time | ✓ | ✓* | ✓* | ✓* |
| Finding holiday homestay outside term time in other locations | ✓ | ✓* | ✓* | ✓* |
| TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS | ||||
| Organising travel for students to and from the airport with our DBS checked drivers | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Arranging transport for medical, school visits, visas and accompanying the child as needed | ✓ | ✓* | ✓* | ✓ |
| Ticket booking – planes, trains, coaches | ✓ | ✓* | ✓* | ✓* |
| FINANCE | ||||
| Transferring money for school fees | ✓ | ✓* | ✓* | ✓* |
| Deposit statements provided in December and June | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Notification if expenses incurred over £25 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Emergency cash advances for students on parents’ request | ✓ | ✓ | ✓* | ✓* |
| GENERAL | ||||
| Mobile phone top ups & SIM card pruchases | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Pocket Money Services | ✓ | ✓* | ✓* | |
| Opening a bank account | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Supporting any special interests and helping students join local clubs/take part in activities outside of school e.g. joining a fencing club, arranging driving lessons | ✓ | ✓ | ✓* | |
| Trips to local area and places of interest, usually once a term | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Remembering birthdays and special days! | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Taking your child for a small treat on visits* (e.g. a soft drink and/or a snack) the cost of which would be added to a student's expenses (£10 maximum). | 3 or 4 times a term | 2 or 3 times a term | One a term | |
| COMMUNICATIONS WITH PARENTS | ||||
| Reporting to parents and agents regularly | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Once a term |
| Sending parents’ evening report | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Translating mid-term and end of term reports | See Extra Care Package | |||
| Contacting parents regularly, up to three hours per month | See Extra Care Package | |||
| DEALING WITH EMERGENCIES | ||||
| 24 hr on call in term time; emergency numbers provided to students, parents, homestay families, agents and schools | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Making emergency medical and sickness arrangements | ✓* | ✓* | ✓* | ✓* |
| Attending to the student’s needs if suspended or expelled from school including provision of transport and homestay | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
PLEASE NOTE: * = Additional Charge
Contact Us
Should you have any questions, please call us on:
- +441604 857655
- +447800 804 041
Premium
This level of service is suggested for younger students up to the age of 14 or for those students needing a lot of support. Taking this service means that the student will meet their local guardian every 10 days throughout the school year.
Main
This is our standard and most popular package. It offers students a high level of support and care during their studies. Suitable for all children over 13 years old. Students are visited by their local guardian five times per term.
Basic
For more independent and self-sufficient students, basic guardianship students have visits two to three times per term. Recommended for students in sixth form who have previously studied in the UK.
University
For students starting university we offer a service which includes a visit once a term, and regular text/phone contact with the guardian. We recognise that the move to more independence can be quite challenging as well as exciting so having a UK based guardian with extensive knowledge of university life can be very supportive and reassuring for students and their parents.
Extra Care Package
Available for Arabic, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), Farsi, French, Italian, Korean, Russian, Thai.
EP includes a monthly call to the student with our native speaker plus regular contact from our native speaker with the parents (up to 4 hours per month) during the academic year.