Hosting for EJO

Hosting for EJO

Hosting is nearly always an interesting and enjoyable experience, and lasting friendships are often made. You learn about other cultures and the ways in which people live in different countries. Students who choose a homestay course are looking for more than just a bed to sleep in, but want an insight into family life in the UK. The income you receive from hosting is also helpful!

When and where are there opportunities for hosting?

Most opportunities are for hosting young people taking part in our English language holiday programmes which run during March and April and July and August, in Bristol, Guildford, Hindhead and Reading.

However, for those who have a qualification in teaching English as a Foreign Language or qualified teacher status in primary education or in secondary in languages, there may also opportunities for hosting and teaching students in your home, wherever you may be living and throughout the year. Whilst the principles for hosting are for the most part the same, these information pages are particularly directed towards receiving students on the holiday programmes.

For more information on host teaching, please look at Work with us - Home Lesson Teachers

What does hosting involve?

Our hosts give a warm welcome to their students who are members of the household for the period of their stay. It’s a good idea to imagine that you are sending children from your own family to another country for the first time to stay with a family they don’t know, and to think of the type of hospitality you would be hoping that they would be offered. This is the homestay experience you should endeavour to provide for your students.

The majority are only with us for two weeks so gain their impressions of the home they’re staying in, and of all the other aspects of their course, over a short period of time. Students are occupied on our programme on six full days and one evening each week so it’s in the early part of the mornings, in the evenings and on Sundays that you need to look after them. They have breakfast and evening meal every day and lunch on Sundays with you, and we ask you to provide them with a packed lunch on all programme days. We ask you to talk to your students (in English of course!) as much as possible and to take an interest in them and in what they are doing on the course.

We ask you, too, to meet them from the local arrival point at the beginning of the stay and take them to the departure point at the end. On occasions, for welfare and safety reasons, we ask you to accompany them to or from the course.

Summary of main hosting requirements

Here’s a summary of the main and fundamental hosting requirements. There’s more information about these and other points in the information booklet ‘All about hosting with EJO’ and you will receive a copy of this if you become a host for us.

As a host you:

• welcome students as members of your family and household, eating together, talking together and sharing your common living areas
• look after the welfare of your students as you would a young member of your family
• take them to the course on the first day, taking great care to make sure they know the bus numbers and stops for any buses that they need to take including the correct names of any bus stops*
• make sure that they fully understand how to make the journey between your home and the course premises on future occasions*
• encourage them to act sensibly when they go out, find out where they are going and ask them to return home following EJO guidelines*
• accept responsibility for collecting them from the weekly evening activity or, if for any reason this isn’t possible, for discussing alternative arrangements with the local organiser*
• provide a bedroom of suitable size with adequate lighting, heating (where necessary) and hot water, sufficient blankets or duvets with bed linen changes once a week, sufficient wardrobe and drawer space for clothes and a table and chair for doing any coursework that may be set. This can be in another appropriate area in the house if there’s not enough space in the bedroom. We ask you to vacuum clean the floor and empty the waste bin as necessary

*All courses except Hindhead (Amesbury) School) where students always travel between home and course by minibus

You are willing to respect and keep to these British Council guidelines:

• a maximum of four students in your home at any one time irrespective of the organisation through which they are booked
• a maximum of two in any one room at any one time (a room for two students must always be a twin-bedded room)
• no two students with the same first language staying in your home at the same time (unless specifically asked for by the client or the parents)
• students accommodated in your home at any one time are of a similar age (within a two-year age range); the same two-year age range applying if a student is sharing a twin-bedded room with a child of your own
• you are normally (and always in the case of students of under sixteen years of age) in a position to be at home when students arrive back from the course; are present for mealtimes and at other times when students are at home
• you are always at home overnight when hosting students

We ask you to sign our hosting agreement each year and, in doing this, you’ll be confirming that you’ll follow these regulations and guidelines. You will also sign a declaration stating that there is no reason for you to be considered unsuitable to host children.

What you may expect of your students

You can of course expect good manners and good behaviour and that students make their own beds, keep their rooms tidy and leave the bathroom and toilet in a clean condition. Whilst they should help with tasks such as preparing and clearing the table, you obviously shouldn’t expect them to do housework or act as baby-sitters.

Your students are guests who should follow the routines of your home. Do go through these carefully with them soon (but not immediately!) after they arrive.

We give students an information sheet ‘How we live in the homes of our hosts’.

What your students may expect of you

Above all, your students will expect to be welcomed into your home and to be offered hospitality as members of your household.

They’ll appreciate your interest in them and in what they’re doing during the stay and opportunities for conversation, especially over meal times. They’ll be pleased to be included in normal activities such as meeting friends, going shopping, and taking the family dog for walks. Many hosts take their students on outings, for example to the leisure centre or to a local place of interest. Some of these activities can be fitted in during the week; others have to be arranged for a Sunday when students may spend the day with their hosts.

Students look forward to meeting young people in this country. When possible, we would appreciate your help in giving them opportunities to do this by introducing them to other teenagers, perhaps the children of friends or neighbours, or by taking them to any relevant groups you are involved in locally.

EJO Safeguarding Statement

EJO believes that it is always unacceptable for a child or young person to experience abuse of any kind and recognises its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children and young people, by a commitment to best practice, which protects them.

We recognise that

• the welfare of the child/young person is paramount
• all children, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse
• working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, hosts and their agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

The purpose of the safeguarding statement

• to provide protection for the children and young people who receive EJO’s services, including the children of adult members or users
• to continuously develop awareness of any issues that might cause harm to any student on an EJO course
• to provide staff, hosts and volunteers with guidance on procedures they should adopt in the event that they suspect a child or young person may be experiencing, or be at risk of, harm
• to avoid making EJO vulnerable to any suspicion of any form of harm or abuse

This statement applies to all staff, including senior managers, paid staff, volunteers, hosts, agency staff, students or anyone working on behalf of EJO. A ‘child’ or ‘student’ or ‘pupil’ in the context of this policy refers to anyone under the age of 18 who will attend, is attending or has attended an EJO course. ‘Safeguarding’ refers to our commitment to reducing risk and providing appropriate general care for students on our courses.

Please phone 01428 751549 or email info@ejo.co.uk for more information

If you would like to register with EJO to host students in your home, please click on the following link: https://ejo.iq2u.net/hostfamily/login