Who will meet, greet and transport my child when they arrive at the airport?
Safety, reliability and good communications are our priorities.
We are happy to arrange transport anywhere, anytime using drivers we know and trust and who are background checked, appropriately insured and who are very experienced with the various procedures and safeguarding responsibilities that apply when taking responsibility for and transporting children.
When we arrange transport, we will confirm the driver’s name and mobile phone number in advance and will carry photo ID. The driver will have the student’s name and mobile number to help ensure good communications. The driver will let us know when the student has been collected and safely delivered. Our drivers charge fair rates and will always send their invoice to us. Students are not expected to pay the driver for any transport arrangements we make. We will pay the driver’s invoice and add any transport costs to your account. You will be charged exactly what we pay.
When possible, we will always arrange shared transport so the costs can be shared.
Alternatively, many schools will make some or all transport arrangements using their own staff or local transport providers they know and trust. When schools are able / willing to arrange transport, we will always use school transport so that you benefit from reduced costs as school arranged transport usually involves many students and the costs to you will be minimal.
When we arrange a driver to take a student to the airport, there are three levels of service they can provide.
Our drivers will be happy to drop students off at the airport terminal building only when we have parental consent in advance.
Alternatively, they can park the car, go into the airport and assist the student with check-in, and see them through security. This is our default level of service.
Alternatively, when Unaccompanied Minor (UM) services are booked by parents in advance, our driver will stay with the student until they are safely handed over to airline staff and will wait at the airport for the plane to take off according to UM procedures.
When our driver is booked to collect a student, he / she will be holding a board with the student’s name on.
Transport arranged to and from host families will follow the above guidelines and high standards of care and attention.
As always, if there is any problem at all, students, parents, schools, host families and drivers can contact us directly 24/7/365 and we are always here and happy to help in any way we can.
Crown Guardians has been arranging safe, friendly, welcoming, reliable and caring host family accommodation for overseas students (and groups visiting Bath) for 28 years. We expect our host families to treat your children as we would expect them to treat our own children. Nothing less.
During that time, we have established a network of high-quality host families and coordinators all over the UK who we know, we trust, have been thoroughly background checked, monitored and in most cases have a lot of of experience looking after students. Our ability to get it right is why we enjoy the excellent reputation we do.
Our host families almost always come to us via personal recommendations from existing host families, schools, friends and family. We do not advertise for host families.
When we arrange a host family for a student, we don’t just put names together on a list. We put a lot of thought and experience into every arrangement. We know our host families well and we understand that a host family that suits a 12y/o won’t necessarily suit an 18y/o. Some students can’t tolerate staying with a family with pets, some students love pets. Older students often prefer to stay with an older couple with a quiet single room available whereas younger students may prefer a younger more active host family with children of their own. We give a lot of thought to all the variables and every arrangement is the result of communications with students and their parents and a lot of thought and experience. Once an allocation is made, details will be shared with the parents who have the option of accepting or declining a proposed host. Assuming everyone is happy, we confirm the booking, arrange transport and send details to parents, students and their schools.
It is our aim to place students with host families they can stay with every break for the duration of their studies. This helps to establish a trusting, comfortable and long-term relationship. Of course, there are occasions when a host family is not available, or a student would just like a change and in those cases, we will do our best to meet the student’s and parent’s requests and expectations.
In the very unlikely event of a problem of any sort, the student, their parents and the host family can contact us directly anytime 24/7/365 for advice, support and assistance.
We aim to place students with a host family who lives no more than 30 minutes from the student’s school.
We charge you the same fee the host family charges us. We pay what we need to in order to secure the best hosts. Unlike other organisations, we do not profit from host family arrangements. Host families in different areas, with different facilities charge different rates. That is why we publish a range of rates. A host with a single room available in central London charges more than a host family in the north of England with a twin room.
We always try and keep costs to a minimum yet maintain the high standards you expect.
We have a lot of experience and constantly work very hard every day to make sure all is well with the students we represent.
We are here too when occasional problems arise and that is when our experience and knowledge and 24hr access really come into effect.
We are available 24/7/365
Our Emergency number is +44 7715 123299
Our Office number is +44 1225 423327
Every parent wants to make sure their child has enough money to buy what they need, when they need to, whether it is for essentials or the occasional reward or a birthday treat.
Most schools will accept pocket money payments and your child’s housemaster will bank and distribute pocket money in a safe and responsible manner.
In today’s increasingly cashless society, pre paid debit cards are rapidly gaining in popularity with students.
Two popular cards here in the UK are:
Gohenry
Revolut
https://www.revolut.com/revolut-under-18
With these cards you will be in complete control of how much money your child has access to.
Adding money to the card as a reward for good grades or for a birthday treat is super quick and easy. Likewise, you can stop spending if/ when you choose or if the card is lost or stolen.
These cards can also give you an insight as to where you child is spending their money. With safety in mind, they automatically block payments to child inappropriate shops (tobacco and alcohol for example) and they block spending on child inappropriate websites.
Personally, I have found the flexibility, safety and control the Gohenry card offers, has served me and my family very well over many years.
We recommend £35 per week as a typical and reasonable weekly amount for pocket money. Maybe a little more for older students and a little less for younger students. Perhaps a little more for exeat and half term breaks and when travelling to or from the UK.
Students should not carry large amounts of money or keep large amounts of money in their bedrooms.
If you ever need to get money to your child quickly, please contact us and we are always here and can always help.
We can also add any amount of credit to Pay as You Go mobile phone sim cards and add it to your account which will reduce the amount of pocket money needed.
Firstly, it is very rare for students to have a serious accident or illnesses while at school.
Bumps, bruises, coughs, colds, flu and stomach bugs are however very common.
All students will be registered with a local GP (General Practitioner) when they first arrive at school. All students are entitled to free of charge healthcare through the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) as any UK resident is.
There is an established path to follow when a child is injured or sick. The most important thing is to report your illness or injury to boarding house staff immediately so they are aware and can decide what course of action to take.
Most boarding house staff will be first aid trained. Boarding house staff decide if the student needs to see the school nurse. If the school nurse can deal with the situation, they will.
If the school nurse decides the child needs to see a doctor, the nurse will arrange an appointment with the student’s GP usually on the same day. If the GP can deal with the situation, they will.
If a doctor thinks the child needs to go to hospital, the doctor will arrange an appointment with the relevant hospital department / consultant and the school will arrange for the student to attend.
In the case of a genuine emergency, the school will contact 999 and the child will receive immediate ambulance / hospital attention.
Often, the student will be sent back to lessons. If the student is considered not well enough to be in lessons, they will be kept in the school’s health centre. The health centre staff member will normally inform the parents.
Where a boarder is ill and needs to be an inpatient within the school’s health centre, this will be reviewed daily and if the condition requires the student to be an inpatient for longer than 24 hours, guardians will be contacted so the student can be collected and rest and recover at home. For serious or contagious illnesses, students will be collected by their guardians.
If a student is unwell out of school hours, the first port of call is always, the boarding house staff. They will decide whether or not the student can wait to see the school nurse the following day or if the student needs immediate medical attention by a doctor or hospital.
Boarding house staff will arrange emergency appointments to the dentist, optician or physiotherapist. Schools ask that routine optician and dentist etc appointments are made during the school holidays.
Any medication the student needs must be handed in to boarding house staff or the school nurse for secure storage and administration by them. Medicines must not be kept in bedrooms. Schools cannot administer medicines from abroad so if a boarder needs regular medication, parents should discuss this with the house parents.
All medicines must be given to the health centre staff on arrival at school, whether prescription or over-the-counter drugs. A decision will then be made as to whether students can keep these in their possession or if they are to be kept safe by boarding house staff or school nurse. If students are allowed to keep any medicines in the boarding house, they must be carefully locked up in their own room or kept in the care of houseparents.
Opening a bank account is relatively easy. Saying that, banks are very reluctant to open bank accounts for students under 16y/o.
The first thing to do is to talk to the students’ houseparent. They will be able to advise which bank is closest to the school and which bank is happiest opening bank accounts for students.
To open a bank account a student needs to choose which bank and which local branch they want to use.
Once a bank / branch has been chosen, the student should visit the local branch and ask for an application form. Once the application from has been obtained and completed, an appointment to open the account needs to be made with the chosen bank / branch.
Once an appointment has been made, the student must attend the appointment and present the completed application form, a school letter confirming enrollment and address and their passport.
Once the appointment has been completed, the bank will decide whether or not to open the account and if positive, the student will receive their new account details and bank cards and pin numbers etc.
In today’s increasingly cashless society, pre-paid debit cards are rapidly gaining in popularity with students.
Two popular cards here in the UK are:
Gohenry
Revolut
https://www.revolut.com/revolut-under-18
With these cards you will be in control of how much money your child has access to.
Adding money to the card as a reward for good grades or for a birthday treat is super quick and easy. Likewise, you can stop spending if/ when you choose or if the card is lost or stolen.
These cards can also give you an insight as to where you child is spending their money. With safety in mind, they automatically block payments to child inappropriate shops (tobacco and alcohol for example) and they block spending on child inappropriate websites.
Personally, I have found the flexibility, safety and control the Gohenry card offers, has served me and my family very well over many years.
