Lana and James Foster, the Directors of Bright World were invited to Tea at the House of Lords by International College, Sherborne School. They were thrilled to be invited and to enter the House of Lords for the first time.
It was very impressive as was the tea comprising of a typically British Scones, with clotted cream and jam, dainty egg, salmon and cucumber sandwiches and some delicious cream cakes.
The day was hosted by the Governers of the school and a very interesting address was made by Baroness Garden on the importance of British education as being one of the UKs biggest and most important exports. Educating overseas students in the UK is an industry that generates 28 billion pounds per year to our economy which is greater than the banking sector. Baroness Garden thanked the guardianship companies and educational boarding school placement agents, including Bright World Guardianships and Education, for the contribution we are all making to the British economy in promoting the UK brand overseas and facilitating the placement of students into UK schools and universities.
She also praised the little known and recognised work carried out by guardianship organisations such as Bright World Guardianships who offer support services to international children studying in the UK.
Discussions then turned to Tier 4 Visas and in particular the difficulties faced by agents and guardianship companys with Visa Extenstions and Change of Sponsors. Lana Foster spoke up as did other companies asking for changes. More specifically in the way the UK Border Agency do not differentiate between age groups and destination schools. We also all agreed that Visa Extensions and Change of Sponsors for children who have already proven themselves to be genuine students should be much more straightforward. Time will only tell if what we said will help our industry but there was a Representative from the Department for Education at the event taking scrupulous notes so we hope so.
Bright World was very pleased to be invited to such a prestigious gathering.
We are close partners of International College, Sherborne School, both in that we place children in their wonderful preparation school as well as providing our guardianship service to many of their students. We thank Dr Christopher Greenfield, the Headmaster for inviting us and we look forward to a promised tour of the House of Lords next year!
How does the school placement process work?
When we receive your enquiry about student placement, Sheena Trist in our Admissions department, will contact you to ask for some information about your child. You will need to provide the basic details - name, date of birth and gender - and we will need to establish the year group you are applying for. For international students, we also need to establish their level of English, so Sheena can take this into account when looking for the best and most appropriate school.
We will require school reports and a school reference, along with a personal statement written by the student. This statement plays an important role in placement, as schools like to see the students level of written English, and to find out a bit more about the child.
Sheena will then search for some boarding schools that meet your criteria, and will send a school profile of her suggestions to you to read through and digest. We assist with many schools not yet listed on our website, so please do still give us a call for free placement advice. If you have any questions about the school at this point, Sheena will be able to help you by phone or email. When you are happy with the school choice, we do ask that you return to Bright World to apply for the place at the school, so that we can continue to help you with our valuable knowledge and experience.
What happens next?
You will then receive a registration form to complete, and arrange for payment of a registration fee, the amount of which varies from school to school. One hundreds pounds sterling is an average, and this fee is non-refundable. At this stage, the majority of schools will require an entry test to be completed, which needs to take place under strict exam conditions. This can be done at British Council Office if overseas, or at the students current school. Sometimes the student will be invited to visit the new school to be interviewed.
Once you have registered and your child has been tested and an offer made, a deposit is then required to accept and secure the place. This is generally one term's school fees, plus one term's school fees will have to be paid by the first day of term. Deposits are refunded at the end of a students schooling, less any money outstanding on your account and assuming that proper notice has been given.
Your child will now have a place at boarding school, and we can now offer Bright World Guardianship services for the duration of your childs studies.
