James Foster attends the Alphe Education Workshop in St Petersburg

The view from the Astoria Hotel, the venue for the Alphe Education Workshop held last weekend in St Petersburg.




James met many of our existing education agent partners who were all very pleased with the service that Bright World Guardianships has provided this year to our students.

James also met several new agencies and was proud to inform them of our Guardianship Service. He was also pleased to be able to demonstrate online our new Parent Portal that has revolutionised the way we communicate with our parents regarding the progress of their child. For them it is our own private Facebook page onto their pastoral life at school including a brilliant photo gallery keeping parents in touch with what is going on.

The next entry on the Portal will be our Host Family Care Plans - produced each time a student stays with a host family for the first time and to ensure our Child Protection procedures are followed to the letter.

Tea at the House Of Lords, courtesy of International College, Sherbourne School

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!

School Placement and Admissions - What To Expect

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.

Get In Touch!

As we grow, we've found that people are using a variety of ways to contact us and keep up to date with our news. So we're making the most of the internet, and sharing our news with you!

For Twitter fans, become a Bright World "Tweep" and follow us on @brightworldnews

If Facebook's more your thing, come and visit our Facebook Page - but dont forget to LIKE our page or you won't receive all our updates and news!

Or our main website page www.brightworld.co.uk is always a great place to read up on what we're up to. Here you can do so many things - fill in an online application form for Guardianship services, apply to become a Bright World host family, or just Contact us simply to find out more about us!

We are always glad to hear feedback so please pay us a visit online and send us a message!

A Day in the Life of a Guardianship Care Manager, by Tammy Lindsay

My day at Bright World starts with a cup of coffee. Usually a strong one, as I know the day ahead is going to be busy! After saying hello and exchanging "how are you's" with everyone I get settled at my desk.

Ive usually got an inbox full of interesting messages, from students, parents, agents, and schools. Some are fun to read, but most are things for me to to, so I get stuck in. I ping off replies left, right and centre, and find that hours can go by, while I've got my head down concentrating on the next task. I'm preparing for a big half term holiday and I've got lots to organise!

Lunchtime creeps up on me, and I go for a walk to get some fresh air. The small village where the Bright World office is based is beautiful and I enjoy strolling through the lush green fields.

But it's nice to get back to work after my walk. I feel focussed and ready to go again!

More emails are waiting to greet me, and the phone lines are always busy too. I love the calls from parents, ringing us for a quick catch up about their son or daughter. Its so nice to get to know the parents of our students. I'm also in contact with the Bright World Local Co-ordinators or 'Buddy's' throughout the day too, and they send me questions and messages from the students and teachers.

I've got host families to organise this afternoon - there's a lot of excitement, as the new school year means new students for our host families, and I need to try and make sure that I match them up well. After all, we can't have a student with fur allergies staying in a house where they have a resident cat! It's like doing a big jigsaw puzzle, making sure the pieces fit perfectly together.

The day-to-day questions keep rolling in too. I go through the easy ones, and if there are any difficult queries I'll ask Fiona Walters, Director of Guardianships, to guide me through what I need to do.

It's time for another coffee. Perhaps a biscuits too - one of those scrummy double chocolate ones that Lana bought for everyone when she went to London for the Study World Conference.

Half term confirmations and transfer details sent, I can relax a little now, and go back over everything to make sure I haven't missed any important details. I've been making plans for the half term for weeks, and it's finally done! Once, twice, three times checked, and sometimes more! We all help each other out in the office and go through all our student plans. It's good to work as part of a team, we are a great support network for each other.

Home-time now, to rest and curl up in front of the TV with my dog! It's been a long and busy day, but I've loved every minute. I'll be back again tomorrow - see you then!

Bright World at the Study World Conference

This is Lana and James, Directors of Bright World Guardianships at the Study World Conference in London - Lana is committing to some advertising spend with a new agent for us in the Ukraine, 'Business Link'.

The photograph was taken by Ekaterina Shapovalova, their client manager. She took this photograph so we would never be able to deny agreeing to the spend!

We very much look forward to working with them in the future, and being UK guardians to their students at UK boarding schools.

Are you missing home? Some helpful advice if you're suffering from 'culture shock'

No matter how old you are, or how experienced a traveller, being away from home can be both an exciting and frightening experience. You may find that you miss family, friends and pets, and even things like eating different foods to what you are used to can cause people to become anxious and upset.

We use the term 'Culture Shock' to describe unexpected or unwanted feelings when someone is taken out of their familiar comfortable surroundings and placed in an unfamiliar and new environment that they are unsure of.

Although experiencing culture shock is normal, it is not pleasant. But do remember that it will pass.

We have made some suggestions below of how you can help to ease the effects and feelings of culture shock:

Contact - keep in touch with your family and friends back home. If you don't have a mobile phone, then send an email. Schools often have a computer which students are able to use if they don't have their own laptop. Ask your teacher or houseparent for the times when you are allowed to use it, or the times of when you are able to use Wifi for your own laptop. If you have a mobile phone, send a text home or ask your parents to call you at an agreed time. Please do check with your mobile phone provider for costs. Alternatively, use Skype to video call home.

Diary - keep a diary, and write down your experiences of your first few weeks at school. Write down how you feel each day, what has made you smile, the new people you have met, and what you have learned.

Communication - Talk! Introduce yourself to other students, find out what you have in common. Involve yourself in games and social activities with others. Often, speaking with someone else who is also experiencing culture shock can help, as you can talk about how you feel to someone who understands. Your houseparents will also listen to you if you want to talk to an adult about how you are feeling, and may be able to offer useful advice, as they will have spoken to many pupils experiencing culture shock before. Your Bright World Buddy is also only a phonecall away.

Letter - write letters to your family and friends and ask them to write back to you. Its always a nice surprise to receive a letter in the post!

Photographs - put pictures of your family and friends on your wall, or on your desk in your room. Ask your parents to send a favourite teddy, or posters or postcards from home that you might find comforting.

Food - although you are not allowed to bring certain types of food into the UK from overseas, you may find that a local shop imports and stocks snacks that you are familiar with.

Lastly - use Facebook!! Being the worlds number one social networking site, its a fantastic way of keeping in touch with everyone. You can upload your pictures, and post messages on your friends' walls. Stop by the Bright World Guardianships Facebook page and tell us how you are getting on! We would love to hear from you!