Bright World takes on new Local Co-ordinator in York!

On Monday 30^th April one of our Guardianship Care Managers, Tammy Lindsay met with Ruth Webber; our new Local Co-Ordinator for York.

Tammy did some LC training then visited two schools in the area– Bootham and Queen Ethelburga’s College.

Tammy Lindsay, Guardiaship Care Manager;

“At Bootham school we met with Mike Shaw, houseparent and he gave us a tour of the school which comprises beautiful buildings and landscaped gardens. We then went to Queen Ethelburga’s College and met with the head of boarding – Sue Ginger – for an interesting and informative chat. The facilities for students at Queen Ethelburga’s are second-to-none, and it was a lovely sunny day with the students out playing games on the playground and running track. Lizzie Gibson, houseparent for Senior Girls gave us a tour of the girls’ boarding house and an overview of boarding life at QE.”

Bright World are extremely happy to have Ruth on board our budding team of Local Co-ordinators!

Ruth will be joining Stacey Maugh, as our second Local Co-ordinator as of September, this year.

Keep checking the blog for more updates!

Bright Worlds' UK Summer Language Courses are filing up!

Bright World Summer School Courses are filling up!

Bright World are pleased to introduce some fantastic Summer language Courses opportunities housed within some of the UK’s top Boarding Schools and Universities.

We have a range of exciting, creative and academic courses which will keep your child busy all Summer long!

Schools include Lancing College (St Bedes), Kingston Maurward, and Kent College- to name a few!

Lancing College are running a full Summer programme this year, including lessons and a wide range of sports, activities, clubs and Sports Academy options to choose from.

The course also includes evening social entertainment and there are two excursions per week, meaning you as the child can go and experience the UK, in the company of your fellow students whilst you, the parents can stay safe in the knowledge that Bright World are keeping your child safe and sound.

Summer is looming and course places are filling up quickly so please don’t miss out. Apply on our website http://www.brightworld.co.uk/language/index.asp

Happy Chinese New Year from the Bright World Team!

We would like to wish a Happy New year of the Dragon to everyone and here's to a successful 2012. With best wishes from the Bright World Team!

Brittany Wong - Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival winner!

We would like to share with you a big achievement by Brittany Wong. Brittany is the daughter of our top agent Jimmy in Hong Kong - HKOSC - with whom we advise and place hundreds of students every year into UK boarding schools.

Brittany came first in her group at the recent Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival, which took place last Tuesday - a fine achievement, as she was competing against 60 other students in the same group! Her winning speech was "Jack" by Daphne Kitching, about her pet dog being her best friend.

We think that Brittany will soon be winning scholarships to study in the UK!! Congratulations to Brittany, and her very proud Mummy and Daddy.


Below: Brittany (right) shows off her first-place prize and certificate!

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.