School Expectations
You must provide a safe and welcoming family environment for your Overseas Student to live in. Homestay providers provide accommodation, care and support for students while they are not in boarding, however they are not expected to be a ‘parent’ for the overseas student. Despite this, it is appreciated that many homestay providers have their own children, who may be a similar age, or may have raised their own children and it is natural to take on that type of role in caring for an overseas student in your home.
Collective parents and homestay provider agreement on expectations and understanding around matters such as involvement in household activities and meal times, when and where a student is able to go out, study while in homestay, curfews, use of devices and other similar matters ensures the comfort of all involved. These decisions will take into account the parental expectations for an overseas student, but also the operation of the homestay provider home.
Decisions should take into account the age, reliability and maturity of the overseas student – likely more supervision and less freedom of movement and travel would be expected for a Middle School student as compared to a Senior School student. This means that decisions may change over time, as they student increases in age and confidence. In some cases, the expectations determined for a homestay student may be different to what they expect for their own child, or what their expectations were for their child at the same age.
Homestay providers should also take into account the nature of boarding and the School environment (ie where students from Years 7-9 may share dorms/units of up to 16 students, and Year 10 students share dorms of 4 to 6 students). Exeat and end of Term is an important chance for rest and relaxation for students. While ordinarily a homestay provider may not wish their own child to sleep late across the weekend or be at home, an overseas student may require that time to rest and recover from the busy Term. Where a family may discourage use of mobile phones and devices across the weekend, for an overseas student (particularly at Timbertop) the use of devices is an important connection to their family and friends overseas.
Please remain mindful of these circumstances in your care arrangements for and supervision of a student.
Collective Expectations
Some matters for discussion between all parties may be as follows:
- What responsibilities will the overseas student have while in homestay?
To clean up after themselves in the home, to strip their bed and put their towels in the laundry at the end of their visit, and to keep their room neat and tidy would all be expectations which align with the School’s expectations for students in boarding.
Please do not expect your overseas student to be available for babysitting or household jobs that would be considered unreasonable (assisting with meal preparation and clearing away and keeping a clean and tidy room would be considered reasonable).
- At the Corio Campus, the School removes phones from Students from Years 7 to 11 (and devices from Students from Years 7 to 10) prior to bedtime. At Timbertop, students do not have access to phones or devices at any time while at Timbertop.
Is there an expectation that students will be permitted to have their phones and devices overnight while in homestay?
- Will the overseas student be permitted to go out while in homestay – to visit Geelong or Melbourne, have an appointment, or to see friends? If so, can they take public transport or a taxi, or should they be driven to the location? Does the parent need to provide approval to the homestay provider on each occasion?
- A curfew time for the overseas student to be back in their homestay.
- Privacy in the home – if a door is closed for any reason, the person should knock and await confirmation that they are allowed to enter the room, or that the room is empty. This includes bedrooms and bathrooms.
- What engagement does the homestay provider anticipate that the overseas student will have in the family – involvement in mealtimes and family activities, sports, visits outside of the home, trips etc?
- Is the overseas student able to cook their own meals in the house and/or order food or takeaway from a food delivery service or restaurant?
- Should the overseas student be studying or completing homework while in homestay (this may be a case by case questions, taking into account any School expectations for study for the student for that period)?
- Will the student need support from the homestay provider in other areas – this may include how to use their debit or credit card in Australia, or to buy a myki and how to use public transport?
- May the homestay provider take photographs of the overseas student (with their consent) while they are in homestay, for memories and to provide to the parents?
It is recommended that homestay providers not post the overseas student on their social media, but it is appreciated that students and the homestay providers children may develop friendships and post collective photographs on their own social media by joint consent.
Students should not take and post photographs or video of their homestay provider home on social media, or of any person without their express consent.
- Payments for food and personal items. The fee payable to homestay providers is to cover meals, board and utilities for the student’s stay at the home.
The School’s expectation is that the overseas student will pay for all of their own personal items (including public transport costs, clothing, tuck, toiletries, and personal snacks and food) which they buy while in homestay, and that they will pay their own costs for all activities and experiences they attend with a homestay provider. A homestay provider should not be expected to pay those costs.
Disagreements Around Expectations
Please contact theOverseas Student Manager to discuss this and any support which may be provided. In some cases, the Overseas Student Manager may be able to assist in a compromise between all parties, or may provide the School’s approach to such issues (while students are in boarding) to identify reasonable expectations moving forwards.
Behaviour Expectations
The School expects that students continue to meet the requirements of the Students Behaviour Rules while they are in homestay, which includes broadly that the student model their behaviour on the three guiding principles of respect, safety and positive engagement.
Homestay providers are not expected to and should not provide discipline to an overseas student. Any minor issues or concerns which arise as to behaviour or expectations being unmet may be addressed between a homestay provider and the overseas student (and their parents as required), however for more significant or ongoing issues or concerns, these should be raised immediately with the overseas student parents and the Overseas Student Manager for management.
Confidentiality
During the course of providing homestay, you may have access to information relating to the overseas student and their family, which may be confidential or private.
You must treat this information as confidential and must not use, copy, record or disclose the information except for the purpose intended when shared with you. You must not tell or give this information to other GGS Community members (except to employees on a need to know basis). This confidentiality obligation extends beyond the term of your engagement with the School.
Storage of Equipment
Overseas students (particularly those transitioning from Middle School to Timbertop, and Timbertop to Senior School) will often have a significant amount of equipment (skiing and camping) which cannot be taken home over the summer holidays. The School may arrange storage of this equipment for overseas students, it is not expected that a homestay provider is required to do so.
If there is a need for storage at the School, please contact the Overseas Student Manager.