Update on Guardianship Standards
With growing numbers of international students in UK boarding schools, Guardianship is gaining visibility within the industry and at government level. The Department for Education is placing increasing emphasis on Guardianship and with the revisions to the DfE’s National Minimum Standards for Boarding, which are anticipated later in 2019, there is every reason to believe that Guardianship will be referenced. Higher guardianship standards are to be promoted, and schools will be encouraged to work closely with AEGIS-accredited guardianship companies.
It is expected that schools will have to take more responsibility for the whereabouts of their pupils during the whole of their time in the UK, not just during term times but during the holidays and weekends too. Every student in the care of Pippa’s Guardians has a comprehensive host family and travel schedule, coordinated and arranged by our Head Office team, so we are already providing a valuable level of structure and support for schools. Well in advance of every exeat, half term and school holiday, we inform parents, children and schools of the pupil’s exact travel arrangements. This plan includes host family details and how the pupil is travelling to their house, or if they are flying out of the UK, we provide timings of taxis or buses to the airport. The same arrangements are confirmed ready for their return to the UK after the holidays. In short, we already have procedures in place to account for pupils’ whereabouts, and we’re looking forward to working even more closely with boarding schools to ensure they meet minimum standards.
Any additional legislation within a largely unregulated industry can only be good news for everyone involved, and here at Pippa’s Guardians we welcome any changes which will prioritise pupil welfare.
Regional Managers Visit Hong Kong
Pippa’s Guardians Regional Managers, Ceri and Elaine have just returned from a productive and successful (if exhausting) trip to Hong Kong. The purpose of the visit was to attend an event organised by Britannia Studylink, and to meet with parents, families and agents, in order to introduce Pippa’s Guardians and explain the services offered. First on the agenda, was the Britannia Studylink conference, where British schools were hosted, as well as guardianship companies, English courses and summer schools. During the day, Ceri and Elaine were certainly popular and spoke to over 50 families. That evening and the next day was spent meeting more families, both those whose children are currently looked after by Pippa’s Guardians, and many parents who are considering guardianship in the future. For Ceri and Elaine, this part of the trip was particularly rewarding as they had the opportunity to meet with some parents and reassure them that Pippa’s Guardians looks after all children as if they were our own. Their final day was packed with further appointments with agents all over Hong Kong.
Though they were incredibly busy with meetings, Ceri and Elaine managed to enjoy a couple of hours’ free time, visiting The Peak, and taking the Star ferry to look at the skyline from the water. It gave them an insight into the city, and they would love to have seen more. They were also shown amazing hospitality by families who met them at the airport, treated them to wonderful meals out, collected them to go out sightseeing, gave them a celebration cake and dropped them back at the airport. Ceri and Elaine were overwhelmed by their kindness and generosity.
Elaine sums up the trip: "It was a whirl-wind tour but very worthwhile. I feel I have a better understanding of what new parents need to know when they are considering guardianship, how our agents operate, and also further insight in to what it is like for our students, some of whom do that gruelling journey 12 times a year!”
The trip was undoubtedly a success as seen in the number of new registrations and enquiries for the coming academic year.
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Oxbridge Success
Caja Gobel is celebrating the offer of a place at Cambridge University. Currently studying for the IB at Bryanston School in Dorset, Caja is delighted that she will be off to Murray Edwards College to study Linguistics later this year. She is studying German, French and Spanish already and clearly has a talent for foreign languages, however she is now keen to look at where languages come from, how they work and how they have evolved. Although Caja initially knew very little about Linguistics, she talked to a friend who is studying it, and then decided to read more on the subject and realised that it was something she wanted to explore further at degree level.
After a tough selection process, Caja finally received the good news from Cambridge in January: "The day I got my offer I actually felt really awful because everyone else applying to Cambridge from my school had already heard by lunchtime if they got in or not, while I only got my email in the late afternoon. I was super happy when I heard from them and I got really excited and we had a little celebration in my boarding house the following night”.
Caja has a demanding few months ahead of her now in order to get the grades she needs. Good luck from us all at Pippa’s Guardians, and huge congratulations on your offer!
Christmas Party
The Cotford Hotel in Malvern was the venue for the Pippa’s Guardians Christmas Party, which took place in December. Ben Hughes, MD, kindly invited the whole staff to this wonderful hotel, where they enjoyed a fun and festive evening. The evening began with photos in front of the Christmas tree in the Piano Lounge, with three generations of the Hughes family: Ben’s mother Pippa, who is the founder of Pippa’s Guardians, Ben and his wife Louise, and their two young children.
The party was then over for the youngest guests, as more photos were taken of the entire staff, and they then progressed through to the award-winning L’amuse-Bouche Restaurant to be served a delicious three-course dinner. After that, Ben gave his thanks to the staff and expressed his pride at how the business is flourishing. There were awards to long-serving employees from Ben and then Ceri and Elaine, the Regional Managers took the opportunity to thank their Area Managers and show their appreciation to the office team. Some amusing awards were also presented to other well-deserving staff members who had been nominated by their colleagues. The party spirit continued with a Secret Santa, a festive and fun idea from Ceri and Elaine to round off the evening and share presents with colleagues. The whole evening was a resounding success and special thanks go to Imogen Trevethan for organising the festivities with such enthusiasm and attention to detail. As she gave reminders of the order of events and a countdown to the evening, her enthusiasm was contagious, and everyone enjoyed being caught up in the excitement. The evening also gave the team a great opportunity to come together and enjoy the relaxing environment away from phones and emails! Many thanks to Ben for his generosity in hosting a fantastic evening.
Pippa’s Guardians welcomes new Area Manager for Kent
Pippa’s Guardians is delighted to welcome their new Area Manager, Tessa Kent, to the team. Tessa will be looking after children in the Kent area, and is already getting to know all the students and schools in her region. Having been educated in an independent boarding school herself, Tessa has a very good understanding of the environment and excellent education that her pupils enjoy, and she will be encouraging them to embrace all the activities on offer to make the most of their time in their UK schools. At the same time, she understands what it can be like for boarding school pupils to be a long way from home, in a different country and learning a new language, and she is looking forward to supporting them fully in their education here.
During her career Tessa has always worked with young people in a mentoring role, in both their education and working lives. Most recently she has helped young people adjust to major changes and has supported them with their decision-making, so she is well-suited to working with children during their school time here. She and her husband also have also been a host family, and they have enjoyed sharing their home with many young international students over the last nine years. Having hosted herself, Tessa is in the ideal position to find families who can provide a welcoming, caring environment for children during exeats and school holidays.
Pippa’s Guardians’ Managing Director visits Asia
Pippa’s Guardians’ Managing Director, Ben Hughes and his wife, Louise, have recently returned from a trip to Asia. With meetings in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Chengdu, the couple certainly managed to cover many miles and pack in plenty of appointments in their ten-day visit.
In all four cities, Ben gave presentations about the company and guardianship, and he enjoyed meeting agents and parents who are already using Pippa’s Guardians services. An important element of the trip was to promote the company and strengthen the good relationships, as well as to find potential new clients who are looking for guardianship in the UK. Pippa’s Guardians is already well-regarded amongst local agencies and consultants, and this looks set to continue next year. A high level of service has always been one of the company’s strengths and this is recognised with all the parties it already works with. Ben was very pleased to receive consistently encouraging feedback and is proud of the reputation he and his team have built up over the years, saying:
The part that I enjoyed the most was meeting with various existing parents and agents and receiving such positive feedback. We really are so well received in Asia and quite simply making a difference for our overseas families.
Meanwhile, Louise gave presentations on the summer school and enjoyed meeting local parents’ groups and schools. After a successful summer school last July, she was in a strong position to explain what a fantastic opportunity this offers their children. Pippa’s Guardians is proud of its unique summer school because alongside providing engaging English lessons, it also gives international children a valuable insight into the British way of life. Based on the positive feedback received last summer and the interest showed by parents in China in October, we are expecting high demand for the programme being offered in July and August 2019.
Overall, it was a thoroughly worthwhile trip for Ben and Louise and they are already planning the next one for early 2019.
Annual Conference
The annual conference for Pippa’s Guardians staff was held in August at the Abbey Hotel in Malvern. In addition to the informative workshops and talks, it was also a chance for all the regional teams to come together and for new staff to be introduced and welcomed.
After an introduction and overview of the company by MD Ben Hughes, the first talk was on E-safety. Karl Hopwood covered this very important topic, bringing awareness of the changes and current trends in the use of social media, and providing strategies to help keep our students safe online. The next talk was by Evie Kitt on Academic Mentoring, in which she explained how pupils thrive academically when given close, tailored support. Pippa’s Guardians has two mentors who play an important role in checking progress and ensuring pupils are achieving their full potential.
The second day kicked off with a Mental Health Workshop run by Olive Branch Consultancy. Everyone wondered what was in store when shown a selection of random objects and asked to describe the challenge of their role through one of these. Russian dolls, a Christmas tree, a basket of eggs, toy figures and a globe were all used most imaginatively! After describing some of the mental health issues affecting young people today, the presenters Esther Usiskin-Cohen and Mandy Sarankin then gave some practical techniques and tips for supporting students. It was an extremely informative and enlightening morning.
The whole team left the two-day conference having learnt some valuable strategies to deliver the best possible care to the young people they look after and feeling fully prepared and excited to start the new academic year in September.
Summer Camp July 2018
In July Pippa’s Guardians welcomed 27 Chinese pupils on its summer camp held at the Elms School near Malvern. With daily English lessons, children were able to improve their language skills in the classroom, whilst also having the opportunity to learn about British culture.
Many exciting activities were on offer giving the children a useful and interesting insight into the history and traditions of Britain. A trip to Harry Potter World and to the London Eye were undoubtedly highlights for most, but there was also plenty to see locally, such as visits to a castle and a cathedral.
The Elms School is set in the heart of the English countryside and gave children the chance to take part in a variety of fun activities, from horse riding to walking dogs and pigs! Away from the school’s farm, the other facilities could be enjoyed out on the sports field or inside doing music and drama. There was plenty of interest from local English children too, who jumped at the chance to join in with some of the activities and new friendships were quickly formed. Language barriers are so quickly overcome when you’re on the same sports team or singing songs together, as our delightful pupils showed us.
To help immerse the children fully in British culture, they stayed with our caring host families who welcomed them into their homes and gave them an insight into everyday life and customs in the UK. As most of the families have children themselves, it was perfect for the Chinese pupils to make more friends and slot into family life.
After two action-packed, inspiring weeks, it was over all too quickly and the Chinese pupils returned home full of happy memories and with many new friends.
Pippa's Guardians Welcomes New Area Managers for West Midlands and South East
Pippa’s Guardians are delighted to welcome Georgina Morgan and Claire Cross, joining us as Area Managers for the South East and the West Midlands respectively.
Georgina attended the University of Cape Town to study Economics, followed by a post graduate in Logistics, and after graduating, she came to London to work on a visa and also travelled. While here, she met and married Simon, also a Zimbabwean living abroad, and had a rewarding career within an investment company until she started her family. As her children progressed to secondary school she developed a small business running motivational workshops at Prep Schools, inspiring young children to identify their individual strengths and talents and empowering them to confidently articulate these qualities. Researching and developing this concept has enabled Georgina to enhance her passion of ‘making a difference’ to the lives and prospects of children and she bring this to her role as an Area Manager with Pippa’s Guardians.
Georgina said;
'I have compassion for family members living apart and am passionate about making your child’s boarding school experience a positive one. I fully understand what it is like to be a boarding school pupil and a long way from home and am here to support your son or daughter and your family as you start this exciting new adventure here in the UK.'
Claire began her career in Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service working as crew manager in the emergency control room for twenty-seven years, during which time she handled many different emergencies from national security threats, through to small animal rescues, so she has a real empathy for how stressful situations impact lives. In 2013 she decided it was time to change career and she took on the role of matron at an independent boarding school in Cheltenham working in a boys’ sixth form boarding house. Meeting new parents, leaving their children at boarding school of en for the first time, helped Claire understand the importance of regular, knowledgeable and caring communication.
Claire said;
'I know how vital it is to build good relationships from the start so you, as their parent, are reassured and confident your child’s wellbeing is my priority and they are being cared for as they would be at home. For your son or daughter, making new friends, speaking a second language and adapting to a different country, home and classroom environment can be a daunting time. However, I will be there to support and encourage your child, during their time at school and with our host families, to ensure their life here is exciting, challenging and rewarding.'
Ben Hughes, Pippa’s Guardians MD, said: ‘Claire and Georgina's unique experiences and understanding of both international education and global family makes them dynamic and resourceful newcomers to Pippa’s Guardians; we’re looking forward to working alongside them and warmly welcome them to our team.'
Pippa's Guardians' Young Musical Talent Wins Wind Prize
At Shrewsbury School this spring nearly 50 pupils took part in the annual Wind Prizes, adjudicated by celebrated clarinettist, saxophonist and flutist Paul Saunders. Saunders plays regularly in the West End on Wicked and has recently been appointed as Multi instrumental Consultant at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and this year awarded nine Wind Prizes to various musical talents across Shrewsbury School's year groups.
Pippa's Guardians would like to congratulate Edward Hou on his success; Edward is currently studying in the 4th form and is looked after and supported in his musical endeavours by Regional Manager Helen Edginton. Edward was awarded the Highly Commended Prize for his saxophone piece, and has since upgraded his saxophone to a Yanagisawa AW01 to continue improving upon this achievement.
Well done Edward!