Opening your home and heart to an exchange student can be a life-changing experience. It doesn’t matter if you are a single-parent family, have several children or all of your children have grown up and left home. All you need is excitement and enthusiasm for meeting someone who speaks another language and the unique opportunity to see Australia through the eyes of your exchange student. If you’re wondering what it takes to become a host family, we’ve put together this step-by-step guide to help you.
Benefits of hosting an international exchange student
There are many reasons why people are interested in hosting an exchange student from abroad. When you host a student, you will be able to:
- Learn about other countries and cultures
- Provide a new experience for your own children
- Contribute to the development of a young person from overseas
- Develop international contacts and make friends for life
- Learn another language
You will also be able to provide a supportive environment for an exchange student to learn or improve their English and immerse themselves in Australian culture and customs and our high school system.
Benefits of hosting an international exchange student
Host families are required to support your exchange student. As your student is expected to be treated as part of your family, it’s essential that you create a warm and welcoming environment for them. Be open to acquainting them with family members and friends and including them in family celebrations and activities.
Your exchange student may experience a period of adjustment if it’s their first time overseas. They might feel overwhelmed navigating a new country, understanding different customs and trying different foods. Be patient and assist them with anything they need during this transitional period – whether it’s taking them to the supermarket so they can pick out foods they like or chatting with them so they can practice their English skills and understand local slang.
Process of becoming a student exchange host family
At Students of the World, our host families come in all shapes and sizes. It doesn’t matter if you are a single-parent family, have several children or all of your children have grown up and left home.
Anyone generous enough to open their home and heart to a new family member and be willing to embrace differences in culture and language can host.
We have a simple 5-step process to applying as a host family:
1. Enquire
Submit an expression of interest on our website and we will arrange a time to call you for a chat about hosting.
We can help you work out what kind of hosting arrangement would work best for your household.
2. Apply
Fill out and submit a hosting application form. All residents of your home over the age of 18 will need to hold a valid Working With Children Clearance for volunteers (known as Blue Card in Queensland).
If you don’t already have these clearances, we can assist you to apply for them.
3. Choose a student
Let us know if you have preferences on who you would like to host. Perhaps your family loves French culture and would like to welcome a French student into your home, or maybe one of your children is learning Spanish and would love someone to practise with.
Once we have received your clearances and discussed your preferences with you, we will work with you to choose a student by reviewing our students’ applications, which include letters written by the students to potential host families – one of the favourite parts of our job!
4. School environment
We will organise your student’s enrolment in a local high school – this could be the same school as your chcildren or another local high school. The student’s placement with your family will not be final until they are accepted into a local school.
5. Welcome your student
Once school enrolment is finalised, your student will receive details of their placement with you. At that point, they can contact you, and both of you can start to get to know each other long distance.
We will frequently communicate with you as you prepare to welcome your student. Depending on your student’s arrival date, they may be part of an arrival orientation. In this case, they will come to you at the end of the orientation. When the student arrives, they become a part of your household and begin their life-changing experience in your home
Your responsibilities as a host
All host family members above the age of 18 years old must abide by our Hosting Code of Conduct, which is available on our website.
It is expected that your exchange student will be treated as part of your family, and you assist in orientating them to your home and neighbourhood, as well as set expectations within your home.
As a guide, be sure to cover these topics with your student:
- Australian customs
- How to access public transport (if required) and school buses
- Where to find local amenities (e.g. post offices, banks)
- Family rules and ways of life around the home
Students should have their own bed and own bedroom if possible. If necessary, they can share a bedroom with a sibling of the same gender and similar age, provided both children are comfortable with this arrangement.
You will also be expected to provide the student with meals, so they can have the opportunity to practice their English with your family over mealtime. Students are expected to help with simple chores, follow a curfew and abide by the household rules as you would expect of your own children.
All students have comprehensive medical and travel insurance.
Why host a student through Students of the World?
For over 20 years, we have welcomed students to Australia to experience our unique way of life and culture. We have a helpful, friendly and knowledgeable team who provide you with advice on welcoming an exchange student into your home.
Our international high school students are young people aged between 14 to 18.
They are ready to develop their independence, self-confidence, and maturity, make new friends, improve their English language skills, become part of a new family, and immerse themselves in our unique Australian way of life.
Ready to get started as a host family? Enquire on our website today.