As every year, AGSEV supports the Mobility program (European Schools Student Exchange) 2024-2025, by engaging families as hosts for the arriving students.
Whilst the school is opening the application procedure for the mobility of future S5 students in 2024/2025, the AGSEV mobility team is getting ready to support arriving students to find a host family for their stay. Below you find an FAQ on hosting, if you consider becoming a host family and would like to have further info, please write to exchanges@agsev.it and we will be in touch!
Useful links:
Interview with AGSEV Mobility volunteer of last year, Dr. Petra Schaaff
European School of Varese Student Exchange site
FAQ – potential host families
Host family
Being a host family is not just about providing board and lodging. You also have two further important functions in relation to the well-being of the pupil and the success of his or her stay.
- Facilitator:
The stay in a host family constitutes a very important part of the pupil’s learning process. Through daily interaction with host parents and siblings, the pupil acquires valuable insights into cultural differences as well as proficiency in a foreign language. It is therefore important that the pupil is not treated as a guest or lodger, but is integrated into family life to the greatest extent possible.
- Parental authority:
The pupil is a young person who may have little or no prior experience of the culture and attitudes of your country. He or she will consequently need your help in relation to many aspects of daily life. This also means providing clear guidelines for his or her behaviour, what is acceptable and what is not, as a parent or guardian would do.
Before agreeing to host/exchange it is highly recommended to have an open conversation on the following topics:
- Location: If students choose Varese, their host family will most probably not live in the city center. The majority of families live far away from school in rural areas, which might lead to complicated logistics regarding activities outside school.
- Accommodation: do you have a dorm for your kids, a separate bedroom to offer, only one bathroom….discuss openly what solutions are possible
- Free time: how can the guest student’s hobbies/activities and the routine of your family be matched
- Money: does the host student want to continue his/her hobbies, do you plan trips: please have an open conversation on the costs, logistics and agree beforehand how to settle these aspects.
- Money hosting only: If you host a student and are not in a direct exchange situation you might consider a contribution to the running costs of your household. Please do discuss this openly upfront – feeding an extra teenager has costs.
- Medical situation: it’s recommended to talk about the health situation (physical and psychological) and insurance of the guest student before hosting and not once an issue arises (JSIS, NATIONAL SCHEME,…)
- Rules: duties and responsibilities, permission and prohibition might vary in between different families, the opener you talk about those things, the less problems will arise. Here is a list of topics that we crossed in the past and that might give you an idea what we are referring to:
- sleepovers
- curfews
- parties
- screentime
- use of public transport in rural areas
- tasks in the household
- general approach towards sweets, soft drinks, meat, alcohol….
School fee
For mobilities there must be no additional cost to the hosting school. Each participating pupil will meet his/her financial obligations (school fees).
However day trips or different books might cause additional costs.
Transport to school
Given the logistics of the European school of Varese, meaning most families being widely spread within the region, transport to school needs to be discussed at an early stage of the process. The Cooperativa Trasporti does accommodate exchange students in their buses, but subscription needs to take place by July. Contracts run for the time of the exchange and are between Cooperativa Trasporti and the family of the guest student. https://www.trasportisev.eu/
Mensa at school
As all students of the European school, guest students can bring their own lunch or eat in the Mensa. If the guest students eats in the Mensa there are two options:
1) The guest student is added to the Melix account of the hosting family and the hosting family gets reimbursed by the parents of the visiting student at the end of the stay, depending on consumption.
2) The family of the guest students becomes a member of the cooperative Mensa and deals directly with the Mensa.