Taking in foreign exchange students... official MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

PasturesNew wrote: »

I organised a lot of these host families last year.

6 trips. French kids, aged 13-18. One French "organiser", one French driver, 3-4 teachers.

Each coach came from a single school, so the kids knew each other and had chosen which of their mates they were going to be with in the host homes.

Kids had to be placed in 2s or 3s. It was not possible to ever take a single child.

As for the adults, the teachers could not stay at the same address as the children. The organiser and driver should be separate from the teachers. If the organiser and driver were the same sex they could share a room.

So if you aren't keen on putting up kids, then when you see adverts for host families, check out if you can take in the adults. However, there are a few extra things to think about if you're taking in the adults.

e.g. As the organiser, I liked it best when the driver/organiser/teachers could walk to the bus from where they were staying. This meant they weren't reliant on getting a lift from the host family. It also meant they were all first on the bus and last off - I thought "good for kid control" .... but I hadn't banked on French kids being like they are.... they were perfectly behaved. And polite. They'd greet each other with a handshake. Not like Brit kids, all scruffy, kicking each other, shouting and running around. None of that!

The "pay" was about £13/night for kids. About £15.50/night for adults.
Trips were usually 4 nights long. So "earnings" would be:

kids: £13x4x3 - four nights, three kids = £156
adults: £15x4x3 - four nights, three adults = £180

For that you had to provide:
Breakfast, with a hot drink
Packed lunch of: 2 filled rolls, piece of fruit, chocolate bar/cake, soft drink
Evening meal: 2 courses
Lift to/from the coach pick up point each morning/evening (walking up to 1 mile was acceptable). Coaches left by 8.20 and got back about 7pm

So ... it's worthwhile looking into this if you can. Find out what the rules/deal is in your local area. I even had people driving up to 15 miles to pick up the kids and drop them off each day - for them it wasn't about the money - it was about their own kids mixing with French kids.

If you've only got one single bedroom ... then still phone if you think you could offer a bed to one of the adults. You never know what needs the host organiser has - and it's different each trip. I had one where I had one male teacher and 3 female teachers. Always tricky placing one male teacher as he couldn't share (by the rules I was using) with the driver/organiser.

Every school is different. There are long and short trips. Every trip organiser company work to completely different rules, with different nationalities, requirements and expectations. So give the adverts a call and see what their deal is!