Home-stay Accommodation – Student Guide

British Home-stay

Choosing to stay in UK home-stay accommodation with a host family is a great opportunity to experience living in the UK and to practice your English. It is our goal to make sure you are happy during your stay here, remember you are a guest in another persons’ home - please show respect.

Accommodation is within a 35 minute journey to the college using public transport under normal traffic conditions. The college is located in the city centre and, as such, there are few home-stays where you do not have to take a bus.

Accommodation

BLC hosts are diverse, ranging from young people in full-time employment, retired couples, married couples with children and single people. In most houses, both partners work so it is usual for the whole household to help with the household chores (e.g. washing up dishes or setting the table, etc…). You may find that this helps you to fit in with the host. If the host has a pet dog or cat (some have more than one), they are treated as important members of the family; the British are famous for their love of animals! Please leave the bathroom and toilet as clean as you found it. It can be very busy in the morning when host families and other students are getting ready for work or college, so please be considerate about the amount of time you take. A towel will be provided but you are expected to bring your own soap, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner etc. Room The home-stay may be very different from what you are used to, but it is clean and comfortable. You should have hanging and drawer space for your clothes, a mirror, a full size single bed (occasionally a double or bunk bed) and a bedside table and lamp. Where possible, a desk and chair will be in the room. Otherwise, hosts are happy for students to use the dining/kitchen table for homework. Please ask your host if there is somewhere in the house to lock or store your valuables. Your host cleans your room once/week, please keep it tidy and make your own bed. Bed linen is provided and changed on a weekly basis. Please treat your bedroom with care; be careful with ink, make-up, nail polish, or any product that burns or stains. If you have a shared room, you may be sharing a twin room with a student from another country. Sharing a room with a different nationality is a great opportunity to make lifelong worldwide friends and practice English.

Junior Curfews

If you are under 18 years old, there are curfew times (the time that you must arrive home at night) depending on your age:

11 - 12 Years Old = 20:30

13 - 15 Years Old = 22:00

16 - 17 Years Old = 23:00 You must obey these curfews; the college and your host are responsible for you while you are in the UK. Please make sure you always inform your host where you are. If you are going to be home late let your host know. Be considerate and come home quietly and do not forget your house key if you are given one. Make sure you close doors quietly. Do not take a shower or play the radio or TV loudly while everyone is sleeping. Emergencies Your safety in Brighton is very important. The college has a 24-hour emergency phone number if you need to speak to someone at evenings and weekends when the college is closed: BLC EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBER: +44 (0) 7557 77 20 47

Children under 12 All children under the age of 12 years old, living in BLC home-stay accommodation, are under the constant care and guardianship of the accompanying parents, guardians or group leaders whilst living in a host family. Accompanying adults of children under 12 years old in home-stay accommodation take full responsibility for the welfare and safeguarding of the child. Please refer to the ‘Under 12 year old Accommodation Policy’, which can be found on the BLC website.

Keys Most home-stays will give you a set of keys to let yourself in and out of the house. Some hosts may charge you a deposit, which you will get back when you return the keys at the end of your studies. If you are not given your own set of keys, they will make sure someone is at home. Please take care not to lose the keys as you will have to pay to replace the key and maybe even the lock. Telephone Please don't use the host telephone without asking permission. Some hosts may allow you to the occasional local call, but please do not expect this and always ask first. You can buy telephone cards from newsagents or post offices, these allow you to use the phone to make your call but the cost is deducted from your card. Please give your host your mobile number when you arrive. Wi-fi We do not guarantee wi-fi internet access. Some hosts have limited internet access and you may only be able to use the internet for short periods. Some hosts may offer restricted use and will explain how often and for how long you can use it. If your host does not have wi-fi connection at home, the school has wi-fi, or alternatively there are plenty of coffee shops and internet cafés in town.

Meals

British food tends to be simple compared with other world cuisine, but it is healthy and nutritious. In home-stay, both partners may work full-time, so that breakfast (toast, cereal, tea, coffee) may be self-service and evening meals may not always be eaten with the whole household together. Most people in the UK eat dinner between 18:00-19:00. If you cannot eat the food provided then let your host family know, but please be polite. Please do not help yourself to food in the kitchen without asking. Please note that home-stays can offer a non-pork diet, however, host families do not provide halal/kosher food. All dietary requirements must be advised at the time of booking. Any dietary requirements that have not been advised at the time of the booking will incur of £25 charge.

N.B. Please always phone your host family to tell them if you will be late home for dinner, or if you do not require dinner.

Smoking Most hosts will not allow smoking in the house. You may find that some hosts smoke outside themselves, or in only one room; if this is the case, it will be stated on your home-stay confirmation letter. Please respect the request of your host and smoke outside, if this is what they have asked you to do. Laundry Your host will do one load of laundry per week, or include your clothes with their own laundry. Alternatively, they might show you how to use the washing machine, where to hang and dry your clothes. Please do not ask your host to iron your clothes. Damage to Property BLC does not cover the cost of any loss, theft or damage caused by students in a host property. You must offer to pay the full cost of any loss or damage caused to a host family property or belongings. BLC will not be held liable for loss, theft or damage to the property.

Visits by Friends

You must ask permission if you want to bring friends back to your home-stay. If your host permits you to do so, you should always tell when your friend is coming and introduce your host to them. Do not invite your friends into the house if your host is not at home. Your friend must be of a similar age to you and a student at our college. You are not permitted to invite any friends into the home-stay who are not students at our college. All our hosts are aware of this and will ask to see your friends’ student ID card. Your friend is not permitted to stay the night.

Noise

Keep noise to a minimum. Remember noise travels, so if you are watching TV, playing music or talking on the telephone late at night (after 22:00) or early in the morning (before 08:00), please keep the volume low.

Using your home-stay address If you wish to use your home-stay address or telephone number for any reason such as opening a bank account or joining a gym, you must always ask your host first. Leaving your accommodation early Accommodation is reserved until 11:00AM on the Sunday after your course, however extra time may be arranged with prior notice. Changing/Cancelling Home-stay If you wish to change host family, please contact the Accommodation team and you must give at least seven days notice to the college. To terminate your home-stay accommodation a full two weeks’ notice must be given to the college prior to your departure. All changes and cancellations will take effect from Sunday only, and not from midweek – this Sunday will be calculated as the first Sunday after seven days notice. During the busy summer season, it may not be possible to move you into a new home-stay. If for any reason you change host family, the cost of travel to the new host is to be incurred by yourself. A £25 administration fee will apply for changing to a new home-stay. N.B. We do not change students host families based on location – all home-stays are within a 35 minute journey on public transport. Please refer to our cancellation policy on further details for accommodation policy. Private arrangements with host family Private arrangements with your host family are not permitted. If you decide to extend your course and wish to stay with your host, you must come and speak the BLC Accommodation team first.

We can only guarantee your home-stay accommodation for the length of your course if you pay your accommodation fees in full prior to arrival. If you choose to pay only part of your accommodation during your time with us, we cannot guarantee that your host will be available and you may have to move homes. Problems or questions

We hope you have a good time in home-stay accommodation, but if you have any problems please ask to make an appointment with a member of the Accommodation team. Whatever the problem, please tell us so that we can help you and make your stay as comfortable as possible.

Accommodation Team Brighton Language College

June 2015