OKC HOMESTAY FAMILY GUIDELINES

HOMESTAY PAYMENTS

 

The fees payable to you for your service as a homestay family.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO APPRECIATE THAT HOSTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS SHOULD NOT BE SEEN AS A FORM OF INCOME.

Your first homestay payment will generally be made approximately 1-2 days before your student’s arrival.  Homestay payments are made in fortnightly installments.

 

Student Placement 

OKC will contact you regarding a homestay student placement offer at your home, providing in writing your student’s details and their course of study information.  You will need to sign and return the attached ‘Reply Letter’ as confirmation of your acceptance of that student.   

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In most cases, the student will be met at the airport and transferred to your home by a representative on behalf of OKC, but occasionally, a student may wish to make his/her own way to your home.  Please ensure a family member (an adult) will be at home to meet and greet your student when your student is transferred to your home.

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On other occasions (for some group tours etc), you may be asked to meet the student at the airport or at a designated meeting point.  For example, group tour students are often met at the airport by a representative of OKC and transferred to the local school that the group will be attending.  Usually, in such cases, host families are asked to meet and pick-up their student from the school the day they arrive and to transfer the student back to school (with their luggage) on the day they leave.

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Depending on the circumstances of the group or the individual student, OKC may be able to make an extra payment to homestay families to cover pick up/ drop off services.  In all cases, you will be advised of these details in advance of accepting the student.

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Your Home
We want our international students to experience life in Australia as a member of  family household, rather than to be treated as a guest from a foreign country.  

Please treat your student as a member of the family while they are with you, although be aware that they will need extra care as they settle in to living in a foreign country.  Please help and encourage your student to speak English and to participate in any family activities.

The following information provides detailed guidelines to give you an idea of what is expected from all OKC homestay families.  We do expect all homestay families to provide for their homestay student in the following ways:

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Bedroom

• Student must have their own room and privacy. Adequately sized bedroom be made available and furnished with:

• a bed with clean pillows and clean bed linen

• a wardrobe 

• a study desk, chair and desk lamp

                   
Please show your student where to sleep and how to use an electric blanket or hot water bottle if necessary.  If possible have a spare blanket within easy reach.

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 All family member(s) must have their own bedroom. However well meaning, it’s not acceptable for you or other family member(s) to sleep in the lounge room and give up their room to the student.

Key

A key to enter the house is given to your student. 

 

Meals and Food

• Please provide breakfast and dinner 7 days a week plus lunch on the weekends. Dinner is most important meal of the day. Please provide nutritious meals for your student.    

• Please provide the same meal that your family usually eats

• Please encourage your student to help with doing dishes or even preparing meals

• Please note that if you are taking your student out for dinner or weekend lunch, this should be treated as a meal at home and paid for by you.

 

Transport
Please teach your student about the bus/train transport to and from school.  This includes ensuring your student buys the appropriate weekly or monthly bus/train pass. 

Please ensure your student attends their course of study everyday.

                                        

Cleaning and tidying up
Please teach bed making at an early stage of your student’s stay.
Please make clear that the room you provide for your student is their own responsibility to keep clean and tidy.

        
Shower or bath
You need to explain and show how your hot water system works.  Tell your student the most convenient time to have a shower or bath for and the maximum time to use the shower. Many Japanese homes have an instant heat hot water system as well as a separate hot water system for the bath and therefore they can tend to use a lot of hot water, so please advise them in advance of any water restrictions related to the shower or bath.  Please explain our way of having a shower or bath.  This includes the way to use the shower door or curtain, taps and bathmat.  

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Laundry
Please wash your student’s clothes together with your family washing unless some other arrangements have been made. For example, some students (especially girls) prefer to wash their own under-clothing.  You could advise where they she can wash and hang her clothes to dry.  Please respect any cultural sensitivity in this area.  Please tell your student when you normally wash bedding.
                               
Use of Internet
We advise our students to purchase SIM cards and use own data to become internet independent.

Internet access for students at homestay is at the discretion of the host family. OKC is not responsible for any Wi-fi used by your student.
Your student will be advised to always ask before connecting to Wi-fi at homestay.

 

Health
Students must obtain Travel & Medical Insurance policies before they leave their own country. 

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When your student needs non-urgent medical treatment, we would appreciate your contacting your family doctor.  The student will pay for the visit and can claim back from their insurance.  If the student is unable to effectively explain their medical condition in English, OKC can provide details of Sydney-based medical centres that provide Japanese language support.  In the case of a medical emergency, either the student or homestay family member can contact the OKC emergency phone contact number.  Please ensure that phone calls made to emergency contact numbers are only related to genuine emergencies.

When your student wants to go out
Please ask where your student is going and contact telephone number and what time and how they will be coming home.

If your student plans to stay out overnight, please ask for a contact name and telephone number.  If the student is under 18 years, please contact our office in the first instance.

Difficulties
If a problem does arise between you and your student, please try to discuss with your student and attempt to resolve the issue.  Please inform OKC of the problem, and OKC can counsel the student, or mediate between the student and host family where necessary.  If the problem proves difficult to resolve, OKC will consider moving the student to another host family, however this action, unless the family is deemed to be at fault, requires either party (host family or OKC) to provide two weeks notice.