Safeguarding in Homestays: The Often-Overlooked Risk in International Schools

By Sian Jorgensen and Rosie Waterson – Encompass Safeguarding Ltd

Not all students go home to family at the end of the school day.

In international schools around the world, a growing number of students live in homestay arrangements — living with adults who are not their parents or legal guardians. Sometimes this is a formal part of the school’s enrolment offer, used to extend the catchment area. Other times it emerges informally, driven by family logistics, immigration constraints, or economic need.

But regardless of how the arrangement comes to be, one fact remains: when a student is in a homestay, your safeguarding responsibility doesn’t stop at the school gates.

A safeguarding lead recently described to me a moment that changed how they viewed homestays. A student had been staying with a "family friend" in order to attend their school. Everything seemed fine — until the student disclosed, in a roundabout way, that she’d been left alone all week while the host family went to visit relatives and that they’d asked a male relative to check on her but he made her feel very uncomfortable, so she locked herself in the bathroom whenever he visited.

No contract, no vetting, no oversight. Just a vulnerable child trying to keep her place at school. It wasn’t criminal. But it wasn’t right.

Too often, homestay arrangements are treated as private matters, even though they directly affect a student’s safety, wellbeing, and access to education. These blurred lines can leave students unsupported, vulnerable and schools legally and ethically exposed.

Unlike boarding, where schools typically have formal systems in place — staffing, policies, supervision — homestays often sit in a grey area. Many schools don’t track how many of their students are in homestay situations, let alone who they’re staying with or under what conditions.

Yet the risks are real:

• Isolation and neglect if the student is not properly supported

• Inappropriate living conditions that go unnoticed

• Difficulty in reporting concerns, particularly if the homestay is informal or unofficial

Students in these settings may present as tired, withdrawn, or overly compliant. They may overuse school facilities — arriving early, staying late — because it feels safer or more stable than their temporary ‘home’.

It’s easy for homestays to fall outside a school’s formal safeguarding structure. No one intends for a student to be placed at risk — but in the absence of clear systems, risk grows quietly.

Recognising and engaging with homestay arrangements is not an optional extra. It’s part of your duty of care.

That means:

• Asking questions when students move from boarding to day without explanation

• Creating agreements with homestay providers that clarify roles and expectations

• Training staff to recognise when something doesn’t feel quite right

• Listening when students give you subtle signs that things aren’t working at home

Where to start? Start by acknowledging that homestays are part of your safeguarding landscape, whether officially recognised or not. Then map what you do (and don’t) know. Which students are in homestays? How are those arrangements vetted, monitored, or supported?

From there, it’s about building systems that ensure students in homestays are as protected as those in your boarding house or classrooms.

At Encompass Safeguarding, we help schools assess, build, and strengthen their safeguarding response around homestays — from vetting and policy development to training and ongoing support.

Because whether a student lives on campus, with family, or in a spare room across town, they deserve the same standard of care.

Want to take the next step?

We support schools to:

• Develop robust homestay safeguarding policies

• Train inspection teams and homestay providers

• Empower students to report concerns safely

• Navigate concerns with clarity and confidence

Reach out to us at info@encompass-safeguarding.com to discuss how we can support your school.