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Wanted: Friendly hosts to give home to European students at Hillhead High

Hosts are needed to give a home to a group of foreign students due be studying at HIllhead High School.

Do you have a spare room, a welcoming household and a desire to help a young person from a European country settle into life in the West End?

Then MarieClaire McGuinness would like to hear from you before the start of the new school term, when fresh foreign student placements are due to be begin.

She is co-ordinating placements this year for half a dozen young students who are on their way to Hillhead High School to study for the next 10 months.

Studies: Hillhead High School has a very international outlook.

It is the second year that the Hillhead school has welcomed foreign students into its fold, although the number is up on last year.

MarieClaire says Scotland and the West End offer young people a welcoming hand of friendship and hospitality.

According to Educatius, the company behind the programme, the Brexit vote has cast doubt over future programmes but MarieClaire believes Scotland's strong vote in favour of remaining in the EU will encourage future students to still come north of the Border.

"The students are from Denmark, Italy, Germany, and Norway, and they are aged between 16 and 17," said MarieClaire.

"They are all going to the sixth year, apart from one girl who is going into the fourth year, but she will be 16."

Exchange: A number of West End students have studied in Europe as part of the exchange.

She added: "They come over here to do their studies in English at a Scottish school. After the Brexit vote, Scotland can still say that it welcomes European students."

MarieClaire says she gives the students 24/7 support when they are being hosted by their families.

"People don't have to be a standard nuclear family, it can be a gay couple, a single parent, anybody really.

"As long as they have got room, they have got wifi and they treat the foreign students like they would want their own daughters or sons to be treated - even if they don't have any children.

"The children can go back to their homes at Christmas if they want, but they don't have to - some have stayed in Scotland before.

Bond: Many of the placements turn into long term friendships for families.

"I should say that host families are paid £400 a month to accommodate a student, so there is financial support as well."

She added: "Hillhead High has a very international open mind thanks to their head teacher Willie White.

"They are part of the Confucius Centre at Glasgow University and they go to China quite a lot."

MarieClaire said several West End students had been hosted by European schools as part of the return exchange.

Support: Educatius provides 24/7 support for students and hosts.

Michele Harrison is Educatius' commercial director based south of the Border.

She thinks the Brexit fallout will change things for exchange programmes like the one run by her company.

"My gut feeling is that students will choose to go to Ireland instead as a more economically priced option. Ireland is very similar to Scotland in many ways.

"The European clients we deal with see both countries as being open-minded and willing to embrace everything "European" in a warm, honest, positive way.

Income: Host families are paid £400 a month to help towards living costs of students.

"Our students tend to choose Scotland (in our case Glasgow) as a perfect destination for their programme not only due to their interest in Scottish culture and history, but also because of the warm welcome they receive from their hosting schools and families.

"Sadly, whether or not students will still choose to come to Scotland in notable numbers in the future will depend upon Scotland's position in the EU."

Anyone interested in hosting a student should contact either MarieClaire 07747 563 978 or Michele Harrison 07747 114 003

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