One of our HSP Tutors (programme coordinators), Michelle, is sharing her tasks with you in this blog.

The typical responsibilities of an ISI Dublin HSP Tutor

TUTOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES

Our HSP Tutor serves as a liaison between the student, parents, partners, school and host family. They monitor the ongoing welfare, adjustment, behaviour and health of each student. They provide emotional and informational support, whilst obtaining regular feedback about the student’s current situation, working as an advocate for them, and resolving any issues that may arise.

In addition to developing and providing an orientation and social programme for all ISI High School students, our HSP Tutor meets and greets each individual student on arrival, organising the necessary transfers, and ensuring all the necessary documentation is correct and up to date. They also attend any medical appointments and visa-immigration appointments that may arise, maintaining up to date detailed records, and just generally being as supportive as possible as each individual student’s guardian here in Ireland.

A TYPICAL MONTH

A typical month for our HSP Tutor includes Parent-Teacher meetings, student meetings, doctor, dentist and hospital appointments, in addition to the more fun stuff, like arranging the student’s social programmes for outside of term time. There is also a near constant stream of airport meet and greets and orientation days to attend, in addition to agent and school visits, host family visits, and, of course, the all important homestay vetting.

HANDLING DAILY ENQUIRIES

Day-to-day requests and enquiries that come in from our High School students or their agents are dealt with by our HSP Tutor promptly and in a timely manner, ensuring that each student is aware their issues or concerns are being taken seriously and addressed in real time. Normally to communicate with students the HSP Tutor finds the fastest method to be WhatsApp, whether by phone or text, there is always a prompt reply, and email is used for sending documents, newsletters and reports.

HANDLING UNEXPECTED ISSUES

Dealing with teenagers there will always be unexpected issues and challenges to handle and HSP Tutor finds the best way to deal with these situations is to be calm and logical and stay focused on the student’s welfare, finding out the facts and work through the problem with all parties involved. At ISI Dublin, we have an Out of Hours Emergency Phone that is always manned (24 hrs a day, 365 days a year), so our HSP students are never left in a situation without support.

WEEKLY AND MONTHLY CHECK-INS

Our HSP Tutor communicates with their students on a weekly basis via text or phone call, it’s a simple check-in to see how they are getting on and if they have any issue to report. In addition, our Tutor meets the HSP students when they come to our ISI Parnell campus every Wednesday for a quick catch-up on how things are going with their school and host family, and then there is a monthly one-to-one meeting to discuss, in more detail, what is happening with them all individually now and going forward ,and to see if there is anything at all that they need our Tutor to do for them.

COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS AND PARTNERS

At ISI, communication with partners and parents is always handled with the utmost care and consideration by our HSP Tutor. Parents in particular are they are trusting us with their most precious asset and we remain ever-mindful of this.

TRACKING STUDENTS’ PROGRESS

Each Student’s is monitored very carefully by our HSP Tutor in tandem with their teachers at school and their host family, so that their progress or lack of it is pretty evident and picked-up quite quickly. The weekly check-ins and monthly reports from all concerned often throw up areas for improvement and highlight where help is needed. Then it is all about speaking with the student to see how we can work with them, find out what they need from us, or how we can assist them further.

COLLABORATION WITH SCHOOL AND TEACHERS

Our HSP Tutor collaborates with the student’s school and the teachers there, particularly attending parent teachers meetings for the students on behalf of their natural parents and here you get an idea of how the student is progressing and what additional supports are needed if they happen to be struggling. The teachers at their school are normally very aware of how the student is coping in class so they generally give very constructive criticism, which we can all then act on, to improve the learning experience.

MOST ENJOYABLE ASPECT

Our HSP Tutor really enjoys watching the students blossom once they settle into life here, they arrive a shy teenager with little language skills into a new life which can be very daunting, as, for some, this is the first time that they have been away from home. Little by little however they begin to morph into a more mature individual who can fend for themselves, make friends, live independently and communicate perfectly in another language. This, our HSP Tutor supposes is like watching a butterfly emerge from a chrysalis and it gives them great joy!

ISI’s High School programme was launched in 2001 and since then we have aimed to provide the highest level of care and guardianship to our students. We have won the prestigious Study Travel English Language School Europe Award four times, in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020/2021. ISI became a founding member of the Association of Guardianship Providers in Ireland (AGPI) in 2016 – indicative of our determination to uphold the very highest standards of student guardianship.