Safe, Personal, AEGIS Accredited Homestay and Guardianship in Canterbury
Built on Trust: The Story Behind Home From Home Canterbury
Home From Home Canterbury is an AEGIS-accredited guardianship and homestay service in Canterbury, founded by Becky Stone, a qualified therapist with years of experience supporting children, young people and families. The focus is on genuine care, direct communication and a safeguarding environment built around each individual student.
Essential Questions for Guardianship
Choosing the Right Guardian for Your Child
When selecting an educational guardian for your child, it's crucial to ensure they will provide a nurturing and secure environment. This checklist will guide you through the key considerations to make an informed decision.
Why I Built It
Sometimes it takes experience to truly understand what you believe.
When I first became involved in hosting international students, I brought the same values I carry into my work as a therapist: listen carefully, build trust, create consistency, and pay attention to what young people actually need, not just what the paperwork says they need.
The more embedded I became in the world of student hosting and guardianship support, the more I began to ask bigger questions.
What does genuine safeguarding actually look like in practice?
How is a parent in another country supposed to know whether the organisation caring for their child is truly meeting the standards they have been promised?
And what responsibility does each person in the guardianship chain hold for the welfare of the student at the centre of it?
The more I asked, the more I understood that safeguarding done well is not just about ticking boxes or issuing paperwork. It requires intentional, consistent, human care.
Because behind every form, every confirmation letter, and every policy document is a real young person living far from home, trusting the adults around them to keep them safe.
Not just physically safe. Emotionally safe. Genuinely cared for.
That understanding shaped every decision I made when building Home From Home Canterbury.
Understanding Safeguarding
WHAT SAFEGUARDING LOOKS LIKE IN PRACTICE
Safeguarding is not a logo or a policy document sitting in a folder.
It is a living, ongoing commitment to the wellbeing of a real young person, one who has left their family, their culture, and often their first language behind, and who is placing enormous trust in the adults around them.
Good safeguarding means taking that trust seriously at every stage: during initial conversations with families, throughout the time a student is under your care, during difficult moments, and whenever a student or parent has a question or concern.
In practice, this can mean noticing when a normally talkative student becomes unusually quiet. Checking in after a difficult day at school. Helping a student manage homesickness. Responding when they feel unwell. Communicating promptly and appropriately with parents and schools when something needs attention.
These are not extraordinary gestures. They are simply what genuine care looks like.
Building an environment where students feel safe enough to be honest, to raise concerns, and to settle genuinely into their time in the UK is what good safeguarding practice looks like to me.
Why I decided to build something different
CREATING A NURTURING ENVIRONMENT
Instead of stepping back, I decided to build something better.
That decision became the foundation for Home From Home Canterbury: a small, personal service built around care, transparency, and emotional wellbeing.
Home From Home Canterbury is intentionally small and personally run. Every student is supported directly by Becky, with a strong focus on trust, communication, wellbeing and consistency.
I wanted to create an environment where:
- safeguarding is taken seriously
- communication stays open and honest
- emotional wellbeing matters
- students feel safe, seen, and supported
For me, real safeguarding is not just about policies or compliance. It is about creating a calm, safe, and supportive environment where young people feel comfortable and properly cared for while living away from home.
AEGIS Accreditation
INDEPENDENTLY ASSESSED. AEGIS ACCREDITED.
Understanding 'Home From Home'
Building a Home From Home
Home From Home Canterbury was awarded AEGIS Accreditation on 18th June 2026, confirmed by Edward May, Chair of AEGIS. Our re-inspection is due in June 2028.
AEGIS, the Association for the Education and Guardianship of International Students, is the UK's independent accrediting body for guardianship organisations. Its accreditation process assesses organisations against detailed standards covering safeguarding, student welfare and professional practice.
To achieve accreditation, every aspect of our practice was independently assessed against the AEGIS Quality Standards.
Accreditation is not awarded permanently. Organisations are reinspected to ensure standards continue to be met.
Safeguarding:
- safeguarding and child protection policy meeting current government guidance
- Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) training
- safer recruitment and DBS arrangements
- whistleblowing and Prevent Duty procedures
Student welfare:
- missing student policy with 24-hour contact arrangements
- anti-bullying and online safety guidance
- student safety planning and emergency procedures
- parent, student and homestay handbooks
Professional governance:
- data protection procedures and ICO registration
- insurance arrangements
- complaints procedures
- documented policies and responsibilities
"Home from Home Canterbury meets the required standards to achieve AEGIS accreditation."
Safeguarding should never be treated as a formality when young people are living far from home.
What Staying at Home From Home Canterbury Looks Like
Home From Home Canterbury offers two forms of support for international students.
Students staying in Becky's home during school holidays, exeat weekends and other periods outside of school are welcomed into a calm, family environment where they can rest, settle and feel genuinely at home between terms.
Students receiving guardianship support while living at school have the same direct, personal oversight throughout their time at their school. Becky acts as your child's named UK-based educational guardian, maintaining regular contact with the student, their family and their school.
Becky hosts a maximum of two students at any one time. This is an intentional choice, ensuring that each young person is genuinely known, included in the household and supported as an individual rather than simply accommodated.
This is not a large network of hosts. It is one person, one home, one clear point of contact.
Empowering Students
The name Home From Home Canterbury was chosen very intentionally.
The aim was to create a safe, calm, nurturing environment where students feel welcomed, emotionally supported, and comfortable being themselves while studying in the UK.
Good guardianship and hosting are built on:
trust
consistency
communication
emotional awareness
kindness
transparency
Students deserve stability and support. Schools deserve guardians they can trust to genuinely prioritise student welfare. Parents deserve confidence that their child is safe, supported and genuinely known.
Becky Stone
Becky Stone is the founder of Home From Home Canterbury.
She is a qualified therapist with over 15 years' experience supporting adults, children and young people, including experience working within schools and specialist services for young people.
Becky is the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) for Home From Home Canterbury and holds an enhanced DBS certificate.
Home From Home Canterbury is personally run by Becky. Families communicate directly with her at every stage, and students staying in the home are welcomed into Becky's own home, not placed through a network of unknown hosts.
Home From Home Canterbury was awarded AEGIS Accreditation on 18th June 2026.
Becky intentionally limits the number of students she supports so she can provide personal, consistent care to every family.
WELCOME TO MY HOME
If you are considering homestay or guardianship support for your child and would like to find out whether Home From Home Canterbury is the right fit, you are very welcome to arrange a free discovery call.
Students are always welcome to join the conversation. Finding the right support is about much more than providing a room or signing a form. It is about making sure the environment, the values, and the communication feel right for everyone involved.
There is no pressure and no expectation to commit. The most important thing is finding the right fit.