AEGIS Standard Spring 2025

SOPHIE LINDSAY

Director of School Memberships & Marketing, AEGIS

When I was lucky enough to join AEGIS nearly four years ago, I was thrilled to come and work for this wonderful charity, but I don’t think I realised quite how this new role would inspire and reward me in equal measure. I have always been drawn to jobs with a ‘soul’, and the progression from the art world, to teaching, to guardianship, to the charity AEGIS, has felt entirely logical. Moreover, I have been a boarding school child of overseas parents, and then an overseas parent to children at boarding school in the UK, so I am totally invested and informed when it comes to the international student experience.

As soon as I returned to the UK from living overseas, I became an Area Manager for one of the largest, busiest AEGIS accredited guardianship organisations, looking after my students while facing all the extraordinary challenges that brings – including through the COVID period. This all matters, because when I speak to schools about guardianship, I am not just advising them from a position of abstract theory and policy, I am speaking from direct experience.

AEGIS is a quite extraordinary and unique force in the sector. Since 1997, it has been the lone independent voice battling for better standards in guardianship; navigating and overcoming the pitfalls of vested interests and apathy. It is remarkable that by tireless lobbying, giving evidence at the IICSA inquiry, maintaining the pressure for mention in the NMS of guardianship, and working with guardians, schools, Local Authorities and DfE, this small independent voice has achieved so much. Now it would appear that UKVI are taking note of guardianship, and as we did with DfE, we will work to encourage clear guidance, and straightforward compliance for our members.

As Director of School Memberships, helping schools to navigate guardianship and comply with the evertightening guidance is a priority for me. I speak to our member schools daily as they hone their policies and procedures, or they might simply contact me to troubleshoot a thorny issue. They know they can call on me however big, small, or outlandish the problem might be. I am constantly struck by our members’ determination not just to achieve compliance, but to go that extra mile to support their international students to the best of their ability, and invest in the happiness of these children.

AEGIS is truly independent, but through our accreditation system we also have a unique insight into the concerns and mindset of guardians and we are able to share this as a valuable resource with our schools. One of my key aims has been to capitalise on the incredible knowledge and skillsets we have among our guardians to give schools an understanding of guardianship they would not otherwise have access to. Sitting between schools and guardians, AEGIS is in the ideal position to encourage better collaborative working. Failure of the various parties to work together effectively is after all, often at the root of major safeguarding failures.

I know our member schools well at this point, and this year, particularly with the pressure of VAT, their lives are busier than ever. We feel that on-tap advice, swift help in emergencies, easy resources and a manageable number of carefully chosen training sessions targeting the precise needs of the day, are what our members want and need.

We love working with our member schools and are hugely grateful for the support they show for AEGIS, and their commitment to the welfare of the international students who form such a vital part of their school communities.