Urgently sought Host Families for Visitors from France

There is still an urgent need to find host families for students visiting from our Sister School, St Benoit (Angers) in France who will be touring Australia and staying at Damascus from 3 -15 March 2024. The majority of visiting students have been allocated; just need three more.

The relevant dates for prospective Host Families are as follows:

Sunday 3 March 2024 St Benoit Students arrive at Damascus College. They would need to be collected from the College by their Host Family at a very early morning hour.

Friday 15 March 2024 St Benoit Students depart from Damascus College at approximately midday to travel to Tullamarine Airport to complete their Australian Experience in Sydney.

As the Labour Day weekend (9-11 March 2024) falls in the middle of the time that the St Benoit Students will be in Ballarat, we ask that families consider this when volunteering to be a Host Family and be willing to include their visiting Student in all aspects of their family life, including family holidays. It might be more ideal to consider this if you were not planning any family holidays over the long weekend.

Due to the ages of our visiting Students, we are seeking expressions of interest from families with Students who will be in Years 9 and 10 in 2024 (current Year 9 and 10 Students). It is not a requirement that your Student is currently studying French. In fact, it would be very desirable that the visiting Students enjoy a truly diverse experience whilst in Australia. To adhere to child safety regulations, aged over 18 will need to have a WWC (working with children) clearance. The visiting student will require a bedroom to themselves. This might require other residents in the home to sacrifice some of their own space for two weeks, if space is an issue.

Please email Finn Augustin at f.augustin@damascus.vic.edu.au if you would like to offer or have any questions about offering your support.