OVERSEAS EXCHANGE STUDENT LOCAL COORDINATORS WANTED ALL OVER QUEENSLAND!
About this opportunity
WEP coordinators are an invaluable and a highly appreciated part of the student exchange experience. Their role is multifaceted and includes:
-Providing local support to host families and exchange students
-Monitoring student adjustment and assimilation into their Australian families and schools
-Creating interest in the program in your community
-Interviewing host families
-Interviewing outbound students
As long as you care for the students and provide support you can be as involved as you like. We'd love to possibly have you involved with...helping with school presentations, promoting the program through local community groups, showing exchange students your part of the world but if you're happy with interviewing a potential host family and touching base once a month then that's great too! We provide training on all facets of student exchange and mentoring youth.
Who are the host families?
WEP host families are unpaid volunteers from all walks of life and from every region in Victoria. They are welcoming, curious and excited to have the opportunity for new experiences. They are people who would like to discover another culture, another way of life and traditions, and enjoy seeing Australia through the eyes of their exchange student.
**Who are the exchange students? **
WEP exchange students are young people between the ages of 15 and 18 who want to experience a new culture, build their character and increase their maturity levels by learning to adapt and integrate into a way of life unique and different from their own.
They are students who think seriously about their future and who want to learn our language through daily usage.
The students who arrive in our country have deliberately made the choice to come and live here. Despite a multitude of possible choices, Australia is where they have chosen to undertake their exchange. It is our culture they wish to learn more about and it is up to us to help them do so.
Imagine;
-Having a photo taken and sent overseas of a meal you have prepared, because it looks so different!
-Knowing someone who is amazed that we can travel for hours and still be in the same state of one country!
-Being part of a young person’s life as they rapidly learn about the subtle differences between people and cultures!
-Together, families, local coordinators and students discover that, although vast and multifaceted, the world is filled with people sharing similar hopes, dreams and concerns for the future.
What is a Local Coordinator?
WEP’s unpaid volunteer Local Coordinators come from all walks of life. You may have worked with children before or not, you may have children or not, you may live anywhere near an exchange studeny, you may be a young person or an older person.
WEP Local Coordinators need to be a minimum 25 years old.
As a Local Coordinator we're looking for people to;
-Ensure the student knows the program rules of WEP Australia.
-Visit the host family home and provide reports to WEP.
-Keep in regular contact with the exchange student and host family.
-Provide support when and if needed to the host family and student.
-Maintain patience with your student, particularly in the beginning as the student adjust to a new lifestyle.
Please know, the WEP office is always available to support you. In the case of an emergency, both you, the host family and the student will be able to call our 24-hour emergency phone that will be answered by a staff member.
What are the next steps?
Call 1300 884 733 to request further information or check our website for more details on hosting. We'd love to have a chat with you!
Additional requirements
Working with Children Check *.
Working with these host families and students can be undertaken when it suits you.
Suitable for- Families with Children
- People with disability
- Skilled Volunteers
- Companionship & Social Support
- Counselling & Help Line
- Tour Guides, Information & Heritage
- Tutoring & Coaching
We love and value our local coordinators! WEP provides continuous training, a team of other Local Coordinators who meet up regularly and a supportive, empowering tribe of WEP employees, returned students and other local coordinators.
ReimbursementAlthough a volunteer role, WEP coordinators are reimbursed for expenses. Importantly, coordinators enjoy the opportunity to share the experiences of e