Host Family

A host family is a household that has been carefully selected for students to live during their stay in Ireland. They will be the student’s Irish family during their stay. We ensure the accommodation is suitable by conducting house visits and all adult family members are Garda (Police) vetted. Many of our host families have been with us for over a decade.

Thank you for taking an interest in becoming a host family, please contact us by phone on 087 7663437 or email info@greystoneslanguageschool.ie to begin the process.

A member of our team will be in contact with you shortly. Before we can accept you as a host family we will get you to fill out our application form, set up a house visit and fill out Garda Vetting forms for anyone in the household over the age of 18 years old.

As a host family it is important to treat your student as part of the family. This involves, including them in family activities, having dinner with your student in the evening, supporting their English learning by speaking with them and encouraging them to practice. You should ensure the student is given 3 meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Students should never be left alone to look after themselves, this is important to protect the students, the family and the home. If a student comes to you with any activity that was not planned by the school that you are unsure about please contact us. It is important to keep open communication with us. If you ever have any concerns please contact us on 087 7663437.

It is not necessary to have children living at home in order to host one of our students. We regularly get requests for a wide variety of family structures. If you have an interest in becoming one of our host families please contact us on 087 7663437 or info@greystoneslanguageschool.ie

This varies based on the agencies we work with. It is our policy, unless specifically requested by the agency, not place any student into a house with a student of the same nationality. We have students from many countries come to us each year. If you have room for more than one student please be sure to let us know!

We match students and host families based on the requests we get from our students and the information our host families have provided us. We try to get a perfect match each time!

Some students can find coming to Ireland nerve wrecking, as it is the first time a lot of students are travelling without their families. As such it is important to be sensitive to the students needs. Encouraging your student to be part of the family in the house instead of staying in their room is key. Showing your student how to get to school, the town etc. can help put them at ease. Please have patience with them as it can be a mixed bag of emotions on the first few days until they settle.

The duration of stays can vary. Our mini stays are often 5-10 nights. During the Summer the stay could be 2-4 weeks and our academic students are here for the academic year.

Please contact us if an unexpected event is happening during your students stay. Students should never be left unaccompanied in the house for the protection of the student, family and home.

Yes, you are expected to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner for your student. . Breakfast should consist of cereal, toast and tea or coffee. You should give them a packed lunch each day they go to school; on Saturdays if they are going on a tour; and on departure day. Packed lunches should consist of Sandwich/drink/fruit/crisps. Students are to be given a dinner each evening. Students shouldn’t eat dinner alone as this is meant to be family meal time. If for any reason you are unable to have dinner with your student, for example if they return late from an excursion, please keep them company while they have dinner.