An introduction to Bright World Guardianships and our Programme
Bright World Guardianships is a medium sized company run by Lana Foster and James Foster, based in Hurstpierpoint. Leanne Poole is our Travel Manager and Su Warren is our Director of Guardianships. Bright World Guardianships’ Mission is to keep our students safe while they are here and to improve the quality of our service and standards as we grow:
“Bright World is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.”
We act as ‘guardian’ to overseas students studying as full boarders at UK boarding schools. We offer them the promise of safe travel to and from airports with drivers who we have hand-picked, and who are known to us to be reliable, professional, properly presented, who are kind and thoughtful and who have properly maintained, clean cars and who are safe drivers.
Overseas parents are always reassured when we have sent them a full colour profile of the driver who is collecting them along with their mobile number and a short introduction to them. It makes them and the students much less anxious about the journey.
Taxi companies or individual drivers, who work with us, will need to comply with and agree to the guidelines below:
Safeguarding
We are committed to safeguarding student welfare and undertake rigorous checks on all who work with us. We have a clear Safeguarding and Child Protection strategy. By signing the charter, you are agreeing to the suitability of your drivers for safely transporting Bright World students. This means that you have checked and verified from original documents that each driver has an enhanced DBS check, has provided you documentary proof of the entitlement to work in the UK (where relevant), has no medical condition or illness which would affect their role as an accredited taxi driver and has a current taxi driving licence.
This also means that we would require you to inform us of any reasons why you might question their suitability to work with children should an incident occur after you have introduced them to us. This would include reasons such as you know the driver has been disqualified from working with children. By signing the Transfer Company and Drivers’ Charter you are confirming that you would never knowingly allow an unsuitable driver to drive one of our students, and you understand that providing false information may be an offence and could result in a referral.
Instructions and notes for drivers picking up our students
Taxi companies or individual drivers, who work with us, will need to comply with and agree to the guidelines below:
Driver Profile and Photograph
For any driver to join our network we will require a photo, name and mobile phone number, email address and a very short profile of each driver who will be transporting our students with a copy of their badge, licence and current enhanced DBS disclosure. These are checked and verified by Bright World and details of expiry date are securely held on a confidential database accessed only by Head Office Staff. By introducing drivers to Bright World as part of your network, you will be agreeing to vouch for their suitability to drive our international children safely and securely as detailed above.
Bookings and confirmations via our portal, BLink
Our bookings are sent to you by email and you are required to confirm the journey, the price and the driver within 48 hours of receipt.
We rely heavily on the driver checking at this point and, on the day of pick up, that the flight exists and we have the correct time and that it is not delayed or cancelled. We also rely on the fact that the company has a well- organised booking system to minimise mistakes.
Taxi companies are responsible for confirming availability for requested transfers via ‘BLINK for Taxis’. Once taxi companies confirm details then the confirmation email automatically sends to the relevant parties. Taxi companies should enter:
• A Bright World approved taxi driver
• A quoted price for the transfer
Taxi companies can’t confirm a transfer request if:
• The student has insufficient funds to cover the cost (BLink will produce an alert if this is the case when you put in your quoted price.
• The driver needs to be changed from the original designated driver.
In these circumstances the transfer company should notify the travel department who will be able to manually input the driver name. A driver change should only happen for an Unaccompanied Minor (UM) transfer in an emergency. The transfer company should either keep the same driver for the UM transfer, or notify us as soon as possible due to related paperwork changes for the client.
Prices
We ask for pre-agreed prices to be set with us for particular journeys, i.e. to and from Heathrow, to and from Gatwick, Luton and other UK airports. We accept that you may wish to charge a waiting charge for any extra time or escorts to terminal, this is usually around £15.00 per hour. We require parking to be included in the quotation. For ad-hoc journeys we also need a quotation prior to the job. Prices should be input by yourselves on BLink and we should be informed of any changes. Prices should be inclusive of VAT and if they are not we will not be able to pay it as the price you enter is the price we quote to the client and it cannot be changed unless there are waiting charges or valid extra. Each individual Ad Hoc journey for which we do not have a price set must be quoted and submitted on confirming the journey. These journeys should also include VAT.
Cancellations
Bright World will endeavour to inform the transfer company in the case of delays or cancellations. Bright World will pay cancellation fees on behalf of their clients in the following circumstances only if the transfer company has not received a cancellation email and;
- the driver has arrived at the airport and the student is a no-show
- the driver has already left home or the transport office when the cancellation is made
Taxi Checks
Prior to any ‘event’ such as an arrival, departure or half term, a member of the Bright World staff will send you a report two days prior to the event and will then call you to run through the jobs. We ask for your patience and cooperation with these checks as they are an important part of our checking mechanism and have proven in the past to minimise and eliminate mistakes.
Emergency phone
We expect the driver to know our mobile phone 24/7 emergency number 01273 836060. Please ensure that you keep the Duty Manager informed at all times when there is a problem, if a journey changes or anything out of the ordinary occurs.
Yellow board identification
Please remember you MUST use the yellow boards provided and write the student’s name clearly on the board. This is what they are expecting. PLEASE STAND SOMEWHERE OBVIOUS SO THE STUDENT CAN SEE YOU EASILY. If you need more boards then please contact Leanne Poole at Bright World.
Finding your student
Where possible we will have given you their mobile number and will have given them yours. Please do not leave the airport or pick up point without your student and especially without first speaking to a member of the Bright World team. The number is 01273 836060 and it is operated 24/7. During office hours please call 01273 835745 and speak to Leanne Poole, Bright World’s Travel Manager.
Airport Angels
Bright World uses this additional service from time to time for Airside pick up and escort to boarding as well as landside meet and greet for some very anxious children or parents. You will be informed on our request if an Airport Angel is involved with the booking. You will be sent a profile of the Airport Angel prior to the journey so that you can make contact with them for meeting up and handover of student. We also retain the services of Airport Angels throughout the year for our own emergency situations and therefore you may be asked to communicate with an Airport Angel in these circumstances.
Where to take your student on arrival at school
Where possible we will have given you the house name and telephone number. It is normal to take the student to the house on arrival rather than drop them at the main reception. If you cannot find the house then you will have the school or house number so you can ask. PLEASE DO NOT JUST LEAVE A STUDENT AT THE FRONT DOOR – please make sure you hand them to a responsible adult.
What to do when dropping at airports
It is a requirement that minors (anyone of 15 or under) be escorted to check in before you leave them. For students 16 years and over we will have informed you on the booking request that the student is to be dropped at departures or if they need escorting in to the terminal to check in.
You will be informed if the child is travelling as an Unaccompanied Minor (UM) both ways in which case you need to hand the student over to a member of airline staff on arrival and prove your identity on pick up.
Finding out if students have arrived safely
When students first arrive in September we send a safe arrival notification to their parents. This only happens the first time a student arrives in one academic year, not every time. In order to do this, we have found that the best way is for us to call you, the driver while you are still with the student or just after. We hope you don’t mind this as it really is the best way to deal with this important matter.
In case of illness
In the event that a student has an allergy or medical condition, you will be contacted by the Bright World Travel Manager, Leanne Poole, to go through the details of the illness/allergy. The Travel Manager will brief you on what is expected of you/your drivers should a Bright World student fall ill when they are under your care, and you will be responsible for briefing each of your drivers who transports this student during their time in the UK. You will be sent the medical consent form by email as confirmation of the conversation that you have had with the Travel Manager and you must respond in writing via email to acknowledge receipt of this information.
Disclosure of Criminal Convictions
All taxi drivers working for Bright World have a responsibility to disclose to Bright World any inappropriate behaviour or convictions after the date of their acceptance onto our programme. This must be reported to Robbie Piper, Designated Safeguarding Lead robbie@brightworld.co.uk and will remain confidential. This includes:
Arrests, convictions, simple cautions and conditional cautions, fixed penalty tickets, any condition imposed on them by a court, the receipt of any penalty notice and if they are subject to the Community Resolution Process
This does not include the receipt of fixed penalty tickets issued in respect of breaches of non-endorsable parking regulations.
Notification of the change of circumstances will allow Bright World Directors to review the suitability or otherwise of the person concerned continuing in their role, together with any restrictions which may need to apply, and to take appropriate action. Any taxi driver who does not disclose inappropriate behaviour or convictions as listed will be in breach of our agreement. Thank you for your adherence to the policy.
Child Protection Awareness Training and Safeguarding updates
Each driver will have access to a Drivers’ Documentation section of our portal, Blink. This will include links to online Child Protection Training courses and other important documents. We would ask our Transfer Company owner to encourage drivers to read and use this portal.
Drivers should be aware of the following basic safeguarding guidelines:
- Ensuring the student is seated in the back of the vehicle and is wearing a seatbelt.
- Often the student wants to sit quietly without feeling the need to engage in conversation, please don’t feel that you should have to ‘chat’ to make them feel at ease during their journey.
- Not leaving a (minor) student sat in an unlocked vehicle while making necessary stops
- When accompanying (minors) from your vehicle to toilet facilities please wait in the entrance area of the services and let the student know where they can find you, agreeing a time to meet.
- Not to enter student accommodation /lounge areas unauthorized at any time at pick up/drop off
- Assistance with taking baggage indoors should be arranged by the House Master at the school
- School toilets designated for pupils must not be used unless authorized and accompanied by a House Master
- Refreshment facilities at the school reserved for pupils must not be used unless authorised and accompanied by the House Master
- Please avoid any physical contact with the student apart from a handshake. A hug or a kiss goodbye is not appropriate even if the student may appear to initiate this.
As owner, Director of the transfer company applying today, working with Bright World and completing the Transfer Company Application form means that you read and agree to this Charter and Code and pledge to ensure that all your drivers are aware of these guidelines and will agree to all in the above.
We thank you for looking after our students. First impressions are the most important and a kind, caring pick up at the airport can really make a difference. We thank you for working with us and helping us to provide a good service to our clients.
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