Frequently Asked Questions (Junior)

FAQS

Most frequent questions and answers

COVID-19

Passengers should carefully check the COVID-19 entry requirements for a particular country, state or region before travel. In some cases, entry requirements may apply to passengers transferring through an airport en route to another destination.

The entry requirements for each location across the world can change rapidly in-line with local measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Many governments prohibit entry for tourists and business travelers and may prohibit all non-citizens entry to their country, state or region, so please ensure you have the most accurate and up to date information before travel.

It is the responsibility of the passenger to ensure that any test certificate issued from a COVID-19 testing facility sufficiently meets the local entry requirements of the destination country, state or region including any connecting airport requirements. Certain locations may require the test result to be translated into the local language at each location. Passengers should check local requirements and keep up to date as they evolve. 

You should make your own independent inquiries before relying on any information or materials contained on these pages. The information is correct to the best of Leadership ACT’s knowledge at the time of publication and is being reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis by Leadership ACT staff, given the rapidly evolving nature of the international response to the COVID-19 outbreak Leadership ACT cannot guarantee its accuracy and can accept no liability for any errors or omissions. Leadership ACT reserves the right to add or change information at any time. Links to third party websites of third parties are offered as a courtesy. Leadership ACT expresses no opinion on the content of the websites of third parties and does not accept any responsibility for third-party information.

Insurance
Students must have adequate health, civil liability and travel insurance while attending any of our programmes. Students are responsible for their own travel and medical insurance.

Some providers have restricted cancellation and travel disruption cover in policies bought after coronavirus was declared a pandemic on 10 March 2020.

We suggest you to go for policies that cover claims related to COVID-19 for emergency medical, repatriation costs and other types of claims related to COVID-19, such as cancellation, etc., which may vary by provider, so we encourage you to check your policy before purchasing.

No, you’re not legally required to have travel insurance. Some tour operators will insist you have a policy in place before they confirm your travel, especially to countries like the USA and the UK where there’s no public health service. You may feel it’s more necessary for countries like these, but, in general, travel insurance is usually worth it. For peace of mind, you should ensure you and your loved ones are properly covered on holiday. Accidents can happen and they’re more difficult to deal with away from home. It’s not worth leaving it to chance when the costs could be so high.

For INTERNATIONAL campers/students: Please contact us for more information

For LOCALS residents: Please contact us for more information

Meet and Greet

Our Meet and Greet service will aim to make your arrival and onward journey to your destination as smooth as possible.

You will meet your Host or school representative and brought straight to your accommodation. Please be sure to email at least 2 weeks prior to departure to confirm your flight details. You will see either your name or the school’s name on a board as you come through arrivals. We will also give you an emergency telephone number for your host family which you should call in the event that your flight is delayed.
If you need to self-isolate upon your arrival at your chosen destination, we can meet you at your arrival airport and provide free transportation to your accommodation. Please read the information below carefully before making your travel arrangements. 
Accommodation
All families will receive a comprehensive briefing on the current Public Health Authority regulations that apply to their community. This will be reviewed in detail with host families to ensure their questions and unique situations are carefully addressed and a clear best practice is established for every possible scenario. In addition, prior to student arrivals, our standard host family webinars and 2020 Host Family Guidelines document will include a review of the current situation. All families will be asked to acknowledge that they are aware of and understand our COVID-19 protocols and agree to follow them. Many of our host families who had students living with them through the restrictions of these past few months will also be hosting in Summer 2021. We will continue to draw on the experience and knowledge of these experienced host families as our understanding of best practices evolves.
If you need to self-isolate upon your arrival at your chosen destination, we can meet you at your arrival airport and provide free transportation to your accommodation. Please read the information below carefully before making your travel arrangements. 
The answer depends on the particular programme and accommodation available. In our camp programmes, sharing a room with other campers should be expected. In certain city residential programmes, it may be possible that the residence provides for single rooms. In all cases where sharing is required, IELS does our best to mix nationalities and language groups. In all cases, boys and girls are separated.

In most programmes, bed linens, pillows, and blankets are provided, and linen is changed once a week. At the Outdoor Camps, sleeping bags are provided. Towels may be provided, depending on the location, but students should bring their own beach towel. Please refer to the For Parents section on the individual programme page for a complete list of what is included.

General

Participants will receive a Student/Parent Handbook prior to arrival with address and location details. 

Students are not required to pay deposits, except in the city campuses where laundry is not included.  Laundry cards are available for $10 CAD deposit (refunded upon return) plus the cost of laundry loads. Students should also be aware that a replacement fee is charged if room keys are lost, charge will vary by campus.

Wifi availability will vary by specific campus. Please refer to the brochure for the individual programme to obtain Wifi information. Students who bring their own mobile or cellular phones to the programmes do so at their own risk. The use of mobile or cellular phones during the programme is disruptive and undermines the purpose of the immersion experience. Therefore use of mobile or cellular phones is not permitted during class time or during scheduled activity periods. Disregard for this policy may result in the phone being confiscated for the duration of the programme, and returned upon departure. Cellular/Mobile phone use is strictly limited at the Outdoor Camp.

Students at most of our programmes have access to computers.  This may be limited access at the programme itself or at local internet cafés.  We recommend that you establish a web-based email address that your child can log into via the internet. At our camps, computer time may be more limited, but campers should be permitted to use email a few times per week.  Campers and students do not have access to camp office telephones.  Some residences are equipped with pay telephones from which students can make outgoing calls using a calling card. Incoming calls from parents to the camp office or to the IELS head office should only be made in cases of emergency as we will not disrupt either classes or programming for personal calls that are not of an urgent nature. Cellular or mobile phones are not permitted during class time or on excursions at any programme. At the Outdoor Camps smart phones and other electronic communication devices are only permitted on full day excursion days.

We recommend that students bring sufficient spending money to cover optional activities and personal spending. Upon arrival at the programme, the Camp Director will hold the money in safe keeping. Students can withdraw funds for shopping on designated “banking days” at the programme. Depending on the programme, ATM machines may be available to students on the campus, and all shopping malls have ATMs available. If your child has a bank card that matches the systems used in the country of destination, he or she should be able to withdraw funds from these bank machines. IELS also has a procedure in place in the event you need to forward emergency money to your child. Please discuss this with your local representative.
Although we welcome guests visiting our programmes, these visits can sometimes be disruptive to the operation. Therefore, we require that all visitors adhere to our strict policy, which includes receiving in advance a written notice from the natural parents/guardians advising who the visitor will be and the details of the visit. The safety of our children is our top priority, and we will not permit any visitor who has not provided the necessary information.

A list of optional activities is provided to all campers and students upon arrival at the programme. Campers or students decide at that time which activities they wish to sign up for. Payment for these activities is taken out of the account of spending money that has been set up at the programme. Your representative should be able to advise you about the average weekly spending on optional activities on a per-programme basis.

All applications are treated on the first come, first serve basis, so the sooner you apply, the better. We accept registrants until the programmes are filled to capacity. For the summer programmes, we post on the website what programmes are closed for what start dates or languages. 

Registration
Before planning to visit another country, all travelers should check the visa requirements for their nationality in case they require a travel document to enter the country of destination. Visa requirements vary by country and also depend on the nationality of the traveler, as well as the duration and purpose of the intended stay. You may be able to travel to your country of destination visa-free depending on the purpose of the stay, or it may be necessary to obtain a visa or an electronic travel authorisation. Please contact us us for more information.
All applications are treated on the first come, first serve basis. We accept registrants until the programmes are filled to capacity, at which point we’ll post on the website that the programme is closed/full.
For international inquiries, IELS works closely with local representatives in many countries around the world who can assist with the registration process. Please fill out our Request Information form, and we will be happy to either refer to you an representative in your area or, if no representative is available, we will continue to provide you with information.

A list of optional activities is provided to all campers and students upon arrival at the programme. Campers or students decide at that time which activities they wish to sign up for. Payment for these activities is taken out of the account of spending money that has been set up at the programme. Your representative should be able to advise you about the average weekly spending on optional activities on a per-programme basis.

Parents

All IELKS programmes are full-time programmes providing accommodation as part of the experience. We do not typically allow campers or students to attend our programmes only during the day.

For international inquiries, IELS works closely with local representatives in many countries around the world who can assist with the registration process. Please fill out our Request Information form, and we will be happy to either refer to you an representative in your area or, if no representative is available, we will continue to provide you with information.

If you have a specific query which cannot be answered from the information above, please contact us: