Travel & Transfers
Travel to the UK
Students’ travel to and from England must be booked and paid for independently. Once your child’s place with us has been confirmed, we will ask you to provide us with the travel details. It is important that this information is provided to us as soon as possible.
When booking your child's flights to the UK, the flights should be booked for the stated Arrival Date. On the Arrival Dates, students should either arrive into UK Airports for an airport transfer or should be brought to the school by Parent Transfer. Your child will not miss any aspects of the course by arriving in the UK on the stated arrival dates – the English language placement and induction will all take place the morning after the arrival date.
For departure from the UK, flights home should be booked for the stated Departure Dates. Parents wishing to collect children directly from the school should do so on the morning of the Departure Date.
Parent Transfers
For those parents or guardians who wish to bring their children to the school, we ask that you arrive at the school between 13.00 and 16.00 on the arrival day. The children will be checked in by one of the summer school team who will answer any questions you may have. The children and parents will then be shown to their room and are given a tour of the school. There will be refreshments available for both parents and students.
Parents or guardians who wish to collect their children from Norman Court Summer School for departure are asked to arrive at Norman Court between 09.00 and 11.00am on the departure day.
Airport Transfers
SBC offers an Airport Transfer Service for students attending Norman Court Summer School, at an additional cost to the weekly course price. All Airport Transfers to and from Norman Court School are Taxi Transfers.
Arrival Airport Transfer Service - If this service is required for your child's arrival flight to the UK, your child will be met at the airport by a member of SBC Summer School staff who will accompany your child to the taxi and will escort them back to Norman Court.
Please note, Heathrow Airport is very busy and at peak times, it can take 1-2 hours from the time a flight lands to complete Passport Control and Baggage Collection. Our staff will always follow the live flight information and will be aware of any delays.
In the Arrivals Hall, our staff will be easily identifiable with a bright YELLOW T-SHIRT with SBC on the front and TRANSFER TEAM on the back. They will also be holding a sign displaying the child's name.
Departure Airport Transfer Service – If this service is required for your child's departure flight, SBC Summer School staff will accompany your child to the airport (at least 2 hours before the scheduled departure) and our staff will assist with the check-in procedure, before taking them to the security point.
Some airlines require online check-in prior to departure to guarantee a flight booking. It is the parent's responsibility to check the policy with the airline. Where online check-in is offered as an option, we recommend that parents do the online check-in, as this can save time once at the airport on the departure date. If possible, any registration documents, e-tickets or boarding passes should be given to the child prior to travelling to the UK. If this is not possible, we can assist with printing off any required documents if they are emailed to the office during your child's stay.
Unaccompanied Minors
If your child is flying to the UK without a parent or guardian, you can request UNACCOMPANIED MINOR (UM) Assistance directly from the airline. This means that a member of the airline staff will stay with the child from check-in until handing him or her over to a named representative at the destination. This service is available from most airlines and should be arranged with the airline when making the flight reservation.
Most airlines will charge a small fee for the UM Assistance. Some airlines will not accept child travellers under the age of 12 without also booking the UM service. We recommend you check the airline’s policy about child travellers in advance of the date of travel.
Where the UM service is booked, the airline will usually request the details of the person who will be meeting the child at the destination and we can provide you with this information if it is required.
On occasion there may be changes to arrangements and the named member of staff given for the UM Assistance may change. If this is the case we will always arrange for another member of our team to meet your child and the named member of staff will sign a Letter of Authorization for the collection of the UM child traveller.
Letter of Consent to Travel
Child travellers entering the UK without their parent(s) or a guardian may be asked to present a LETTER OF CONSENT TO TRAVEL. We will provide a template of this document once you have completed the booking process. The document needs to be signed by a parent and handed to the child to be kept with the passport at the time of travelling.
You may also want to consider having this letter notarised (witnessed or signed by a solicitor) as recently the regulations have changed for children travelling from certain countries without their parent. In particular this applies to children travelling from ITALY or SPAIN who may not be able to board a flight without either a notarised letter or a letter from the local police (in Italy this is called the Dichiarazione Di Affido).
We recommend that you check with your airline and local police about whether your child will need any official documentation to leave the country without being accompanied by a parent or guardian. Children have in the past been refused boarding onto their flight because they did not have the correct documentation. Countries known to be affected by such regulations are (this list is not exhaustive):
ITALY, SPAIN, FRANCE, PORTUGAL, LATVIA.
Airport Transfer Prices
Prices for Norman Court Airport Transfers are given below. The prices quoted below are for one student travelling alone for either arrival or departure. If there is more than one student booked to travel together, there will be an additional charge of £30 per student per journey. If Airport Transfers are required for both arrival and departure, prices will be doubled.
| Taxi Transfer - Norman Court | |
|---|---|
| One way taxi transfer | (Arrival or Departure) |
| Heathrow Airport | £180 |
| Gatwick Airport | £210 |
| Stansted Airport | £230 |
| Southampton Airport | £100 |
For train stations or UK airports not listed above, prices are available on application.
Learn more about airport transport by downloading our full colour brochure.
