nannies – Page 41 – Nannyjob blog

OFSTED inspections for nannies

Towards the end of the year a lot of nannies get calls from OFSTED informing them that it’s time for an inspection. Around 10% of nannies on the voluntary register are inspected every year, and most pass with flying colours, however it can be a nerve-wracking experience particularly if you’ve worked in a nursery.

Purpose: Unlike school and early years settings (nurseries, childminders, etc), OFSTED inspections for nannies are not to judge your skills as a childcarer or evaluate the way you implement the EYFS. It is purely to see whether you meet the requirements of the register as they apply to you. Your inspector should send you a document which lays out the requirements for both parts of the childcare register. You are only concerned with ‘both’ or ‘voluntary’ AND where it mentions ‘home childcarer’ (which is what OFSTED call nannies).

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Making yourself memorable to agencies

You might have noticed that many of the jobs on Nannyjob.co.uk are via agencies. Targeting agencies, rather than parents directly, is a slightly different approach. Here’s a five step approach to fast-tracking your way into their good books.

Be concise. When you apply through the site try to mention all the jobs they have that interest you in one email. That way you’re not spamming their inbox with twenty applications. You only need one to sign up with them, and if they don’t reply then follow it up with a phone call rather than twenty more emails.

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Choosing a childcare course

Do you want to improve your CV and get ahead in your career? Courses can be a fantastic way to do this or simply to explore new subjects but there’s a bewildering array out there. Here’s how to narrow it down.

What do you want the course to do?

If you’re hoping that it will lead to a new career you need to make sure that the course is recognised by potential employers. If you just want a bit more information then accreditation and recognition is less important but you still want to be confident that the course content is accurate. Deals through sites like Wowcher and Groupon may look great but they don’t lead to recognised qualifications and you may end up paying money, and putting time in, for nothing.

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How to poach-proof your nanny relationship

A good nanny is a prize, one that other families may stoop low enough to try to steal from you. Nanny poaching can happen anywhere from the school gate to your own garden gate and it can be anyone including your next door neighbour or anyone close friend.

Some will say that a nanny who allows herself to be poached wasn’t happy in her job anyway. After all when you’re in a content and committed relationship you’re not casting around for a better partner! If you do sweep the room occasionally it’s just eye candy, and while your nanny might periodically flick through job ads it isn’t necessarily a sign of discontent. Poaching is more dangerous. Poaching is the equivalent of someone coming up to you in a bar, buying you a drink or six while whispering sweet nothings in your ear and ultimately enticing you to come home with them.

You can’t stop someone coming up to your nanny and buying them that drink, but you can make sure their sweet nothings fall on deaf ears and here’s how…

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Leaving your nanny job

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye….All good things must come to an end.

It’s cliché but it’s true, and this time of year is often a time when jobs end. Moving on is part of nannying, children don’t stay young forever and the summer before starting school is often a natural break point, but that doesn’t make leaving your charges behind any less painful.

Work with the parents to prepare your charges for the transition. It’s very distressing for children to suddenly learn that it’s their beloved nanny’s last week with them. You need to give children time to process the change, ask questions and be reassured. Pretending that it isn’t happening will only make it harder in the long run for both you and them. Your charges will pick up on your feelings through your notice period no matter how much you try to hide it.

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Summer maths

School may seem a long way away but you can keep those mathematical skills ticking over and even developing, all while having fun.

Count – forwards, backwards, every which way. Start from different numbers and don’t be tempted to go on from 20 all the way to 100 if you don’t need to. At an early age this means saying a sequence of numbers to 5 or 10 but back that up with counting out concrete objects 1…2…3 and the understanding that ‘3’ relates to the total number of objects as well as what you say when you put the third object down. Bring this in naturally, for example you’re pouring drinks for your charges and their friends – ask them how many they need, get them to count out the glasses, count as you’re pouring the drinks. Count the number of petals on a simple flower or try to count the number of petals on a daisy – are they all the same? Get children used to the idea of estimating by guessing a number before you count the petals. Use mathematical language like the first swing and the second swing. Make collections and count them out, and use the shells or stones or sticks you’ve collected to sort them later.

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