Over the past few years, we’ve seen a significant rise in internet fraud, phishing scams and other ‘traps’ that aim to trick victims into handing over money, providing sensitive information or even putting themselves in physical danger.
To help you stay safe when applying for your next nanny job, we’ve put together our top online safety tips for nannies:
Becoming a childminder has been a popular career choice in recent years. Many stay-at-home parents choose to become registered childminders because it gives them the flexibility of being able to work from home, during hours that suit, and still being able to look after their own children.
Some people believe that childminding is just a pocket-money job for stay at home parents, but this is not the case. Childminders are professional childcare providers who have undergone a registration process, which ensures that they are suitable for caring for other peoples’ children.
Contrary to what you might believe, you don’t need a big house and garden to be a childminder. You don’t need to own your home either. However, your home should be safe and suitable for children of all ages. You will need to invest in safety gates in order to stop small children attempting to climb stairs unassisted, and you may need to get some cupboard locks for your kitchen cupboards.
You will need to have toys and books for the children but these needn’t cost the earth – excellent quality toys and books can be picked up second hand for very good prices at car boot sales, charity shops and in local classifieds.
An outside space is a bonus, and some parents may prefer their children to have the option of playing outside whilst with their childminder, but if you don’t have a garden there’s no need to worry. The first priority of most parents is not the garden space of their children’s prospective childminder – their ability to lovingly care for their children is far more important.
How many New Year’s resolutions have you seen or heard from your family, friends and co-workers so far? How many of those were about weight, smoking, drinking, or travel? How many of those were about parenting or childcare? I’m guessing the latter was a significantly smaller number than the former.
This New Year, wouldn’t it be nice for us to make a New Year’s resolution that will not only benefit ourselves but our children and the rest of our family? That’s why we’ve put together a list of areas that we can all try to improve upon in the New Year when it comes to caring for our children.
Continue reading “New Year Resolutions for Parents and Childcare Professionals”
Christmas time is never short of inspiration for parents, nannies and childminders alike for creative projects for the children to undertake. Here are three simple projects to get you all started, which can be easily adapted to all age groups from about 2 years onwards (although little ones will certainly enjoy joining in if you can handle the mess!).
Making salt dough decorations is incredibly cheap, fun and creative. It’s a great project for children of all ages, although children under the age of 2 might be more interested in eating the dough rather than creating Christmas decorations!
To make salt dough, all you need is:
Simply combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, and then slowly add the water as you mix. The dough should eventually form a soft, pliable ball. You can add more flour or water if the dough is too sticky, or too dry.
Then, you can make your decorations! Use pastry cutters to make shapes, or knead the dough into shapes by hand (you can use a little olive oil to moisturise the dough if needs be). To harden the finished shapes, lay them on greaseproof paper on a plate and pop them in the microwave for two or three minutes. If you don’t have access to a microwave, they will harden after a couple of days air drying or you can put them in a very low oven (you may need to cover them with foil to stop them from browning).
Once they are hard and dry, they can be decorated with whatever the children wish! Glitter glue, paint, sequins and even spray paint! Finish up with a coat of clear varnish if you want them to keep until next year.
At Christmas time, with all of the hype and excitement over presents, food and pretty lights, it can be easy to forget about the spirit of the festivities – the spirit of giving. A simple, ongoing project for Christmas time that teaches children about the true meaning of Christmas is the Advent Challenge. The concept is simple – every day, do something to put somebody else first. This could mean sharing a special toy with a sibling, choosing an item of clothing to donate to a shelter or charity shop, or taking on an extra chore around the house to ease the load of a parent or sibling. Make sure the giving is on the child’s terms, or it negates the whole point of finding joy in helping others.
A lovely project for children at Christmas is making a ‘memory book’ about their family celebrations. All families celebrate a little differently, and each family has their own little traditions that make their Christmas unique. The book could be in chronological story form, with each page detailing a different part of the day, or it could be a more random collection of the things the children love most about their own individual family Christmases.
How are you getting on with that mischievous little man (or woman) known as Elf on the Shelf. It can be difficult to think of new mischief for your elf to get up to, especially if this isn’t the first year he’s come to stay.
That’s why we’ve put together plenty of new Elf on the Shelf ideas to help delight children of all ages this Christmas!
Bereavement can occur without warning at any time of our lives and it’s important to understand how as a nanny, you can help the children in your care deal with the losses that they may face.
Loss can be exceptionally difficult for children to understand as they are not always able to process the emotions and thoughts that follow, which is why it’s important that children have a strong support network at times of great upset.
Bereavement can be the death of a loved one, a friend or a pet, it could also be the loss of someone close to them, which can often be a result of divorce or separation of a child’s parents.
To help you further help the children in your care deal with the losses they face, we’ve put together the following advice:
Continue reading “Helping Children Deal with Bereavement and Loss”
As temperatures plummet it understandable to want to retreat to the house where it’s warmer, but the bad weather shouldn’t be an excuse for children to swap playing outside for lounging in front of the TV.
That’s why we’ve put together some simple ideas to help keep your children active this winter:
With the wet weather firmly upon us, keep your young charges happy and engaged, even if you are stuck inside, with these fun indoor activities.
A bit of time to zen out, a great way to loosen off muscles, the best way to keep supple, or a full on cardio workout – whatever ways we already think yoga is good for us as adults – whether you partake or not – we know there are generally lots of benefits.
So, why should this be different for the little people in our lives? It isn’t. As joints and muscles are still growing, yoga can bring benefits that other exercise can’t for our little ones. Here are the reasons it’s a good idea to start them early with this ancient eastern art:
Source: www.youngyogamasters.com
Although not yet seen as a mainstream activity for children in many cities, you should be able to find children’s yoga classes near or in your area via a quick Internet search. If you struggle, it may be worth contacting your school or nursery, and asking them to start arranging classes with a local qualified children’s yoga instructor.
Are you or your kids into Yoga or similar activities? Share it with us on our Facebook page!
Our partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk provide payroll advice for parents and nannies and have provided this content. For more advice and support please get in touch with them.
On Saturday 31st October, the government announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) will continue until 1 December 2020 with grants covering 80% of wages, while implementation of the Job Support Scheme (JSS) has been delayed. This change has been brought about by the lock down to be introduced from Thursday, 5 November. Many MPs felt that the JSS provided insufficient support during a lock down.
The new national restrictions will apply from 5 November to 2 December 2020, but the financial support for employers applies from 1 November as the furlough scheme operates on full calendar months. October’s wages will still only be reclaimable at 60% of nanny’s standard gross, but as of November 80% will once again be reimbursed.
How much can be reclaimed under CJRS?
The CJRS will continue in force with the same conditions as applied in August 2020. The grant paid to employers will pay for 80% of the employee’s current wages for time not worked, up to £2,500 per month. The employer must pay for all the employer’s NIC and employer’s minimum workplace pension contributions on those wages.
The employer can top-up the employee’s furlough pay at their own expense if they wish to.
Which employees qualify?
Employees who were on the employer’s payroll on 30 October 2020 will qualify to be included in CJRS claim for November; they do not have to have been included in an earlier CJRS claim. The employee must have been paid by the employer, and that pay must have been reported on a RTI return before midnight on 30 October.
Flexi furlough
Flexible furlough will be permitted alongside full-time furlough, so nannies may be brought back part-time to say, set up the premises for the lifting of national restrictions, or to prepare for Brexit.
The same rules for flexible furlough will continue to apply as they have done since 1 July, so the employee may be furloughed for a few days or hours per week. There appears to be no minimum time set for furloughed hours or working hours.
However, each furlough claim must be for a period of at least seven consecutive calendar days.
How to claim?
If you would like to furlough your nanny in November, whether or not you have chosen to do so in the past, just let us know the date from which this will start and whether or not you would like to top their wages up to full pay and we will take care of everything for you.
