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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Child abuse – what is it and how do you recognise it

Every nanny and childcare professional should know what child abuse is and how to spot the signs. You will be probably be tested on this knowledge during an OFSTED inspection.

Child abuse is causing harm to a child, whether intentionally or unintentionally. There are four types of abuse: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect.

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The psychology of hiring a nanny

Hiring a nanny is a risky business. You’re working from CVs with a variety of qualifications and employment histories, and a three line personal statement which is telling you what you want to hear. Not only that but you’re choosing someone to take your place, in a high-pressure, unsupervised role with unrestricted access to your children. Mitigating risk, a natural human tendency, is going to play a big part in your decision making when choosing a nanny.

To do this you may place arbitrary limits – you want your nanny to be confident handling an emergency so you insist they have a first aid certificate (sensible), you want to know they are a reasonable and law abiding person so you ask for a DBS check (also sensible). You may have preconceived notions about certain academic backgrounds or hobbies, which again is you trying to reduce risk by avoiding the unknown. You may be put off by an unprofessional email address, or an overly-familiar voicemail message, because it calls that person’s judgement into question.

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When nanny has a second job

Part time working has been on the rise in all industries but nannies are being hit by a triplewhammy of parents choosing to work part-time, using free help part of the week to reduce childcare costs and taking advantage of Government funding. This means more and more nannies are coming to interview with another job already, which can seem an administrative nightmare. Chin up though, as it’s not that scary!

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6 scenario based interview questions to ask at a nanny interview, and the responses you should be getting

 

Scenarios are a great way to test out how quickly your potential nanny can think on her feet and see what her natural reactions to everyday situations are. A lot of the questions you ask in an interview lead a nanny to respond in a certain way. Any clues that she’s gained about your childcare style will help her answer them, but she doesn’t need to have additional information because it’s all about how she would react.

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Child development: Steiner

Austrian scientist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861 – 1865) developed a holistic theory of education based on three 7-year cycles of development. He believed that education needed to respect these cycles and the type of thinking or feeling that a child experiences. The first cycle from birth to the age of 7 children are immersed in action and are motivated to play and create. From 7 to 14 children explore ‘feeling’ and from 14-21 they develop their cognitive or thinking abilities.

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Sickness during pregnancy

As nannying is an industry dominated by women it’s inevitable that each year nanny employers will find themselves dealing with a pregnant employee. However delighted you may be for your nanny on a personal level it’s entirely understandable that you might be feeling anxious about your new responsibilities as an employer. We have previously looking at managing pregnant employees and what might happen about your nanny returning to work, so let’s look at some less likely scenarios – when your nanny suffers from some kind of pregnancy related illness.

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Child development: Montessori

Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was the first female doctor in Italy. She specialised in paediatrics and worked with children from disadvantaged backgrounds, setting up a nursery for children where the only toys were simple objects and staff were told to observe rather than intervene. Based on the results of her experiment she developed her own method, now known worldwide as the Montessori method, founded on her observations.

She believed education starts at birth and that children have special periods where they are more able to learn certain skills. It is the role of the adult to identify these periods and offer the child specially adapted activities. She felt that all children were naturally able to learn and curious about the world around them, learning through movement (particularly the hands) and the senses (which led to the development of her sandpaper letters), and show spontaneous self-discipline when in an environment that meets their needs.

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Child development: Vygotsky

Psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) wrote many papers and books about child development. His work focused on three main areas – language and its influence on thought, the zone of proximal development and the social context in which learning takes place. Vygotsky was a constructivist; he believed that a learner builds their knowledge and understanding directly from what they experience.

Vygotsky encouraged people to talk to children and to label what was happening to help them understand abstract concepts. He felt that language was developed through social interaction and saw the effect that adults talking about everyday experiences had not only on a child’s language (their grammar and vocabulary) but also on the formation of ways of thinking and interpreting experiences. He noted that children observed conversations between others and that they use what is said, what is done (both body language and actions) and what is felt to interpret the social situations they observe. Finally Vygotsky observed how children talk to themselves when carrying out tasks to unify action and language, and that this disappears around the age of 7, however it can reappear for difficult tasks. Even adults talk to themselves when faced with something difficult!

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Child development: Friedrich Froebel

Froebel (1782-1852) was one of the very early theorists concerned with play. He believed that it was vital to child development, and that children enjoyed it. He was also the first person to set out a comprehensive theory of how children learn and how others could apply his work. His work is still popular because it allows children to be children, and not progress onto the next stage of development too quickly. He was very interested in the mother-child attachment and pioneered women teachers as well as free play, sensory experiences and plenty of time outdoors.

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