How to hire a nanny..?

[BraveGirl]

The hard part is sorted - I have an ex-student in mind, who is keen to do the job. I trust her, she is currently working in a nursery and has done her NVQ2 already. We want her to start in Jan 2011, working term time only, but paying a retainer for the holidays, but need to get organised.
Can you give me any advice or warn me of pitfalls to avoid? We really don't know where to start!
Is it best for her to be self employed, or do we employ her?
I found these contracts online:
www.nannyjob.co.uk/information/employment/employmentcontract.aspx
Are they suitable?
CRB checks?
Further training?
Any advice gratefully received!

if you have a nanny,then you employ her, she is not self employed, you decide the days/hours/pay and you are her employer

a crb is often not worth the paper it is written on - but obv need one

all childcarers should have recent first aid and nanny insurance

Will she need to become Ofsted registered? If you get childcare vouchers through work, then she will need to be so that you can use them. Ofsted do a CRB check as part of the process.

As working in a nursery she will probably already have a CRB check from when she started that job - so you could use that. Another will only be done if you ask her to register with Ofsted - Ofsted do the check once, they don't repeat it yearly but do charge each year.
CRB checks and ISA registration are something the current government are looking at, thus ISA is on hold and who knows how longer CRB checks will be done.

If needing to pay using childcare vouchers, get nanny to register with Ofsted - may as well start that ball rolling now as it can take many months.

That's great, we would like to use vouchers so will start with ofsted. Thanks!
Any recommendations re insurance?

There are very few providers
MortonMichel is the most popular
NannyInsure and NCMA also offer policies.
It is important that the nanny pays for their insurance as it is to cover them, not you.

You will have Employers Liability insurance as part of your home insurance - check policy for the wording. Employers liability insurance will cover you in the event of your employee doing serious damange to themselves though something that was your fault.
Insurancea are very rarely claimed on - I've never claimed on my nanny insurance. Until a claim you never really know what they cover - it just helps to know that there may be some cover if the worst happened.