Nanny qualifications

[RosieBP]

Hi, hoping someone can help me out there ...

I have been working with children for 13 years - first as a leader at children's holiday club, then as Brownie pack leader and school volunteer. I then trained as a primary school teacher (PGCE after completing another degree) and have been teaching for 6 years. In this time I have carried on doing voluntary work with children, including residentials etc.

I left my teaching post in the autumn and have been volunteering in a local independent school to get key stage 1 and EYFS experience. I was wondering if this is enough to be taken on as a nanny? Would like to be able to work with a child/siblings on a more personal basis. I have experience from ages 2 up although the bulk is school age. I would be willing to undertake all 'usual' nanny duties, as well as tutoring etc if necessary as I have the qualifications. I looked at Ofsted requirements and can be registered easily. I have 2 good references from schools and can also get them from holiday club etc. If you were looking for a nanny would you consider me? Sorry for long post, have been looking at qualifications etc but wanted to ask some people who actually employ nannies what they are looking for.

Btw - I would be willing to do any other training, have first aid training specifically for children (would need to update but happy to do) and a full clean driving licence.

Thankyou in advance for your thoughts!

I worked as a nanny for many years before children, I had no formal qualifications just good refs, pediatric 1st aid certifciate and CBR. I was never short of job offers and was often payed equal if not more than qualified nannies.
Most mothers realise that caring for babies and small children don't really require qualifications, it's much more important to have the right attitude and a genuine love of Children.

Forgot to add due to your teacher trainning you may be quite likely to be emplyed as a Governess althought many of those types of job are overseas positions.

I would love to have you as our nanny. I've employed several nannies and know that standard nanny qualifications (eg NVQ, NNEB) don't mean much for me. Given how expensive nannies are, someone who could offer something extra beyond the usual nanny duties would be great.

You might find your opportunity window is between age say 1.5 and 5 (when school starts), because not many families would be able to afford a full time nanny when full time school starts.

Ofsted registration (see Annex C) requires that you have Common Core training. That may, or may not have been part of your PGCE when you did it. So check that it, or any subsequent training courses you may have done whilst teaching did cover Common Core.

"Practitioners with QTS should, depending on the extent that their training specifically covers working with babies, toddlers and young children under the age of five, consider the need for additional training." (Source: CWDcouncil)

So if you were to apply for a job to care for baby or toddler, then I think that might cause problems as the PGCE you did may not have covered child development of children birth to 5. However if you are focusing on school aged children then it's not so much an issue.

Nannies often care for children under age 5. While jobs caring for just school aged children do exist, they may not be in great abundance.

So I would suggest you decide if caring for children birth to 5 is something you would be willing to do... and if so, see if your current training would be sufficient for that.

Caring for children does not require a qualification. It's the funding side of things (such as Childcare Vouchers) that does need something which fits with what the regulator deems is suitable.

The bulk of your experience is with school aged children. So think about what things you have done with younger children, to help show that you have some (even if it's very limited) experience of caring for younger children.

Also consider what 1:1 care you have done, rather than group setting care. Brownies, Pre-School, School, Holiday Clubs are all group care... you have other people helping. So think about other things you have done when it was just you - have you ever babysat?

Wow! Thankyou for all the replies! Nannynick, I have worked with pre school children as well, just not so much. I am willing to have extra training if need be. I have worked 1-1 through babysitting for many years, also even within group stuff have been alone with children at times. I think I'll have to keep an eye out for what there is out there. Unfortunately job wise I live in Norfolk so not as many opportunities as London etc. I know that this is something that I want to do, just need to find some opportunities out there!

Thankyou for suggesting that it could be possible to transfer to nannying. If needs be to gain experience I would consider pre/post school care, depending on how many hours that would be. Any other thoughts really welcomed, thankyou so much for all the help so far.

It's often all down to marketing. I used to work in Computing and Retail before being a nanny. So I used babysitting experience and pre-school experience a lot to get my first nanny job.

Apply for jobs and create a CV for each job, which emphasises what you expect the parents would be expecting to find. So if they have young children, emphasise the work with younger children.

CR1 By Hand - another form to read with regard to Ofsted registration. See page 29 in particular where you need to declare that you have done Level 2 or greater training in childcare or Common Skills.

May be worth emailing Ofsted to confirm that your PGCE is suitable for that. I would have thought it would be given it wasn't done that long ago.

This has come up before. PGCE or BEd is not suitable for OFSTED (stupidly) as they deem it doesn't cover all the common core. Some EY & Childhood degrees don't either so it's not necessarily about the level. The CWDC documemt there I think covers settings implementing the EYFS rather than registration on the childcare register. I'm not sure whether EYPS is deemed sufficient for that either. One would rather hope it was... The good news is that the training which is required will be well within your capabilities. You'll also need nanny insurance (Morton Michel are the most popular provider).

As regards getting into nannying with your current CV it's definitely possible if phrased well and you're better off than an 18 year with no qualifications at all. The downside is you may not get as much for your first job as you'd expect but once you have a couple of years experience you'll probably be in huge demand.

You'd make a packet overseas though nannies with academic/teaching qualifications can walk into excellent jobs.

I know a nanny who has twenty years experience and no qualifications , she takes her children and has never been out of work. She is extremely good at her job.

20 years ago it was a lot easier to get a job as a nanny with no qualifications though and now 20 years experience pretty much outweighs that as only a little of what would have been learnt then is still relevant. Plus there wasn't ODSTED registration to consider. Anyone trying to break into nannying now, which seems to have become a very popular childcare career choice rather than something special/different, faces very different challenges and qualifications are increasingly necessary for candidates to differentiate themselves even with 5-10 years experience under their belt.

Getting a decently paid job as an unqualified nanny used to be relatively easy. Now it's a lot more difficult and as more importance is being placed in qualifications and they're easier to obtain via distance/blended learning etc employers are getting pickier.

That said it's still tough to break in even with a qualification without relevant experience!

Hi Rosie,
Your experience is along similar lines to mine before I became a nanny. I used to coach sports, babysit etc but most of my experience was with over 5's, apart from my own kids.
The first thing I did was knock out the common core skills course and update my first aid so I could become Ofsted registered.
In terms of being childcare qualified, I don't think Ofsted registration actually counts for much but it does add to an image of professionalism and commitment to the job.
On my CV and at interview I emphasised my sole charge experience, and also when I'd cared for multiple ages at the same time. It took a long time, but eventually I found a family I clicked with and were willing to give me a chance :)