BLOODY TV DOCUMENTARY

[marypoppins2]

Did anyone see that documentary on ITV on Wednesday night about nannies from hell. Oh my god I wanted to go down to their head office and shake them by their suit collars.
Of course they picked the worst bunch of nannies they could find and bunched us all into the same group.
For those who didn't see it these nannies came in drunk to work, slept with their bosses husbands, charged parents for food items they didn't really buy and sat around watching tv all day with the subtitles on.
It makes us all sound like half wits and slackers and hopefully any sane parents out there would realise it was all about sensationalism and not a true professional nanny's character.
It's hard enough at the moment to find a nanny job and to convince the parents to trust you with their children, without having these idiots worry parents unneccessarily. I'm sure some nannies are like that but they are in the small minority and most of us respect our bosses, work places and role in the family.
The flip side of it is that it was all 'oh poor parents, these awful nannies' nothing was said about the trials that nannies have to put up with. I bet every nanny out there has a list of unreasonable demands parents have made, things they've had to put up with and jobs from hell.
If there are any tv producers reading this then please by all means contact me as between myself and my nanny circle we could fill up a 3 hour programme or even a series.

Didn't they do a similar one on cms last year - they're out to sensationalise and get ratings. As a cm I can remember being as furious as you are . And, yes, you're right, they never ever show the flip side of the coin that shows what we have to put up with - nannies/cms combined could probably make a series never mind a 3hr documentary

What was it called? I can't find it on ITV player and I'd be interested to watch it.

It didn't bother me too much, I'm not going to let it, there's not point in getting riled up over a silly programme that'll be forgotten about soon enough .

Some parts of it were funny though, mistaking the cat mince for normal mince I could see myself doing that! :p

And the cleaners letting in four or five black cats lol

Ahhhhhhhhhhh where do I watch ittttttttt

You'll probably be able to find it on youtube! Apparently ITV haven't got it on the site yet? I haven't checked as ITV's internet thing doesn't like my lappie lol

there wil never be a programme/series about good nannies/cm's etc

it doesnt make good viewing - they put the worst ones they can find

often are aps/mothers helps and generally the so called nanny doesnt have any experience or isnt qualifed so course they wont have a clue

just because you say you look after children, it doesnt make you a nanny!!

But then blondes, what does make you a nanny, there is the debate

I know what you mean though, but as I said on another forum, not all nannies are stars, these women could well be nannies and also something to consider;
How well were they treated by their employers? That irl who got payback by stuffing shrimps in the sofa, I would hope that her employers were foul to her to have 'deserved' this treatment but if they were (which I assume so) then I'd be verging on the temptation to do something stupid as well! I wouldn't do it but the temptation to do something would be there! I'm guessing the same could be said for employers to nannies/APs too though!

My employers admitted that they were very tempted to send her home with no financial help towards it at all (they are very generous though so I don't think they should, I certainly don't expect it!) but then they offered to help pay for her bags and she tried to get amount fees for over 50kg of suitcases out of them! Needless to say they denied.

Thanks for feed back. The programme was called confessions and I think they are running a series of them looking at different occupations.
It's a tough question about ' what makes a good nanny' as people have different opinions and even within my own nanny circle there is a vast difference between the abilities of the women and what they enjoy doing with the children.
I count myself as the creme de la creme which may sound conceited but I think I've earned it. I've been doing this for 15 years and no matter what is thrown at me I can manage, which I'm sure other professional nannies out there feel also. I'm an all rounder and do absolutely everything I can with the children I look after. I'm very educationally focused and every activity is done with a learning element as well as day trips out, social play dates, music lessons. swimming etc.
I have nanny friends who spend most days of the week at playgroups, which is nice for the social element but not very stimulating for the children as most of the time they are left to play. This isn't so bad for younger children but working with over 3's they need constant input and I enjoy cramming their little heads full of knowledge and excitement. Any parents reading my c.v or checking my references can see the level of activity and commitment I give a family.
There is hierarchy to the whole childcare arrangement with nannies at the top. Slightly under us (and only because you have more children and less time to devote one to one) are child minders. I have a few childminder friends and they spend as much time as they can with the kids but often comment on being pulled in different directions from the various families they work for and not having long periods of quality time with the kids as nannies do. We have the luxury of being paid by one family and being able to focus all our energy on the one set of kids we look after.
Below us and I do mean way below are au pairs. I'm sure they are nice girls but I make it clear to friends and employers that I don't want to be confused as one. To me it's the difference between the office junior and the senior partner. As many don't have English as their first language I would never leave my young children with one especially during the first learning years where language is so important. I feel aupairs are useful only as a back up part time arrangement like picking older children up from school and cooking dinner for them. After I've left jobs I've heard from my bosses that their aupairs haven't worked out as they can't give the same level of input and ability as the nanny. Even looking after older children isn't really helpful as they can't help properly with homework and reading and then it falls to the parents to do it at the weekend, as my previous bosses found out. They are really there to just make sure the children are safe and be the designated adult. Of course they are cheap and that's the selling factor but on the flip side of that I believe you do get what you pay for and as there is always an arguement about how much nannies costs I think we earn our money and are worth it.

No I didn't watch it, didn't even know it was on - so ITV can't have done much publicity - or I just don't watch much TV these days, which is probably the case.

It was to air on Tuesday May 08th, 2007 but got cancelled, due to the Breaking News at that time.

The media as a whole don't seem to like Good News - in my view - it is bad news that sells. So I doubt there will ever be a show about the positives of having a nanny, or any other form of childcare for that matter.

it was repeat - pretty sure ive already seen it, wasn't that bad

Has anyone figured out where you can watch it? I wrote ITV last night but no response.

It's not on Youtube by the way, and googling has no effect.

As a cm, can I ask what training nannies have to do to be Ofsted registered - do you have to follow EYFS as we do.

You can find details in the Guide to Registration on the Childcare Register.
Nannies are exempt from EYFS. The Government can't insist that parents carry out EYFS in their own home!
Nannies need to satisfy Ofsted that their training meets the requirements - so minimum is Common Core, though some will do the ICP. Nannies however can have far more training, such as NVQ3 or equivalent. Back in my day, my college course was 2 years duration, 3 days per week in college, 2 days on practical placement.
It is like with CM's... Ofsted publish the minimum requirements, but CM's can choose to do higher levels of training.

Nannies don't officially have to be registered with OFSTED and up to 3 years ago I'd never heard of them. The only reason I registered was because my boss at the time wanted to use child care vouchers and the nanny had to be registered. To register as a nanny with OFSTED you have to have a qualification, first aid and they will do a CRB check. Now I think you also have to have some sort of nanny insurance. My registration runs out in December so I will have to check out what I need.
I did my college course 15 years ago and at the time it was between a choice of NNEB or BTec, I'm sure now there's lots more.
I think it's mad that childminders have so many restrictions and rules to follow and nannies can be hired with hardly anything, but again it's up to a parent to use an educated decision, and that's why a lengthy interview and background check is a must.
I personally am all for a nanny list or register as it would help for parents who've employed bad nannies, baby shakers or anything like that and give the rest of us good ones a good reputation and some backing by a government body.

marypoppins thats a good point, one official register would be nice! But I can't help but feel that it might be nbeglected, so a family with a vendetta against a nanny giving her a bad reputation, I know it's rare but it could happen the same way good families sometimes get a bad rep when a nanny doesn't like the work she's been given (should check beforehand but some don't!)

Mary Poppins your post of 19.12.48 horrifies me in terms of your attitude , you have put me off nannies more than any TV programme ever has ...

"There is hierarchy to the whole childcare arrangement with nannies at the top." WTF ???

Babbi I have to agree!? I have never heard of a hieracrchy before... ??? And I have CM and nanny friends and acquaintances and have never come across this attitude before (thankfully).

And as to giving individual care, some nannies I know have more than 3 kids to look after, I have 2, 3 or 4 myself (CM) on any given day. ??? The difference?

Please do not get me started on what a nanny does in the way of education, and what a CM does.. with EYFS (observations, assessments, planning, learning journals etc.) etc. I have a close friend who is a brilliant nanny (has been with the family for 5 years!), but she doesn't do nearly what I do regards the development of the children she looks after... and she actually has a teaching degree!

I don't do the children's laundry/tidy their room... do more housework type things, as you no doubt do as a nanny.

No one form of childcare is better than another... they each serve a purpose, and have a different role.

Also agree with Babbi!!! I'm and at what was written!!!!

I did say in my message that even between my own nanny friends there are different levels in regards as to what the nannies do with the children.
Even with a nanny looking after 3 children it is still with one family so her attention is just to them. My friends who are child minders come across problems in doing things with the children when all their parents don't agree with their children going to activities that the others might enjoy. She wanted to take one set to swimming lessons after school but another family didn't want their toddler sitting at the pool side. She wanted to take the younger ones to music classes but the family with older children didn't think their children would benefit from it. She has also missed out on coming into London with us as one family didn't want their children going on the tube. That's what I meant by being able to give a more stimulating environment to the children you look after because when working for one family you get all this sorted out in the interview as to where you are allowed to take the children and what activities you can do with them.
JenniPenni if you do alot of stimulating educational things with your children and don't leave it to the nanny then that's great. I've been working for a long time with parents who work 70 hour weeks and don't want to have to waste their time with the children at the weekend doing homeowrk and projects with them so are appreciative of me doing it with them in the week. Again childminders aren't always able to do this due to lack of materials at their house or not being able to go to the library and do reasearch with the older children due to having little ones.
I think many mothers would disagree with you about one form of childcare being better than the other as I know lots of parents that would love to be able to afford a nanny but can't and have to put their children in day nurseries or use childminders or aupairs and aren't happy with it.
With any career in an office you get promotions and everyone knows who works above them and what qualifications and experience they have or are getting to get that job. That is what I meant by the hierarchy comment as most people who don't know much about the childcare world think that it's just glorified babysitting and only find out about the differences between nannies, child minders and aupairs when they have children of their own and start looking into it.
I'm sure that in a different career if you have worked your way up the career ladder and got to nearly the top, say a v.p and then someone asks you what you do at your office are you a secretary you would be miffed and tell them about what your job involves etc.
It's the same with nannying if someone asks you 'oh you work with kids are you an aupair' you would correct them and explain the difference.

saying

There is hierarchy to the whole childcare arrangement with nannies at the top

isn't going to get you much support i'm afraid. i'm actually surprised how easy it seems to be to become a nanny. as an afterschool/playworker i have had to do many courses and be ofsted registered from the start.

I'm a nanny and know that childminding is an option for me as I now have my own child. However, the whole process of becoming a childminder scares the life out of me. There seems to be so much red tape that goes with it. I have the utmost admiration for anyone who is committed enough to become a childminder. I take my hat off to you all .

I also disagree about the "hierarchy". I think that's such a sweeping generalisation. In my opinion, the only hierarchy is that nannies get paid far more than childminders, which is a crime in my book. Childminders who look after their full allowance of children work MEGA hard, and from what I can see, that's the only way they're going to scrape a living out of it. It would be far easier to go to somebody else's house to look after their kids.

I can see a lot of parents would rather employ a childminder who's had all the necessary checks, than a nanny who doesn't have to be regulated at all. Anybody can call themselves a nanny.

There are good nannies. There are bad nannies. There are good childminders. There are bad childminders. It's scary enough to leave your child with someone else. These programmes do NOTHING to alleviate those fears.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I half understand this heirachy idea, however, as others have pointed out, a nanny can have more than one charge she needs to divide her attention between. Yes working for one family is nice in the fact that you have one set of rules, but I remember my Mum being a CM and she had 6 or 7 of us during the holidays (3 of her own children) and we done loads of things that both sets of parents encouraged her to do. And I find that as a nanny, I take the younger one swimming and the older one stays at home or comes to play badminton with me, so there are other things to do during that time usually for other charges! Most parents are happy for their CMs to do what they will with the kids.

And I get really annoyed whenever people put APs at the bottom. Maybe there are AP horror stories but there are also similar horror stories regarding Nannies and CMs. I am in an APs job in the UK as I study to be a nanny, I feel that I do a good job and many of my friends have been APs working in crappy conditions and on a crappy wage yet they're still smiling and doing their jobs. There are bad APs, Nannies and CMs and just because it's all the medie presents it doesn't mean that one is worse than the other.

By the way, when I have kids, I would not get a nanny. I would get an AP and not because of the price but because they deserve a chance to prove they aren't twats like everyone makes them out to be.

Pixi you may be an exception when it comes to au pairs but the majority are young with very limited childcare experience, mainly babysitting. Their English ranges from fluent to limited and a lot come over to be able to study and improve their English. I don't believe au pairs should be left in sole charge of babies and I don't believe an au pair can be put on the same 'level' as a nanny.

In my opinion a nanny is qualified and experienced. A nanny is someone who makes a career out of looking after children. They do it because they love children. An au pair is doing the job to study. I doubt many au pairs go on to nanny as a career.

Childminders work very hard. I did consider it but all the endless paper work puts me off. As a nanny, it's my job to nurture and educate my charges but I'd hate to have a tick list of 'you must do this and that'. I agree that all childcarers should be regulated but I do worry a lot of people would just employ au pairs to do a nannies job. I can't see how you could regulate every au pair.

I would never put myself 'above' childminders but I would certainly put myself above au pairs.

Pixinanny, you have such a good point. In one of my earlier jobs, the family took an instant dislike to me. I wasn't willing to do the ridiculous non-nanny jobs my predecessor had (cleaning cars, cleaning carpets, washing windows, serving food to their relatives at parties etc). I gave them two weeks notice. They kicked me out on the spot. Not good when you're living in in an unfamiliar city!

They hurled verbal abuse at me when I phoned them to collect my post, which included my passport. They refused to forward said post. They phoned my Mum and told her I was mentally unstable. They contacted my previous employers to ask why they'd given me such a good reference when I was clearly a psycho.

In the end I had to contact the police to retrieve my passport from them.

This was 14 years ago. I have had a fantastic career since, my references and work record are impeccable.

Imagine if there'd been a register. My name would have been dragged through the mud by them, all because they had this vendetta against me. I would never have worked again. Hardly fair!