One of the most common misconceptions in the world of employing nannies is that normal UK employment law doesn’t apply. Not true I’m afraid. Nannies have exactly the same employment rights as normal workers. (more…)

Hard to believe, but it will be the Easter holidays in a matter of weeks.

My lovely nanny is now back with us, and together we have drawn up a list of (what I believe are) essential life-saving chores:  (more…)

My neighbours presented me with an interesting challenge last week. They needed a babysitter for their eight month old nephew, who was staying with them for a week and wondered if I could recommend anyone. Without hesitation, I gave them the number for Tinies Bucks and also told them to have a look at the Tinies Childcare website. (more…)

I was at a dinner this weekend and got into a conversation with a guest about hiring nannies. He was asking me about Tinies and whether we were worried about the impact of the economy on our business.

I explained that the biggest threat to our business was the internet, and how parents are using websites such as Gumtree and Internet childcare sites to find their nannies.

He was amazed to hear this. (more…)

I was reading an article in the FT a few weekends ago about Match.com, the dating site. You may wonder where this is going to, given we are a childcare site and not a dating site! But it was very interesting to read about how people’s minds work when setting criteria of who they would like to meet for a date. (more…)

One activity that I love to do as a nanny is visiting our local library. We go at least once every 3 weeks. J often asks to go to the library and I find it a really useful and easy activity to do with 2 children under 3. J and I sit and read the books whilst M crawls around destroying the neatly stacked shelves! (more…)

This is a subject close to my heart at the moment. I have been talking to the Daycare Trust about the issue of wrap around childcare. The previous government made a big song and dance about providing childcare solutions for parents who work and who need their children to be cared for before and after school. But they failed to follow through. This issue is getting worse, and the government does not seem willing to address it, even though we believe the problem is severely hampering mums going back to work.  (more…)

Now that I’ve had my own inspection, I feel my views on Ofsted and the inspections they carry out have changed. Child protection is high on their priority at present, following on from cases such as Baby P, and therefore they have to do what they can to ensure nannies on the Register are safeguarding their charges. Nannies  need to keep up to date on their knowledge of  child protection and should know how they should report any concerns about the child in their care. (more…)

I’m a registered nanny on the Ofsted Voluntary Childcare Register. A few weeks ago I had a phone call from Ofsted informing me I was one of the “lucky” 10% of nannies to be chosen to receive a visit from an inspector. Of course I use the term “lucky” very loosely. (more…)

Nannies get very little recognition in the childcare industry. They have no legal definition and they have no mandatory register unlike childminders and nursery staff. So it’s good to know that they can at least participate in an Annual Award which aims to recognise the best nannies out there.  (more…)