I had someone hit my page via google wondering if Nannies require OFSTED registration, so I thought I write a quick post on that.
So far, Nannies do not require to be OFSTED registered but they can however chose to get registered on the voluntary part of the child care register.
There are some requirements for getting registered – the prospective candidate needs
- a childcare qualification (a weekend course is often enough, check their page for details)
- a recent first aid certificate (OFSTED accredited)
- public liability insurance (for nannies)
- to pass the CRB check
They reckon registration can take up to 25 weeks, so if you chose to get registered bear in mind that this will take some time.
Check their homepage for all the details I might have forgotten something 
but it’s the most important bits anyways.
Yes. I admit it. I am having trouble keeping my wardrobe look neat and as many other females I have the problem of having loads of clothes but never having anything to wear.
One of my biggest problems is space. The room in my house share only has limited space and therefore the wardrobe is tiny. (I just have to mention that I am the only girl in this house and the only person who hasn’t got a full body mirror in their room.) Well, there is not enough space in my wardrobe that I can actually use. Let me show you a picture first:
My wardrobe is too small to hang all items, there is not enough shelf space I can actually reach, to fold items so I went for one of these clothes organisers from IKEA (this one I think). This has worked very well for me as it creates extra shelf space, but there is virtually no space to hang any clothes due to my thick winter jacket being in there.
The top shelf currently just has stuff in it. I can only actually reach the front of it so I keep my scarves, hats, gloves and some tights in there – and my hairdryer as there is no space for it elsewhere.. The back of this shelf is full of … stuff. I have no idea what is in there even though I have only recently emptied my wardrobe completely and stuffed everything back.
I use the hangers as I said for my winter jacket and a blazer I don’t really like.
The IKEA organiser contains virtually all of my clothes. T-Shirts I really like wearing, shirts I only wear with certain other clothes, Dresses and Skirts, shirts I for some reason don’t like wearing a lot at the moment and trousers and jeans.
At the bottom of the wardrobe are my summer and chill-out trousers in the back as I don’t wear them very often or only around the house. In the front are my leggings and tights.
In the last year I have learned a lot about colours and cut and I have realised that a lot of the clothes I own actually don’t suit me. I have now decided to look around for some hints on a basic wardrobe and keeping your wardrobe organised.
Keeping your wardrobe organised
- Set a regular time to clear out your closet – I tend to clear out clothes as I go along if they are broken and regularly review the clothes on my “I don’t want to wear them at the moment”- shelf to figure out how I can improve them. (Maybe I like them with a cardigan over it?)
- The clothing reality check – Yes, it’s hard, but I try to do it. I am very lucky and don’t drown in clothes (because of the limited space). I simply have to sort things out I don’t wear anymore. But this top shelf really needs to be lucked at.
- Sort the shelves – Refolding. I know. I am just no good at folding clothes…
- Store seasonal clothes separately – Will try to move my winter jacket out of the wardrobe maybe under the bed (where I store my shoes and handbags btw). The UK is temperature wise not too different and I don’t have many clothes that are seasonal only.
- Clear the floor – Just done. I use a nice cloth to protect the bottom of the wardrobe and catch any dust. So cleaning is easier, otherwise there is only my leggings and tights on the bottom.
- Re-organise your hanging clothes – Well, there isn’t too many.
- Improve the scent – Packaged scented soaps… aha!
- Get some storage boxes – Ok, I could do with a storage box for my tights/leggings and scarfs (I have a lot of scarfs).
Here is some more tips on how to do and don’t treat your clothes at womensfashion.suite101.com. Also check out their articles on body shape! There is some excellent hints on there.
This is an article on CNN.com/living going into more detail about some aspects of making your clothes accessible to you.
(My browser just crashed but thank goodness wordpress kept a backup of this!)
Well I shall continue with a list of basics I want to purchase in my next post.
My horoscope promised me today that career wise I shall see the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope so. I was very lucky to find a full-time position working for a big nursery chain – which will finally give me the chance to get qualified and still earn money. I will obviously keep you posted on that – especially my key enlightenment moments ;o).
I hope everyone had a magnificent start to the New Year. I have a finger that was bent back slightly too far and is now painful and slightly swollen tonsils – but all in all we had an amazing party last night.
I hope this will be a good year. For me it will (hopefully) start with a new job starting mid-January – if everything works out.
Good Luck for 2010 everyone!
I wish every one a Merry Christmas. I hope you don’t get too stressed out by the family visits and will feel refreshed in the new year.
Everyone knows how difficult it is to quit your job. Even if you leave for personal reasons you can do absolutely nothing about – you still have this really bad feeling. When you are working as a Nanny it is not only about leaving your work environment. It is about leaving the kids, leaving the family, leaving a place that feels like your second home (or if you are living in is your home).
When it comes to Nannying whether you get a new job or not largely depends on the reference the family you’re leaving will give you. This makes it virtually impossible to leave your current Nanny position ONLY if you have already found a new one – without your current family knowing. This means that you will often need to tell your family, ask them politely for a reference and often also give notice at the same time. All of this depends on your situation. Be honest with your family and tell them how you are feeling. (Remeber: Your family is supposed to give you a reference. It doesn’t matter how bad you have done whatever things, there is always something good to say about you. Please also bear in mind that they have no right to give you a negative reference. If they haven’t got anything good to say about you they should say nothing. Your family might also ask you to act as a reference for them – it goes both ways)
You want to leave for personal reasons (pregnancy, going back to your home country…)
This is probably the best reason to quit your job. Your family will be sad, shocked or whatever but they will help you make the best out of that situation. Not a big problem – it is your choice and they have to accept it. Remember to ask them about a written reference if you want to go on working as a Nanny in your home country – not every family who checks reference wants to call foreign countries (esp. if there are language barriers).
You want to leave because you’re not happy in the job anymore (you don’t get on with the kids, you’re being asked to do things you never agreed to do such as cleaning…)
Speak to your family about your concerns, often they don’t even notice they ask you to do things you’re not supposed to do. There is a lot of things that can annoy you once you have been with a family for long enough. Make sure you find a good moment to address these issues, sometimes this talk will resolve the problem and you will love your job again.
Unfortunately sometimes you will discover that there is a big gap between what your family wants you to do and what you agreed to do. Your family’s requirements might have changed and you might both decide to end this work arrangement – for the family to find someone that suits them and for your to find a position that suits you. You will be equally pleased with this decision and now you just need to agree how this change is to take place (2/3/4 weeks notice? Handover period? etc.).
You want to leave because what your family has to offer you is not what you want (anymore?) (Pay, holidays, hours etc.)
In this situation the Nanny is often in doubt if she should address this problem. I say go for it. If you feel like you want more, tell them. I know it is not easy, but if you’re not happy with things you need to talk about it. It will be difficult to discuss things like pay without thinking of yourself that you’re greedy. You’re not. You want to get what you deserve. Ask them about things in a quiet moment and give them time to think about it for a few weeks. Make sure you’re your best and they see what you’re worth. If there is no change possible, then give it another few weeks and tell them that you have decided to leave. Give them notice politely and ask if they’re happy to give you a reference. Make an agreement on what happens if they find a new Nanny before you have a new job. If possible have a handover period where you show around the new Nanny. After all you are the one that’s leaving because you’re not happy anymore – so try and make sure the new Nanny has a good start. Your family will appreciate that.
Of course there is so many other problems that can come up. After all we’re all people and all different hence why this is just a little guide. You know your family best – follow your heart. I have been through this yesterday. It wasn’t easy but it went well and I am glad I have finally done it. Now look into the future.
My boyfriend and me have purchased a new phone that makes having internet on your phone kind of essential, hence why I checked out the options for the two of us and I can’t believe what I see. PAYG customers seem to get a noticeably better deal if you’re just looking to purchase internet.
I am currently on a Solo 15 and get about 300 mins and 600 texts – but no internet. The only option for me as a pay monthly customer seems to be to pay £7.50 on top of my £15 that I already pay. From what it looks like I can only book this from the next time my bill is due (27th) so how am I going to get internet on my phone over the next 16 days without paying £1 per day? The other alternative is upgrading my contract to solo 20 which I honestly can’t afford – and which I don’t need when it comes to mins and texts.
And the obvious question to me is “Why do PAYG customers get such a better deal on their internet?”
£2.50 for 5 days
£5 for a month
£20 for 6 months
I can’t believe this. I also got a new SIM card with my phone, but I obviously need to my old phone number to work.
What am I going to do? Run around with 2 phones using one for calling and texting and the other one for internet until I can cancel my contract? How can these people be so unflexible and the deals for monthly customers so – excuse me – shit?
I have to admit that I love Christmas. From when I was a child I enjoyed the beautiful stories about snow, presents and festivity. When you have your own children (or work with them) you get the chance to live through the most beautiful time of the year being enchanted by the children’s enthusiasm and interest.
I am currently trying to spread the Christmas Spirit with the 2 year-old I am currently working with. This afternoon we will do some Baking and maybe also some crafting. Unfortunately all my run around the pound shops earlier was in vain – none of them seemed to stock christmas crafting sets. So normal paper will have to do the job. After all she’s only 2 anyways.
I came across a few pages with some interesting crafting ideas (incl.paper snow flakes), some of them are unfortunately in German but I’ll post everything anyways.
Christmas Cookie Recipes (Basic Dough and Variations)
Snow Picture – why not use some cotton wool to make a snow picture? Take some dark blue or grey construcation paper and maybe paint something on it like a street or some trees and the let the little one stick some cotton wool like little snow flakes on the picture. Add as many things as you like. Maybe you can also craft some clouds and stick them to the top of the contruction paper.
I know these stories are quite long but I tend to read to the little one anyways (mostly while she’s playing) and after the 2nd or 3rd story she will often come over to me and look at the book or webpage I am reading from, (even though there isn’t much to see) and will linger around and listen. Afterwards I usually try to do a quick recap so that she knows what I was brabbling about for the last 10 minutes 
.
German Links:
Weihnachtskarten – Christmas Cards ideas
Faltsterne – Paper Stars (similar idea to snow flakes)
If you know anymore pages you think are worth sharing, let me know.
I spent pretty much the whole weekend doing the lynda.com Illustrator Tutorial because I urgently need to finish a logo which simply proved impossible in photoshop – hence why I am now trying to figure out Illustrator.
Did I mention that it is so far a very frustrating experience? All these little difference between Photoshop and Illustrator just drive me nuts. I am trying to draw a light bulb and want to reflect one side to make sure it looks exactly like the other one – I’ve done that, but now the other side is not editable anymore oO The bounding box doesn’t turn up anymore and I can’t change the size of it. This is driving me crazy, any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks Google for pointing that out to me and giving me another 8 invites. Unfortunately all of my friends seem completely ignorant to this product and don’t fancy having an invite…?! Help.
