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View Full Version : norland nannies on tv last night



ziggy
18-07-2014, 09:10 AM
Did anyone watch it? if so, what did you think?

Simona
18-07-2014, 09:27 AM
Did anyone watch it? if so, what did you think?

I did and asked Norland College on twitter why the nannies were referred to as the Poshest nannies? ...as POSH stands for Port Out Starboard Home
Their reply was 'watch the documentary'
So I did and saw their training in sewing, cooking, first aid, self defence and I referred to cms who also have those skills
In the documentary I did not hear any reference to Ofsted or EYFS

Their salary was mentioned as £ 26,000 and more if they have additional skills

Does POSH refer to them or the families who are able to pay them and are, therefore, very affluent?

I think I know the answer and find that label questionable...my view of course

Kerry30
18-07-2014, 09:40 AM
Yes I watched it. I have a few friends that trained at Norland whereas i did the NNEB at my local college (many years ago)! And we all worked in the same area as nannies. I certainly dont think £26k as starting wage is realistic unless u work in London 24/7. And i did think alot of those girls will have a shock when it comes to looking after real babies....I mean how can u learn with a virtual baby!! When my friend was at Norland they had a nursery on site with real children in! I was a nanny for 12 years. I loved it but its hard work. Long hours and some no so great employers! As for self defence....any person who is looking after a child would protect that child with their life no matter what.
When i did the NNEB, for the 2years we had in college, every other week was spend in a childcare placement. By the end of the course we had done a placement in every age of childcare upto 8yr olds.
It was a good insight to see how Norland works tho. I wonder how many of them stays in nannying!!!

hectors house
18-07-2014, 09:56 AM
I recorded it but god knows when I will have time to watch it.

rickysmiths
18-07-2014, 09:58 AM
Interesting about your views on Salary! I did not see the programme unfortunately.

I was offered a job as a Nanny by one of my families this time last year. I was offered £25,000 for a four day week 7 to 7. I turned it down on the basis that I earn more than that in four days as a childminder :laughing::laughing: They thought they were being so kind and doing me a big favour as well. They left me in October (lazy because they didn't want to spend five mins bringing their children here!) The went through 3 Nannies in the first 6 months :laughing:

I actually thought a Norland Nanny was on about £45,000 min pa that was the figure when I last saw a programme about them. They must have been hit by inflation as well. Though it costs them a small fortune to train and buy their uniforms so I am surprised their salaries have gone so lo. Ha! I earn more than they do then.

ziggy
18-07-2014, 10:00 AM
Yes I watched it. I have a few friends that trained at Norland whereas i did the NNEB at my local college (many years ago)! And we all worked in the same area as nannies. I certainly dont think £26k as starting wage is realistic unless u work in London 24/7. And i did think alot of those girls will have a shock when it comes to looking after real babies....I mean how can u learn with a virtual baby!! When my friend was at Norland they had a nursery on site with real children in! I was a nanny for 12 years. I loved it but its hard work. Long hours and some no so great employers! As for self defence....any person who is looking after a child would protect that child with their life no matter what.
When i did the NNEB, for the 2years we had in college, every other week was spend in a childcare placement. By the end of the course we had done a placement in every age of childcare upto 8yr olds.
It was a good insight to see how Norland works tho. I wonder how many of them stays in nannying!!!

I'm also NNEB and think it was such a shame when it ended. Those 2 years were a real eye opener. and i was in my late 30's when i attended college.

As for the programme, they all seemed so young and maybe not quite aware what is ahead of them. Not certain they are any 'better' at the job than other nannies. Maybe POSH referred to their accents lol

ziggy
18-07-2014, 10:10 AM
Interesting about your views on Salary! I did not see the programme unfortunately.

I was offered a job as a Nanny by one of my families this time last year. I was offered £25,000 for a four day week 7 to 7. I turned it down on the basis that I earn more than that in four days as a childminder :laughing::laughing: They thought they were being so kind and doing me a big favour as well. They left me in October (lazy because they didn't want to spend five mins bringing their children here!) The went through 3 Nannies in the first 6 months :laughing:

I actually thought a Norland Nanny was on about £45,000 min pa that was the figure when I last saw a programme about them. They must have been hit by inflation as well. Though it costs them a small fortune to train and buy their uniforms so I am surprised their salaries have gone so lo. Ha! I earn more than they do then.

I'm moving to your part of the world. I work 50hrs a week and am lucky to earn £11,000. Although i have been looking at nanny jobs and it is amazing the difference in salaries offered

rickysmiths
18-07-2014, 10:22 AM
I'm moving to your part of the world. I work 50hrs a week and am lucky to earn £11,000. Although i have been looking at nanny jobs and it is amazing the difference in salaries offered



Good lord no wonder you are giving up cm there I couldn't pay my bills on £11,000 a year!

Here in SW Herts most cm are charging £5.50 to £6.50 per hour so £55 to £65 for a 10 hour day so you would gross a min of £33,000 pa on that with 3 children full time. But of course rents are more expensive and are a min of £1000. and even food costs more but I do try and shop in Lidal and I go to Waitrose in the evening when I get discounted bread and fruit. Every little helps.

hectors house
18-07-2014, 10:34 AM
Good lord no wonder you are giving up cm there I couldn't pay my bills on £11,000 a year!

Here in SW Herts most cm are charging £5.50 to £6.50 per hour so £55 to £65 for a 10 hour day so you would gross a min of £33,000 pa on that with 3 children full time. But of course rents are more expensive and are a min of £1000. and even food costs more but I do try and shop in Lidal and I go to Waitrose in the evening when I get discounted bread and fruit. Every little helps.

I thought about going back into childminding about 10 years ago when I heard the going rate for this area was £3 an hour, I though 3 children @ £3 an hour x 9 hours a day = £81 x 5 days a week = £400 x 52 = £20,000 roughly.

I don't do school aged children so stick to my 3 under 5's but I haven't even got close to earning that £20K gross and that's with the meal charges included, currently I only have one mindee who does the whole 9 hours, all rest pay minimum of 7 hours, I only charge half fee when they are on holiday, nothing when I am, so still even though now charging £3.75 not going to hit that 20K. Putting fees up again in Sept to £4.00 and new parents will be paying all year round apart from when I'm away.

jackie 7
18-07-2014, 11:07 AM
I have a friend who is nneb trained. Due to lots of placements in very different settings she got a broader training than Norland. Like all child carers some are great and others should not be left alone with them. I didn't do nvq until I was about to stop nannying.

loocyloo
18-07-2014, 01:00 PM
I'm NNEB too!

I also knew a couple of Norland nannies when I working as a nanny. one was lovely and the other ... well! she wasn't so nice! I definitely had had a broader variety of childcare experience offered to me during my training. My parents said that I could go to ( apply to ) Norland if I wanted to ... we looked round and then looked round the local colleges that offered the NNEB and I preferred the 'real world' !

My parents neighbours daughter trained at Norland ... she was horrified in her first job that she was expected to do the babies washing and clean the babies room/change bedding etc. she lasted 3 whole weeks and then went to work in an office. as far as I know several years on, she still works in an office ( not sure what she does! ) and her parents look after her children 5 days a week.

It is very much a status thing for some families to employ a Norland nanny, and like someone else said - like it is in every profession - some are good at it, and would be good, regardless of where they trained, and others are not so good!.

I also did first aid, sewing, cookery, pottery, woodwork, metalwork, typing, self defence, pe ( I learnt to do somersaults on a trampoline!!! ) and a multitude of other bits & bods during my course!

Jiorjiina
19-07-2014, 01:45 AM
I saw it, though mostly I was distracted by the fact that they were using the music from The Sims 3 in the background for most of it!

Norland is a brand, and it costs a lot of go because it's a high end brand. Hence the 'Posh' label. I agree that plenty of childminders and nannies also have those skills, and a lot more, but because Norland is a well known training college people trust the skills their nanny has learned there. It's just brand recognition.

The Norland Diploma (their own training thing) is now part of an honours degree, and it does include the EYFS but I suspect they neglected to mention that because I don't think it means a lot to those outside the Early Years. You can see the full list of modules in it on their website (http://www.norland.co.uk/courses/view/ba_hons1#course_map_and_modules). They probably didn't mention Ofsted for the same reason. It's an ITV documentary, I find they generally treat their audience as though they were idiots, so that fact that there were glaring gaps in the information it gave us was hardly surprising. Like the fact that they didn't mention any of the men who have trained there either.

They did used to have a nursery, but I think it closed a year or so ago because it became unsustainable.

Simona
19-07-2014, 08:33 AM
I saw it, though mostly I was distracted by the fact that they were using the music from The Sims 3 in the background for most of it!

Norland is a brand, and it costs a lot of go because it's a high end brand. Hence the 'Posh' label. I agree that plenty of childminders and nannies also have those skills, and a lot more, but because Norland is a well known training college people trust the skills their nanny has learned there. It's just brand recognition.

The Norland Diploma (their own training thing) is now part of an honours degree, and it does include the EYFS but I suspect they neglected to mention that because I don't think it means a lot to those outside the Early Years. You can see the full list of modules in it on their website (http://www.norland.co.uk/courses/view/ba_hons1#course_map_and_modules). They probably didn't mention Ofsted for the same reason. It's an ITV documentary, I find they generally treat their audience as though they were idiots, so that fact that there were glaring gaps in the information it gave us was hardly surprising. Like the fact that they didn't mention any of the men who have trained there either.

They did used to have a nursery, but I think it closed a year or so ago because it became unsustainable.

Wonderful reply...thank you
I believe the label 'posh' will be related to their employer more that the nanny herself?
I think Prince George has a Norland Nanny?...enough said.

NNEB...I think it was one of the best training available...it was scrapped and now the Level 3 EYE has lots of elements of it in its programme...even Truss mentioned that when she launched EYE....starting with a secure and sound knowledge of child development...something that was removed from the current NVQ 3 to make it more accessible

Even Norland nannies can find their employer difficult and move on...but I do believe that nannies have to do cooking and cleaning and washing as long as it only relates to their charges, the children, and not the household...correct me if I ma wrong

I questioned the label 'posh' not the actual nannies who looked fairly nice and enthusiastic...young and often giggly
I was told to watch the programme...I did and I am none the wiser

Can we call ourselves 'posh CMs' if we can do all that they are taught?...are there any 'posh nurseries or preschools'?

Jiorjiina
19-07-2014, 11:38 AM
I believe the label 'posh' will be related to their employer more that the nanny herself?
I think Prince George has a Norland Nanny?...enough said.

A lot of the girls who go to Norland are pretty middle class (including, apparently, the royal nanny). Since childcare is unfortunately (and, as we all obviously know, incorrectly), still perceived as 'menial' work, training at Norland is seen by some people as an acceptable way for middle class girls to join the field. Just about!

I think the thing is that because it's a well known college, their trainees have an established reputation. And that's what the parents are relying on. They don't really learn anything different to anyone else doing the level 3 Diploma or higher, but because they were one of the first places in the world to offer any childcare training of any kind at all, they have a reputation for being professional that people trust. Outside of the sector, a lot of people still don't really understand the level of training and professionalism that is becoming standard, so they don't always trust a qualification from a local college.

It's one of the things that I think should be promoted much more by organisations like PACEY and the PLA.


Can we call ourselves 'posh CMs' if we can do all that they are taught?...are there any 'posh nurseries or preschools'?

Good lord yes there are posh preschools. There was a short series a couple of years ago about dads going and working at nurseries. One of them, in Chelsea, took the kids on a day out to the Saachi museum. And when they asked the kids what cars their parents drove, the answers were all things like Bentley, Rolls Royce, Maserati, etc. I would say that counted as pretty posh!

The thing is, you will never see a nursery or preschool actually promoting themselves as such, even though they are. I suppose the 'posh' is due to the employers/parents to a certain extent. They demand a level of luxury (and frankly, luxury is the only word I can think of to describe it properly!) for their children, by way of low numbers, high end equipment, highly qualified staff, etc. that most of us can't afford to provide.

I think you can see it more overtly in places like New York, where parents are more openly demanding about their expectations for their children than you can in London where it's all a lot more hidden (but just as demanding!).

I can also do a lot of what they train them to do at Norland, and I wouldn't have said I was a particularly 'posh' childminder, but I have been called it before!

Kerry30
19-07-2014, 11:39 AM
When i was a nanny i had to do childrens washing,ironing,cleaning etc in some jobs. In others i didnt have to. Depends on the employer. As for doing the washing etc for the parents, they employ you so they can determine what jobs they want you to do. Generally it is just 'Nursery duties'. I used to do a families weekly food shop in one job and change all the beds, parents bed included ( mum was heavily pregnant at time and it was a massive bed). They were the only 2 things required of me cos she wanted me to spend time with the children. Ironically i still had to do those things when i was heavily pregnant!