Great Selection of Au Pair Candidates Available

At Smartaupairs, we work closely with a wide network of partner agencies both in Europe as well as in Canada & Australia.

We can therefore offer a great selection of au pairs to match your family requirements; whether the requirement is to have a native speaker to assist with homework, a French candidate to help your child in his/her language studies or perhaps a male au pair to join in your child’s sports practise.

To view a snapshot of candidates currently looking for a host family, please click here

As you may see, many of our au pairs have practical training experience with children as well as special talents ranging from sports to arts and music.

Part-time English Courses at Eurocentres: Next Term Tuesday 12th January 2010

Eurocentres offers part-time English courses suitable for au pairs at two London schools.

The au pairs currently studying English at Eurocentres are highly satisfied with the course.

Locations

Eurocentres London Central (Victoria) – 56 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1PH (phone = 020 7834 4155)

Eurocentres Lee Green (near Blackheath) – 21 Meadowcourt Road, London SE3 9EU (phone = 020 8318 5633)

Only £299 per 12 week term.

Students can start at any time

1. 3 days a week (1.5 hours a day Tuesday -  Thursday)
2. Lessons either at 10:30 – 12:00 or 12:30 – 14:00
3. 2 London schools – London Central in Victoria and London Lee Green (near Blackheath)
4. Cambridge Exam Preparation, IELTS Preparation (both schools are IELTS testing centres) and General English
5. Students have free access to our Learning Centre – computer network with online study material, library, language laboratory etc
6. 60 years of English language teaching experience and one of the most recognised names in the EFL industry
7. Enrolment fee of £40 – one off booking fee for new students

For more information, please see Eurocentres website – http://www.eurocentres.com/en/language_courses/Part-time_Courses,c278.html

Childcare Vouchers/Tax Credits

Tax credits are payments from the government. If you’re responsible for at least one child or young person who normally lives with you, you may qualify for Child Tax Credit. (HMRC)

Family eligibility for tax credit depends on factors such as age, employment status, number of children, disabilities & other benefits claimed.  In general, the family needs to earn less than £58 000 combined/year to qualify.

Some employers also give out childcare vouchers.

For a family to be able to gain the tax credits or childcare vouchers, they have to employ a registered carer. The governing body in the UK is Ofsted and the au pair must register with them on a voluntary, home based childcare scheme.

The number for tax credits is 08453 003900, or for more information, please see: www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits

Guide for Families:

1. Contact Ofsted – ask for your au pair to be registered under the voluntary Ofsted scheme.
2. Complete the form sent to you by Ofsted and return it with a valid first aid certificate(¹)
3. Ofsted will conduct a police check/CRB on the person – even if the au pair already has a valid CRB. If the person has lived in the UK for less than 5 years, which is the case with most au pairs, she or he would be required to acquire a good conduct letter/certificate from the embassy (in English or translated in English by an authorized translator).
4. Ofsted will thereafter send you another form (verify form) which you would take to the post office (together with an ID to check your identity).
5. Payment of the application fee – £103 – the fee becomes repayable annually as long as the person wishes to be registered.
6. The au pair is also required to have a childcare qualification from their home country or from the UK which is equivalent to the level 2 or they have to enrol on a Common Core Skills and Knowledge Course (²) by contacting heir local authority. For more information, please call Children Work Force Development Council on 01132 446 311 or on 0300 123 1033
7. The au pair is also required to have personal public liability insurance, most households have an insurance which would not cover the au pair if she has an accident so she would need to acquire on of her own.
8. The duration of the registration process is between 12 and 14 weeks (6-8 weeks to receive the CRB check).

(1)First Aid Course

The certificate must be for a paediatric first aid course – which can be either a 6 or 12 hour course. The family is required to make sure the course is suitable for the Ofsted Voluntary childcare scheme.

(2)Common Core Skills and Knowledge Course

If your local authority does not offer the course then you may contact a training organizer. One provider is MNT Training who runs two Common Core Skills and Knowledge courses. First being a 2 day course in London (costing £150/run monthly). You will receive a certificate and may have an assessment (but this is not required by Ofsted). Second course is a distant learning course for people who are unable to attend in London. The course cost is £150 and at the end of the course an assessment is conducted for proof of completed studies.

Information gathered by Sara Rahmani/Monica from Peek a Boo Childcare

First Aid for Children – Free Seminars by BabySafe

Great opportunity to improve first aid skills for both parents and au pairs!

“The FREE BabySafe seminars have been especially designed to help parents cope with babies and young children in emergency first-aid situations.

Each seminar covers a range of different life-saving techniques including basic resuscitation, what to do if a child is choking, dealing with burns and scalds, spotting the signs of meningitis as well as car-seat safety advice.

The two-hour course also includes a practical session with RLSS volunteers, enabling participants to try out their skills on dummy babies and children.

From November until the end of March, eight FREE BabySafe seminars will be held at select towns throughout the UK. Everyone who attends will receive a free ‘goody bag’ packed with useful products and a free life-saving skills DVD.”

For the dates and locations of the eight BabySafe Workshops please follow the link:

http://www.tesco.com/babyclub/join_now/babyclub_news/baby_safe.page

Special thanks to our Host Mum (Ms. Moyes) who referred us to the programme.

Source: Tesco.com/babyclub

Au Pair Induction & Online Training Course

Our au pair induction last Saturday at Eurocenters language school was a great success. The au pairs who attended liked our presentations, the free trial lessons provided and the chance to meet other au pairs. For us, it was a wonderful opportunity to meet so many lovely au pairs in person.

We now have a further unique opportunity to offer for au pairs; a brand new online accredited au pair induction course, delivered by Milton Keynes Language Center and agreed for Smartaupairs at half price!

To benefit from this half price offer –

Enrol your au pair online before 30 September as follows:

Enter promotional code SMART0909 (must use capitals) on

http://www.mklc.co.uk/aupair.html

and pay by PayPal as instructed. The name of the student to enrol must be your au pair as this will be the name for the exam and certificate.

The course is designed to be a 30 hour course divided into 4 sections, covering topics such as Getting To Know Your Family, Health & safety, Food & Recipes and ‘Out & About’. Throughout the course your au pair will have access to support from a tutor plus a student forum. At the end of the course, when all the assessments/tasks have been completed successfully, an official certificate will be issued.

The Au pair course is one unit of a larger course titled ‘British Culture’; other units in the course being: British business etiquette, British heritage, People in history and Famous Britons.

We feel this will be a fantastic benefit for all au pairs keen to embrace the cultural experience!

New Au Pair Course

Smartaupairs is contributing to a brand new ‘au pair’ course which has already received accreditation through the OCN, the Open College Network. The course is designed by Milton Keynes Language Center and will be online. It will be a 30 hour course set out over 4 sections.

The course is designed to be a 30 hour course set out over 4 sections, covering topics such as Getting To Know Your Family, Health & safety, Food & Recipes and ‘Out & about’. Throughout the course you will have access to support from a tutor plus a student forum. At the end of the course, when all the assessments/tasks have been completed successfully, an official certificate will be issued.

The Au pair course is one unit of a larger course titled ‘British Culture’; other units in the course being: British business etiquette, British heritage, People in history and Famous Britons.

In addition to the OCN accreditation, we are hoping to gain endorsement from BAPAA for this course, which provides an excellent starting point for every au pair candidate travelling to Britain or recently arrived with their British host family.

The course will be sold at £60 including exam fee and certificate and will launch from 1^st September 2009.

We also hope to include the course in some of our promotions at a reduced fee so ‘watch this space!’

We feel this will be a fantastic benefit for all au pairs keen to embrace the cultural experience!

Channel 4 looking for Families with 4 or More Children of the Same Gender

Love Productions has been commissioned to make a documentary for Channel 4 about large families with single-gender offspring.  We are looking to feature families based in the UK who have four or more children of the same gender and are pregnant, or trying for a baby of the opposite sex, in order to complete their family.  We want to explore what it’s like living in a same-sex household, and look at the reasons behind the decision to have another child.

There are many reasons as to why a family might continue to try for the other sex ranging from the previous loss of a child, to wanting to bring a female presence to an overwhelmingly male household.  We also understand that particularly wanting a boy or girl is not uncommon and we want to explore the emotional and psychological reasons behind that desire.

We are already filming with two families in the UK, one family with 8 boys hoping to have a girl, the other with 6 boys and their new baby girl.  The film promises to be a sensitive, insightful and celebratory portrayal of large families who would love to have a boy or a girl, and the how much it means to them to achieve their dream.  It will be broadcast as one of Channel 4’s Cutting Edge documentaries later this year.
It would be fantastic if you had a family on your books wishing to share their story in the film.  I would be most grateful if you would consider passing on this information to any of your clients who may have 4 or more children of one gender.  If a couple wants to just call for further information, that’s fine, there’s no obligation for them to feature in the film and all calls are treated as confidential.

Please contact Smartaupairs on 0800 917 81 66 – and we can put you in contact with the Producer.

News from ISA (The Independent Safeguarding Authority)

The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) has been created to help prevent unsuitable people from working with children and vulnerable adults.

You can view www.isa-gov.org.uk

The page relating to the au pair industry is:
http://www.isa-gov.org.uk/default.aspx?page=314

This scheme takes effect as from July 2010 and will be compulsory as from November 2010.

The BAPAA committee is currently seeking clarification as to whether au pairs are to be included in the scheme.

Keeping Your Child Safe & Encouraging Better Behaviour

The two following booklets are provided by NSPCC and are free to view online.

The information is easy to read and very useful especially during the early days of the au pair placement. Therefore, why not refer your au pair to the page or have a read through together with her/him.

Keeping Your Child Safe:

“How do you keep children safe outside the home? How can you keep your toddler safe if they tend to wander off? What should you tell your child to do if they get lost? How do you make sure that your children are safe when taking part in activities in the local community? What should you do if you see a distressed child?

This booklet offers practical advice to parents and carers, encouraging them to think about how they can make the world a safer place for children. Includes information on what questions to ask when choosing after and out of school activities.”

http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/publications/Downloads/outalone_wdf48089.pdf

Encouraging Better Behaviour:

“A practical guide to positive parenting” , why does a child misbehave & how to react,  guide to positive discipline. A paper copy is provided as part of our family welcome pack.

http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/publications/Downloads/encouragingbetterbehaviour_wdf48121.pdf

Source: NSPCC

Au Pair Driving in the UK

If you need your Au Pair to be able to drive you are responsible for arranging car insurance. Check the age you can afford to insure prior to choosing an Au pair and also check the type of licence – for rules on driving in UK, go to http://www.dvla.gov.uk/

Please note that if you need a driver you need to be aware that an Au Pair’s driving ability may be an unknown quantity. Even if the Au Pair says that they have been driving for 5 years, they may have passed their test 5 years ago and not driven a car since; so you need to be sure of their driving ability before accepting them as your Au Pair. To help, in the Au Pair application process we ask for basic information such as: How often do you drive? What types of roads do you drive on – motorway, town, city, countryside? Have you had any accidents?

Ultimately, the decision to accept an Au Pair as a driver is your responsibility and you need to be sure that the Au pair is capable of driving – especially if you expect them to drive your children. We would suggest that once the Aupair arrives you arrange for a 2 hour driving lesson so that a qualified instructor can assess their driving ability. You may need to arrange more lessons!

Source: Rebecca Haworth-Wood

RULES FOR THE ROAD

Austria

Learning: A driving school and accompanied driving programme, with practical and theory lessons and a minimum of 3,000kms accompanied driving. Learners can start at 16 and take the test from 17.

After the test: Two years’ probation and a zero-alcohol rule. Any violations lead to an offender course and extension of probation. One year after the test, there’s a day of track training and group discussion.

Germany

Learning: Drivers can learn to drive only in professional driving schools. Learners can take the test at 17, followed by mandatory accompanied driving until 18.

After the test: Two years’ probation, extended if there are violations. Zero alcohol until 21

France

Learning: Starts at 17½ (if at a driving school) or 16 on the accompanied driving programme — a combination of a minimum of 20 hours’ driving school training, 3,000km accompanied driving, plus two three-hour feedback meetings with instructor. Minimum age for test, 18.

After the test: Three years probabtion and novice drivers must display ‘A’ driver-plates on the back of the car. They must also drive more slowly, ie, 110km on motorways, instead of 130km.

Sweden

Learning: Lessons start at 16 and the accompanying driver must take a three-hour training course. Driving test can be taken at 18.

After the test: Two years’ probation. Violations result in a suspension of the licence and driver has to retake test.

UK

Learning: Test can be taken at 17. Unlike other countries, motorway driving is not taught.

After the test: Two years’ probation, during which the licence can be revoked after obtaining six penalty points, instead of the usual 12. Driver must then retake test.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/features/article6505094.ece

Photo: IanWhite/Deviantart