More Choice of Specialist Candidates

Our specialist candidates are very popular with families looking for that ‘little bit extra’ from the au pair placement.

These Specialists are candidates who are either Native English speakers, Mother’s help candidates (more responsibility and/or longer hours) or ‘tutor-au-pair’ candidates (able to assist with homework support).

The candidates below may be placed at any time and their profiles are just examples of the caliber of specialists we regularly place through smartaupairs.

For more practical information about
Mother’s help positions click here.

For more practical information about
Tutor au pairs click here

SPECIALIST (5147)

Lisanne from The Netherlands

Lisanne is a 21 years old Dutch girl and a Specialist candidate. She completed 2 1/2 years of a teacher training course and also did practical training but decided it was not her ideal future career and wanted to take a year out before making definitive decisions about her future studies (Sep 2010) and wants to spend the ‘year out’ as au pair.

• Tutor or Mother’s Help candidate
• Extensive childcare experiences due to her education and a lot of babysitting
• Internships at Nursery for babies and toddlers, at Primary schools for children with learning difficulties (ages 6-11) and at a Montessori school (ages 6-9)
• Very good English skills
• Start date: July 2009 for 9 – 12 months

SPECIALIST (5165)

Erin from Canada

Erin is a 21 years old Canadian girl and therefore a native English speaker. She has got lots of childcare experiences as she has worked as a Supply Early Childhood Educator to take part in essential routines and assisting children during those routines such as toileting, sleep time and supervising outside. She also worked as a “Before and After School Program Teacher”.
Erin loves horse back riding, is a condident rider and gave children horse back riding lessons in summer camps. She has done a lot of babysitting as well.

• Native English Speaker
• Early childhood Education first aid CPR
• Extensive childcare experiences with babies, toddlers and school aged children
• Start date: September 2009 for 11 – 12 months

SPECIALIST (5174)

Edith from Sweden

Edith is an 18 years old Swedish girl and has got lots of experiences in supervising children. She has provided live-in care in a family in Sweden while being a part time student in high school and she has also been a summer au pair in England already. Edith gained many experiences in babysitting as well. As she loves dancing she arranged a dance camp for children that she has written the stories for and she has been the chorographer for the shows the children performed.

• Mother’s help candidate
• Extensive childcare experiences with babies, toddlers and school aged children. Her mum is also a nanny so full support.
• Very good English skills.
• She has already lived away from home since she was 15 while providing Live-in care
• Start date: July 2009 for 6 – 12 months

Finding the Right Language Course

Here are our Smart TIPS to find the best (FREE?!) language course.

Family and au pair should work together to find the right language courses and it may be difficult to arrange these in advance as a local test is often required to make sure classes are at the right level.

The information below is correct for most locations. Smartaupairs provides all au pairs in Kent with a contact list for FREE English classes – what a bonus!

EFL = English as Foreign Language

Advantages
•    Highly recognised Cambridge certificate
•    Regulated language schools accredited by English Council
•    Easy to find on English UK www.englishuk.com
•    Mostly high quality locations
•    Often additional extras included such as a social/excursion program
•    Flexible start dates and durations (usually)
•    Open to all nationalities

Disadvantages
•    Expensive
•    Fewer au pairs attend

To Find

www.englishuk.com

www.europa-pages.com

ESOL = English for Speakers of Other Languages

Advantages
•    Internationally recognised Trinity Certificate
•    Non-commercial, part government funded, so CHEAPER
•    Many other au pairs to meet
•    Government approved

Disadvantages
•    Some locations are a bit less desirable
•    More difficult to find out details on how/where/when etc.
•    Only usually open to EU au pairs
•    Can be inflexible on start date and duration (September & January)

TO FIND – try typing in Google:
for Kent Adult Education ‘ESOL classes [name of town/area of host family]’ ‘ESOL courses [name of town/area of host family]’ ‘Adult education [name of town/area of host family]’ And/or ask your host family to call the local council office and/or local college.

SKILLS PLUS or SKILLS FOR LIFE (ESOL)
Designed to teach English to foreigners moving to Britain

Advantages
•    Non-commercial, government funded, so FREE (EU only)
•    Many other au pairs to meet
•    Government approved
•    Usually flexible on duration and start date

Disadvantages
•    Exam recognised by OCR (UK recognised – limited internationally)
•    Some locations are a bit less desirable
•    VERY difficult to find out details on how/where/when etc.*
•    Limited availability, some towns non at all
•    Can be overbooked/overcrowded and sometimes waitlists
•    Only open to EU au pairs

TO FIND – in Kent go to skills-plus website or e-mail info@smartaupairs.com, we have an additional contact list for FREE classes in KENT Outside Kent try typing in Google: ‘ESOL Skills for life classes [name of town/area of host family]’ ‘Free ESOL classes [name of town/area of host family]’ ‘ESOL Skills for life courses [name of town/area of host family]’ ‘Adult education [name of town/area of host family]’ And/or ask your host family to call the local council office and/or local college.

TEACHER TRAINING CLASSES (TEFL/TESOL)*
Attend classes where the teacher is learning to teach English.

Advantages
•    Totally FREE for all nationalities!
•    Many other au pairs to meet
•    Government approved

Disadvantages
•    No exam (attendance certificate only)
•    VERY difficult to find out details on how/where/when etc.
•    Limited availability, some towns non at all
•    Often in the afternoon – may not fit in with host family schedule

TO FIND – in Kent, Christchurch College in Canterbury often has these courses
if you are not near Canterbury, try typing in Google: ‘TEFL classes [name of town/area of host family]’ ‘TESOL classes [name of town/area of host family]’ ‘Teacher training courses [name of town/area of host family]’ And/or ask your host family to call the local council office and/or local college BE PREPARED FOR SOME SERIOUS SEARCHING! These are not ‘official’ courses and no money is used for advertising them so ASK ASK ASK!

EXTRA SMART TIPS: Use teacher training as extra classes and to meet another network of people
A Cambridge English Exam can be booked separately in some places, in addition to any of the above language classes or no classes at all.

All information and tips provided are for information only. Although every effort is made to ensure it is accurate and up to date, smartaupairs makes no guarantees and accepts no liability.

Part-time English Courses: next term 15th September 2009 – DISOUNT VOUCHER attached

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 13 week term.  BUT WITH THE ATTACHED VOUCHER YOUR AU PAIRS PAY £279

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

Download DISCOUNT VOUCHER

Download Eurocentres Part-time Dates and Fees 2009

Download Eurocentres part-time enrolment form

Download How to get to Eurocentres – guide for au pairs who are new to London

Download What do au pairs say about Eurocentres

All information can also be found on our website – www.eurocentres.com

Where Au Pair?

So many au pairs like to be in a busy environment of a city or a town, as these places are generally easy to make friends with other au pairs, close to language classes and a social life. Some of the au pair favourites where we make regular placements are London & Greater London, Canterbury, Cambridge, Oxford, Bath, Brighton, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Southampton, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, York and Harrogate.

Au pairs in the countryside or in a village usually settle very well if they have access to a car, also in their spare time, and are close to a town or city.

We also often have requests from au pairs to be in coastal towns, especially those known for good language schools such as Margate and Ramsgate. We also get requests for Hastings, Blackpool, Norfolk, trendy Brighton (again), but also the picture-postcard villages of Devon and Cornwall are popular with au pairs.

The location of the host family is often very important to an au pair, especially before arrival. We always try to explain that we try to match people, not places, but we do appreciate that the location plays a bit part, especially for some candidates.

Pictures this, a Spanish au pair, who at home can walk out of her house every evening and meet up with friends outside her front door, walk straight into town/city center and meet up with yet more young people, for example in places like our popular short break destination Barcelona, would find it hard to settle in the English countryside, where the car must be used for every journey and meetings are more likely to be planned in advance.

In general, the above applies to Spanish au pairs, Italian au pairs and Turkish au pairs the most. Also, if you have travelled to Turkey for example, you may have noticed what it would be like to live in the ‘Turkish countryside’. It is mostly empty, the main exceptions being elderly people, who continued to live in the countryside whilst the younger generation moved into town. So for a Turkish au pair, the countryside brings up pictures of old people growing vegetables, so not very appealing for an au pair experience!

In general our most flexible au pairs are our German au pairs and our Dutch au pairs. They are very open and often already speak good English. This means they are less daunted by the ‘task’ of making friends and also they tend to be confident drivers, so provided they can have use of the car, they are usually quite flexible about their location.

French au pairs from small towns, countryside or Alpine regions (!) are also usually fine with a less urban location.

We also often have au pairs who ask to be placed with a family with horses. ‘Horse au pair’ is getting more popular for girls who want to be like a live-in groom with the chance to do lots of horse riding but usually the au pairs are happiest placed in a family where they can look after children and help with the horses also. So far we placed Dutch au pairs and German au pairs with interest in horses and our Swedish au pair agency tells us that many of their candidates love riding too!

And then we have many male au pairs, also usually very flexible about the location and confident drivers. Au pair couples are mostly placed in rural locations, as these are the homes where often one au pair can help with the children and the other au pair can help in the garden and with the animals for example. They have each other for company and will be less concerned about meeting other au pairs.

Final note on location, no matter where the au pair is placed, smartaupairs will help finding au pair friends nearby. We share an online service www.aupair2aupair.com and every au pair who is placed though our service received a passport to register. This allows the au pair to search by postcode which au pairs are close and contact them to arrange a meeting. This service is shared with all member agencies from the British Au Pair Agencies Association, so we have au pairs on this service from more than 25 agencies making it a safe place to meet other au pairs, first online and then in person!

Au Pair Induction/First Aid – 1 Day Course

This is the information about the next first aid course aimed specifically at au-pairs and nannies. It is organised by Peekaboo Childcare and places are limited.  You can book this course with Smartaupairs. Below is the course information.

We run Paediatric Child Safety & First Aid courses.

Next First aid course is held on 13th of September – please call us on 0800 917 81 66 to book now!

All courses are available for parents, nannies and au-pairs.

Pediatric first aid courses
In an emergency you, or the person looking after your child, need to react quickly and effectively.

Knowing what to do could save your child’s life.
We use only highly qualified and medically experienced trainers. All our courses comply with both British and European Resuscitation Guidelines.

On successful completion of our courses, you will be issued a certificate valid for 3 years. The course is recognized by the nanny approval scheme.

COURSE COST:

£100+VAT per person

The course includes:

• Child health and safety
• Personal & domestic hygiene
• Basic Life Support
• Recovery position
• Choking injuries
• Drowning
• Bleeding
• Burns, scalds, electrocution wning
• Meningitis
• Febrile convulsions
• Simple fractures
• Head injuries
• Treatment of shock
• Poisoning
• 999 emergency call ng
• Duration: 6 hours
• Cost: £100

Instructions:

Courses held in our office or other. Please enquire when booking.
10.30am until 3pm approx
We will provide lunch, snacks, coffee.
Please make sure you arrive approximately 10.20am to make sure you don’t miss the start.
Course participants are advised to wear comfortable clothing and we kindly request that you do not wear lipstick as this can stain the training manikins.

First Aid Courses in Kent

Kent Adult Education Services provides a range of first aid courses  – for more information on the courses/dates: Download KAES First Aid Course Schedule

Kindly book directly with the provider with the following form: Download First Aid Request form

Please return the form to: businesssupport2@kent.gov.uk – KAES will check schedule and book a preliminary place on the course for the customer. The customer will then receive a confirmation e mail with full details.

Feedback from Host Families

We were delighted for all the support and feedback we received as part of our recent survey.

Please see below for some of the testimonials:

“I am extremely impressed both with the service offered and with my au pair. Not only is she fantastic with my children, she is also lots of fun to have around. It feels as if she has always been part of our family. I will miss her when she has to return home.” Clare, Surrey

“
I want to say a big thank you to both of you for finding me good aupairs and supporting me throughout. My experience with both of my aupairs has been great. My current au-pair Gesa is leaving in early April and we are really going to miss her. “ Seema, Longfield

“The smart au pair service has been great throughout. I know four families who have used smart au pairs and none of us have been disappointed!” Name Withheld

“Smartaupairs is a very professional and reliable agency that made me feel secure and confident about taking on an au pair for the first time. I would highly recommend their services to anyone.” Victoria, London

“The service I have received from Smartaupairs has been excellent. The well thought out information and attention to detail has made smartaupairs stand head and shoulders above any other au pair agency I have ever dealt with.” Jenny, Surrey

“We’ve had au pairs for a number of years but this was the first year I’d used Smart Au Pairs, having been let down by my previous agency. We’re delighted with our au pair and I found Smart Au Pairs very efficient and helpful with a broad range of potential au pairs to choose from – I will be using you again. “ Wendy, East Finchley

“I’ve had a lot of au pairs before but this is the first time I’ve used smart aupairs and Alex, our au pair is one of the best au pairs we have had. ” Kate, Salisbury

~~~

All of our customers rated our website and written information excellent or good. Our verbal communications were rated excellent or good by 97% of our customers.

94% of our customers are highly likely to use our service again & recommend us to their friends.*

Feedback from Families:

“I am writing to let you know how much we all love our au pair.
She is super sweet and really fantastic with the boys.
She seems to be settling in very well and has already met some other local aupairs she is becoming
friends with and enrolled at an english school.
I am grateful to find her at short notice, so thank you.” Host family,  Middlesex

“Thanks for all your help in getting our lives organised… Good au-pairs are mother’s saviour!
Denise”  Host Mum in London

“I was anxious, as a lone parent, as to how I would adapt to live-in help. But within weeks of our au-pair joining us friends and family have commented on how much happier we seem as a family. Help with the children and in the house has made such a positive difference to my life and as a result my children’s.” Name Withheld,Host Family

“I wanted to say how delighted we have been with the service provided by SmartAupairs, from the search to the handbook to the welcome pack and other little touches.
“We are also thrilled with the wonderful girl who has joined our family. She is everything we hoped she would be. Thanks so much.” Host Mum Suzie

“Jennie is leaving us tomorrow and I just wanted to say that she has been a HUGE success, thank you very much.
The last 4 weeks would not have been possible without her help as I had very big jobs on and we have been packing to move house. She came into our home when things were upside-down, I was preoccupied with work and was able to give her little guidance, and she took it all in her stride and just got on with everything, mastered public transport and just cracked on with life.
The children loved her immediately and are really sad that she is leaving, and my husband has voted her ‘best au pair ever’ (well, that includes our lovely Polish Aga who has helped us for years!) So thank you, it has been great having her and we are sad that it is not her staying in Sep, but we have high hopes for Elisa and look forward to seeing her” Thanks Beth xxx

“Thank you for the folders which I received yesterday for both myself and Kate. I have to say the professionalism with which this has been dealt is fantastic and I want to thank you all for your hard work and commitment to ensuring that this au pair placement goes well.” Kind Regards Samantha

“This was an extremely quick and effective process, thank you” Lennon Family, Tunbridge Wells

“We are delighted with our au pair and I am pleased to learn she is happy with us. We just need to help her find some dance classes! We have enrolled her on an English course.

I have been very impressed with the agency and it was nice to accompany our au pair to London on Saturday for the induction session (her first visit to the city). We also appreciate the packs you sent out. She was very pleased with the handbook and other information which I think was very well put together.//

She was pleased with the links recommended on the induction session.  Thank you again.” Best wishes Chiquita, Gloucestershire

New Program Manager at Smartaupairs & Program Development

It is with great pleasure that I announce Tuuli’s promotion to Au Pair Program Manager. Tuuli started with Smartaupairs in summer 2008 on a work placement/intern program from Lancaster University, where she was in her 3rd year of a degree in Business Management.

Tuuli is originally from Estonia and grew up in Finland, giving her a head-start in cross cultural understanding. Lancaster University added to the multi-cultural experience as their student community is made up of almost 100 different nationalities.

She was keen to find a work placement in a small yet ambitious company and when we interviewed her for the role we were impressed by her both her skills and her drive to succeed. From the very beginning, she showed a positive and innovative approach and her results driven capabilities have much contributed to the success of Smartaupairs.

As we have many more plans for success and growth for Smartaupairs, we were very keen to offer Tuuli this promotion. She will be fully responsible for the daily placement process, i.e. liaison with host families, au pairs and agencies abroad to ensure we offer consistently high service levels to all stakeholders.  In addition to this, we will work together on developing new ideas, different services and communication campaigns.

With Tuuli in place, we can focus on further strategic development for Smartaupairs. Our Tutor program and the introduction of Native Speakers have seen phenomenal demand from host families requiring with ‘just a little bit more’. My focus will be of bringing host families more options in the ‘gold quality’ bracket and above. I am already talking with agencies in Australia and New Zealand to bring us more native speaking au pairs.

We are also in the final stages of a new agreement with a European Agency network who has traditionally only sent au pairs to the USA and are used to screening for ‘the very best’. We are looking forward to placing their top calibre candidates, who will have significantly better than average language skills due to their national education system and their level of prior education. Many will be skilled drivers and have at least 100 hours of childcare experience and be committed to the au pair program for an academic year. Their au pairs will come predominantly from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands.

And finally, we are working closely with one of our partners in The Netherlands to attract Childcare trainees. These will be young people who will have completed the first part of learning to be a professional child carer with Dutch SPW qualifications similar to the UK NVQ2/BTEC2 level. We want to enable these applicants to continue their learning in the UK during their stay with a host family, allowing them to complete level 3 during their stay with the host family. Their formal training will be limited to one Saturday each month whilst their informal learning will be ongoing with your children!

Au Pair of the Year awarded at City Hall in Vienna

Published by Ozgur Tore  – credit to ftnnews.com

IAPA – the International Au Pair Association has announced the winner of the Au Pair of the Year, 24-year old, Ricardo Silva de Araujo of Brazil. He was placed with a family in the United States.

Now in its sixth year, the annual award presented by IAPA goes to an Au Pair that embodies the spirit of cultural exchange. Families from around the world that have received an Au Pair from one of IAPA’s 140 plus member agencies can nominate candidates for the award. A panel of IAPA representatives then selects three finalists from the hundreds of entries, with a winner chosen from these.

“As is the case every year, we had a very difficult time selecting just one winner from the many, many deserving entries we received. Ricardo was so special for his openness, sharing and commitment to his host family and their son Taylor,” said Jack Hompes, IAPA chairman.

Cultural Care Au Pair, an organisation based in the USA placed Ricardo with the Boyer family. The family’s now 17-year son, Taylor is multi-handicapped, having suffered an allergic reaction to an immunization as a six month old. He is unable to speak, has difficulty walking and experiences seizures. In Ricardo’s words however, “he may not able to talk, but he is able to feel. His feelings are pure as an angel and his smile when happy, is the best way to say thank you.”

Upon Ricardo’s arrival with the Boyer family that was in the midst of preparing for their daughter’s upcoming wedding, Ricardo was amazed by the incredible patience and support the family showed him during this stressful time. There was much Ricardo had to learn in order to help properly care for Taylor and the family’s support made the enormous transition to a new culture, new language and learning new skills much easier.

Talking about his time with the family, Ricardo says, “I learned the real meaning of love, patience and respect. Real love does not come in phrases like: “I love you,” this is easy to say but difficult to feel.

Taylor’s disability is not an obstacle for his happiness, this has made me feel good. I love Taylor and know he loves me back. I can feel it.”

Ricardo concludes, ”I came to America as an au pair, I will leave a better human being.”

For his achievement, Ricardo Silva de Araujo received a commemorative plaque and prize from IAPA, in addition to an all expense paid trip to Vienna to receive the award.

The award is presented as part of the IAPA Annual Conference and in conjunction with the Work Experience Travel Market.

About the International Au Pair Association (IAPA)

The International Au Pair Association (IAPA) was established in 1994 by cultural exchange organisations seeking to improve and protect the rights of au pairs and host families around the world. The association has been responsible for the creation of internationally recognised guidelines for au pairs and exchange programmes with its 140 plus member organisations agreeing to abide by the IAPA Code of Conduct: signifying competence, fair dealing and high integrity.

Smartaupairs Au Pair Welcome Pack

Smartaupairs is dedicated in offering the best service for both host families and au pairs.

Upon arrival to the UK host family, each au pair receives the newly improved welcome pack in a handy, re-usable folder.

The welcome pack includes plenty of useful and fun information for the au pair stay:

•    “The Au Pair Handbook” - A handy guide for the au pair stay. It provides plenty of practical information from au pair duties to free time and travel

•    O2 Sim Card – allows to convert the mobile phone onto a UK network instantly.

•    Smartaupairs Lanyard – A convenient and stylish way of keeping the home keys/other little gadgets in one place.

•    Stickers & Balloons – Great ‘ice-breakers’ for children, they love to get a sticker if they do something well and many parents prefer these kind of rewards to giving sweet treats.

•   ‘Get Kids on the Go’ – leaflet – Ideal for early days, when language skills may not be so strong yet. Sport and play is an ideal way to get to know each other, without the need for much language.

•    Stay Safe! – leaflet & personal alarm order form -  The leaflet provides the au pair with useful tips to keep oneself & one’s belongings safe. In addition, the au pair may order an affordable personal alarm, which is small enough to attach to your keyholder.

•    Access to the exclusive aupair2aupair.com website.

And, if your placement in the UK is arranged by Smartaupairs, you will also automatically receive e-mails from us to inform you of au pair excursions, discounts on language classes and other benefits!