Julie was employed by my husband and I from 3 November 2014 to February 2015 as a mother’s help/nanny to assist with the care of our three children who were 3.5yrs, 1 and newborn at the time that Julie started. Generally Julie assisted me in the care of the three children, but has also had sole charge care of the eldest two children when I was recovering after the birth of our youngest son or when I have been occupied with other activities.

While Julie was employed by us Julie demonstrated her ability to work competently with all three children despite their different needs owing to their various ages. Our eldest son was at pre-school full-time and Julie has helped us by regularly undertaking the school run to pick up our son from school. Julie’s time generally revolved around the care of our 1 year old daughter, i.e. playing with her, giving her all her meals, nappy changes, putting her to bed for her naps, dressing her and giving her milk to her.

Julie devoted a lot of her time to fostering our daughter’s gross motor skills development. When Julie first began her employment with us, our daughter was not crawling or moving from tummy to sitting. Julie spent a great deal of time practicing exercises with our daughter, e.g. tummy to sitting and vice versa, crawling, pulling herself up to standing, cruising, transferring from one piece of furniture to another and walking by herself with a walker toy.

Julie was proactive in finding local playgroups to take our daughter to in order that she can socialise with other children and play with different toys to further develop her motor skills. Julie also found an after school activity for our eldest son to attend once a week at the local library (listening to a story followed by making a craft), which he now thoroughly enjoys and it is an event that must not be missed!

Julie assisted us in following a strict routine for our eldest son and daughter, including specific nap, meal and bath times. This meant that both children knew what was coming next and were in bed by a specific time to get a good nights rest.

Julie prepared healthy, well-balanced and nutritious meals and snacks for the children, with occasional treats such as cakes, and flapjacks, which Julie baked with our eldest son.

Our eldest son is very difficult and challenging when it comes to mealtimes. Julie reinforced the importance of table manners with him by making it a rule that he must stay sitting at the table while his sister is eating, even if he chooses not to eat his meal.

Julie encouraged our eldest son to ‘help’ in tidying up after he had undertaken activities or play.

Overall, I think that you can be confident when leaving your child in Julie's care that they will be well cared for in terms of fun play and activities as well as their nutritional needs and social interaction.