Ellieq

My Summary

My Experience

-England, Reading, May 2020- August 2020
During Covid I was able to help look after three children of the ages 2, 6 and 8. I was the sole carer as the mother was a key worker and the father worked from his home office. I helped in home schooling the older two whilst entertaining and keeping the youngest engaged. With the help of the parents, we organised a schedule to ensure the children stuck to their zoom calls and school work, and made sure there was a suitable balance of work and play time. Trying to balance both schedules whilst looking after the youngest was sometimes difficult, however I knew how crucial this time at home was in ensuring they kept up with their academic level. I made sure the youngest was engaged with educational activities that aided in her learning and development, ie. number games, puzzles, language development, whilst sticking to her nap/food schedule. Due to the difficult circumstances regarding Covid, the children often struggled with the lack of 'social' time with missing their school friends. I tried to ensure they maintained contact with friends and were kept stimulated with educational and creative activities. They all loved being outdoors so we spent a lot of time playing games, building obstacle courses and doing crafts. All three children were wonderfully bright and playful and it was deeply rewarding being so involved in their academic and behavioural development.

-Australia, Perth, January 2019- May 2019
Whilst over in Perth I looked after three children, aged 5, 7 and 9. This was more of a part time role apart from when it was the school holidays where I had them full time. I did the school pick up, drove them to any after school activities, cooked dinner and bath time. Having all three do different after school activities at different times meant I had to be very organised with my time keeping, getting all three ready, and making sure they had everything they needed for swimming, cricket, art class etc. All of the kids had very different but strong personalities, it made the job very challenging and could be quite stressful. The parents had very demanding jobs, which did result in the children playing up quite a lot to gain their attention. It meant I had to try and give each child the attention and encouragement that they were after, and made sure their achievements were acknowledged by myself and each other.
They were very imaginative and active and loved to play together when they could. We made up obstacle courses, did a lot of baking and they loved doing art and crafts. I tried to introduce the idea of turn taking and being proud of each others achievements, whilst making sure each one felt proud of the things they had done, no matter how big or small.
The parents trusted me to make sure all their homework was done on time, to help with projects they had to complete, to do housework and to organise play dates.

-England, Beenham, January 2016- November 2016, October 2018- December 2018
This was my first nanny job that was in my home country and I was lucky enough to find a lovely family with two children, 8 and 6. After my first year with them I moved away and came back 2 years later to the family asking me to come back to work for them on my return.
My role was a mixture between being in sole charge of the children before and after school as the parents worked very long hours, and also doing housework during school periods. I had to get the children up, dressed and ready for school in the mornings, while then picking them up after, taking them to any after school activities, dinner, bath and bedtime. Many times I also did overnight stays if the parents were away or were leaving very early the next morning. I had a lot of responsibility as the hours were long and many things had to be organised, whether it was to do with doctors appointments, school meetings or house maintenance.
I aided the children with the homework, and spent extra time with the older child as I knew he was struggling with certain aspects of his schoolwork after being diagnosed with ADHD. He had dramatically improved in his lexical abilities and has gained more confidence knowing that he is progressing and is now higher than the level he should be. I have loved seeing his confidence and skills grow and knowing that I may have played a part in that is extremely rewarding.
Both children were imaginative, comical and witty, we enjoyed singing, going on trips out, doing artwork, and general fun activities that I knew would help to encourage their creativity and wellbeing. I also helped them to prepare for school shows, joining in and also going to watch them, for my own enjoyment and also for support and encouragement for the children.

-Italy, Rome, October 2015- December 2015
Here I looked after two girls, aged 6 and 10, who both were at school during the day. I aided them with their homework and helped them improve their English whilst they helped with my Italian. I enrolled myself in Italian classes during the week so I could contribute to conversation whilst with the family at dinner times. I was often alone with the girls as both parents sometimes finished work around 9pm, so I tried to set some form of routine. After their homework was done I encouraged them to do some form activity/game as they loved to be involved once they started, then it was dinner and bedtime. By the end of my three months, I saw a major improvement in the girls’ behaviour and manners in comparison to when I first arrived. I had a lovely upbringing and always had structure and discipline when needed, this was something I felt the girls lacked. I tried to make sure whether they were with me or their parents that they were respectful and kind and corrected them if their behaviour was not what it should have been. I am a very open person and girls loved having an ‘older sister’ and felt comfortable coming and talking to me about any problems or thoughts they may had been having. This allowed them to open up and become much more confident in talking to others, discussing problems with their parents and also their abilities in English.

-Australia, Melbourne, April 2015- May 2015
The children I looked after here were 2, 3, and 6. This job was a lot more hands on due to the ages of the children. The mum worked part time so was sometimes at home also, we took it in turns to drop the eldest at school whilst one looked after the younger two. There was not much housework involved in this role as my main purpose was to be with the children and to entertain and teach them. The youngest two had playgroup, storytime, dancing and swimming during the week. Either the mum or I would drive them, depending on the schedule at the time. Some days both parents would be at work which meant I was responsible for all three children from 6am-6pm. Here I had to do the school drop off, take the youngest two to their activities, prepare lunches, made sure they had their afternoon nap, picked the eldest up from school, prepared dinner and often bathed and got them ready for bed.
All three children were so much fun to be around with such different personalities. I use to love taking them to the park, jungle gym, painting and reading together. Watching them grow up over the month period was amazing as words were being taught and skills were being learnt.

-New Zealand, Wellington, April 2014- February 2015
I was looking after two boys, 9 and 13. My daily routine included getting them up in the morning, preparing lunches, making sure they had their uniform, homework, P.E kit etc. We lived in a little village so they made their own way to school as it was very close by. During the day I did around 2 hours of housework including washing, hoovering, cleaning the kitchen, dusting, whatever needed to be done on that specific day. The boys then use to arrive home from school, where we would do homework that had been set and also do extra maths and reading at the mothers request. The youngest normally had an after school activity on each day, in which I would drop him off and pick him up from. Occasionally I would prepare dinner and put the boys to bed if the mum was running late or was out.
The boys were older in comparison to other children with nannys, as my main role was to make sure they were organised and ready for school and after school activities. My degree helped a lot with contributing to homework and essays as the eldest needed some extra guidance and tuition. I was involved in both of the boys' school work a great deal, helping with projects and inventions for the younger and contributing to the 13 year old choosing his subjects for the next year. Due to the fact they were older, rather than the boys being 'children' to me, they became more like my younger brothers. We shared that sibling bond that I share with my actual siblings were we joked and played games, and it was amazing to have that with another family halfway across the world.

My Qualifications

I do not have any professional qualifications, however my level of experience I feel is valuable when it comes to a hands on job such as childcare.

My Availability

I am available on a part time basis at the moment. I can also do occasional overnight stays if needed.

My Fees

• Babysitting from £13.00 per hour

£13ph