'My name is Louise Kirk and I'm the Professional Nanny of the Year - and that's the first time I've said that!' The modest but proud introduction by the award winner sitting on an expert panel drew applause from the 100-plus audience at this month's Professional Nanny conference.
Louise, age 24, was the first winner of the new award created by the Professional Association of Nursery Nurses (PANN) to highlight the hard work and high standards of nannies everywhere. She was nominated by her current employers, Emma and Mike Gouriet of south London, who wrote a shining recommendation for her work with their 18-month-old daughter Kate.
Louise also had to write a detailed and thoughtful description of her working day, and supplied a CV testifying to her level 4 qualifications, professional development extras and first aid skills. She'll now add to her nanny duties a year as an ambassador for nannying, possibly making some appearances as a guest speaker, and she hopes her high profile will get potential nannies interested in taking more childcare courses.
'I hope this award will give credibility to the other dedicated nannies out there,' said Louise. 'A lot of the employers nannies work for are high-powered, and we are the support network behind those people.'
The five nominees shortlisted for the award, which was sponsored by childcare insurers Morton Michel and supported by Professional Nanny, also had to spend a grueling day being interviewed and observed with nursery children at Chiltern College. 'I wished the other candidates had been horrible so I could have felt more competitive,' said Louise - but she knows they'll all stay friends and get together again.
The quality of the nominees was also praised by Tricia Pritchard, the professional officer at PANN who presented Louise with the glass trophy.
Tricia said any of them would have deserved to win. Sharing the spotlight was the second place winner Jane Sheehy, age 31, who cares for a baby in Cobham, Surrey. Jane said her employers were over the moon about the award, and told her, 'You may have come second, but you're OUR nanny of the year.'
The third place winner, Jolene Oosthuizen, 29, who works for a family in west London, brought her employers to the conference. Jolene, originally from South Africa, said, 'I was proud to tell my mum and dad about it. They used to say you're just a nanny, it's not a profession - this opened their eyes a bit.'
THE DAY FOR NANNIES
The awards presentation came in the middle of a long day at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, where the conference shared a venue with the annual Early Years and Primary Teaching Exhibition, organised by Nursery World. Fourteen exhibitors setting out their own stalls there included professional representatives and payroll, insurance and recruitment services, chatting to nannies between the talks and forums.
First up at the podium was Fiona Breen, acting executive director of the Jersey Childcare Trust. She outlined the nanny accreditation scheme that's recently been established on the Channel island, linked to tax credits and childcare allowances for employers. Fiona said 15 nannies have been accredited on Jersey and nine more are currently working towards it. This scheme, requiring qualifications, police checks, references, first aid skills, insurance cover and continuous professional development - thought almost too demanding by some - would seem an obvious model for a nanny register in the rest of the UK. But has any Westminster policymaker approached them for advice? Not one, said Fiona.
Then Carryl Sabine, who's just retired after 30 years at Chiltern College, led an open forum, focusing on training. Carryl was a sympathetic mouthpiece for nannies - noting, for instance, that moment when you've finally settled down with a cup of coffee at the end of a hard day, the parents walk in and you feel guilty. 'Nannies should wear a little sign saying "I only just sat down, honestly",' she said. But Carryl agreed with the delegates on areas where nannies could use more education, such as dealing with parents and health and safety matters, and the need to identify the best time and method for accessing further training.
After lunch was provided, Amanda Hickey from Civil and Corporate Security, which acts as an umbrella body for getting Criminal Records Bureau checks, cleared up some commonly held doubts about the CRB check, the best time to have it renewed, and what records nannies should keep.
The nannies then had a chance to join their childcare colleagues and attend a workshop or seminar in the larger exhibition. Finally they reconvened to put questions to a panel comprising Tricia Pritchard, Fiona Breen, Kate Beith of Chiltern College, Elizabeth Elder of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, Ashanti Dickson of Nannies Abroad, Stephen Louis of Nannytax, and Louise, making her first expert appearance. They and the delegates agreed to meet again next year with a renewed focus and specialised workshops just for nannies.
Just one person was conspicuous by her absence - television's 'Supernanny', Jo Frost, who'd originally been booked to present the Nanny of the Year awards. Jo was off in America, making a US version of the hit programme and raising the profile of British nannies across the Atlantic. As they left the conference, some delegates were peeking around for talent scouts.
