The first few days... Getting to know each other
Sitting down with your Au Pair as a family, will give everyone the opportunity to talk about their expectations of the time you are all going to have together. This will give everyone the chance to have their voice and feelings heard and clear up any possible misunderstandings at the beginning!
This is a good time to discuss family routines, rules and timings, such as bedtimes! We call this making a 'family plan'. Once everyone has had a chance to get to know each other it is an ideal time for your Au Pair to attend the Essential skills for Au Pairs course. The full day course covers their role as an Au Pair and spends time addressing areas that can sometimes cause problems at the beginning of placements, such as; not understanding family routines and rules; possible language and cultural differences & expectations and finding fun ways to bond with the children in their care, including setting a good example and expecting good behaviour. For full details of the course please click on this link.
It is very important that your Au Pair has support from fellow Au Pairs and we will ensure that they share contacts email addresses &/or telephone numbers so that they can develop their support network whilst they are in the UK. We will send out regular Au Pair updates giving them new activity ideas and ongoing support. Once an Au Pair has been on one of our courses they have the opportunity to email us with any questions they might have. We will also have the opportunity to discuss any questions or worries that they might have about their role as an Au Pair.
Once your Au Pair has attended the Essential skills course they will have the tools and skills to successfully start off in their role in your family.
4 weeks later ... Follow up on how Au Pairs have been managing: Refresh and revitalise!
Once your Au Pair has had the chance to settle in and practise some of the techniques they have learnt, it is a good time for them to attend the Follow up to the Essential skills for Au Pairs. For a detailed description of the course please click on this link. Your Au Pair will have the opportunity to revisit areas covered in the full day course and discuss how their placement is going. We will spend time problem solving so that your Au Pair leaves the 1/2 day course feeling confident to try out their new skills and ideas and with a renewed sense of excitement.
Basic and Emergency First Aid courses are run by qualified St. John's Ambulance trainers. Venues and new dates are currently be confirmed. Please let us know if you are interested in this course as places are getting booked up very quickly.
We will be running a variety of other courses throughout the year, specialising in different areas including Healthy eating & cooking and Activity workshops. Please register your interest in these or any other courses and we will let you know when a course is running near you.