Back to School: How to Support Your Child as They Transition to a New Year

It’s back-to-school time for children all over the UK next week. Whilst a lot of children find starting, or going back to school very exciting, moving into a different year can be difficult for some children, and moving to a different school can be even harder.

We’ve put together our top tips to help you support your transitioning child to ensure a smooth start to the new school year!

Continue reading “Back to School: How to Support Your Child as They Transition to a New Year”

Double Trouble – How To Cope With Twins And Multiples

Having one baby is hard work, we all know that. The thing is, unless you have a multiple birth (or children very close in age) you don’t realise just how tiring and relentless (although extremely rewarding!) looking after two or more tiny tots can be.

So, as always, we have a wealth of top tips to help if you have your own, or nanny for, twins or triplets:

Having one baby is hard work, we all know that. The thing is, unless you have a multiple birth (or children very close in age) you don’t realise just how tiring and relentless (although extremely rewarding!) looking after two or more tiny tots can be.

So, as always, we have a wealth of top tips to help if you have your own, or nanny for, twins or triplets:

  • Routine is king. This, of course, applies in theory to all babies. You’ll find it is much more necessary with twins. Make sure you put the babies down to sleep at the same time, and try to feed them at the same time (or one straight after the other). Even of one cries for food whilst the other is sleeping, in the first couple of months it can really help to wake the other one to feed as well.
  • Togetherness. If possible, keep your babies together, whether this is in the same cot or just in the same room. Twin babies are almost always comforted by knowing the other one is nearby, and having physical contact with each other. They’ve had nine months of sharing everything, so it would be a massive adjustment for them to then spend a lot of time, or sleep, without the other.
  • Support system. It’s important to get as much help as you can as a parent of twins. If your partner has returned to work and you find yourself alone and incredibly stressed, pull in your support network. Ask relatives and friends or regular baby-sitters to provide relief, if you haven’ got a nanny. Remember that it will be easier for anyone to help you if you suggest specific tasks, such as feeding or bathing one of the babies, taking them out for a stroll, shopping, cleaning the kitchen, or preparing a meal.
  • Get some ‘me’ time. It’s important to have a little bit of time each day, if possible, to relax. Even if it’s a 20 minute bath when your partner gets home from work, or half an hour of reading before you go to sleep. It’s a fact that stress and anxiety are more common in parents of twins, so making sure you grab a few golden moments of time for yourself is key.

For more help and information on twins and multiple births visit Twins Trust | Twins Trust – We support twins, triplets and more…

Childcare is Tough! Stay Energised with These Top Tips!

Being a parent is tough! Being a nanny is tough! Working in a nursery is tough! Raising a child is one of the most rewarding, but also one of the most challenging things you could ever do. The trouble with constantly taking care of the needs of your child or young charges is that it’s easy to push aside your own which can quickly lead to burnout that can affect both you and your children.

Try these top tips to help you take care of and re-energise yourself:

Continue reading “Childcare is Tough! Stay Energised with These Top Tips!”

Get Craft Happy For The Jubilee!

Let’s face it, even the least patriotic of us will be finding it hard at the moment to escape the media frenzy around the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June, and for those who do love a bit of classic English patriotism, why not get involved in your own creative way?! If you have toddlers or older children in your care, this is the perfect excuse to get their creative juices flowing, whilst teaching them a little bit about our monarchy at the same time!

Let’s face it, even the least patriotic of us will be finding it hard at the moment to escape the media frenzy around the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June, and for those who do love a bit of classic English patriotism, why not get involved in your own creative way?! If you have toddlers or older children in your care, this is the perfect excuse to get their creative juices flowing, whilst teaching them a little bit about our monarchy at the same time!

So, I hear you ask, what kind of things can we make?! Here are a few of our best ideas to keep children happy and creative in time Jubilee celebrations:

Make Bunting:

You will need:

  • A length on string as long as you want your bunting to be
  • Coloured sheets of card in red, white and blue
  • A pencil
  • Sellotape
  • Scissors

This is a basic way of making bunting, so that little children can be involved as there is no material to stitch. Simply make a triangular template and get the children to draw around it onto the coloured card. Cut out the drawings and get the children to put them in order – red, white, blue, red, white, blue and so on. Fold about a centimetre of the top of the triangles over the string, and attach down on one side with a piece of Sellotape. Do this all the way along your string, and then attach the bunting either inside or outside the house! This is a fantastic exercise for fine motor skills, as well as recognising shapes and colours for children.

Make a Crown:

You will need:

  • A piece of cardboard around 4 inches wide, and long enough to go around the child’s head and overlap slightly
  • A strip of tin foil around 5 inches wide, and the same length as the cardboard
  • Scissors
  • Crayons, glitter, or stickers
  • Glue
  • Stapler

Glue the length of tin foil on top of the length of cardboard, matching the bottom edges up, so that there is an inch extra of foil at the top. Now, cut zig zags into the foil all the way along the top, giving a crown effect of lots of points going across the top. Now it’s time to really have some fun and decorate, using glue, glitter, crayons or stickers, let your little ones go to town on their individual crown decoration on top of the tin foil. When the decorations have dried, make a ring with the crown and staple each end together, to fit over the child’s head.

Union Jack cupcakes (makes 12):

What you need:

  • 4oz caster sugar
  • 4oz margarine
  • 4oz self raising flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 12 white cupcake cases

For the icing:

  • 1 packet white ready roll icing
  • Apricot jam
  • Blue and red food colouring pens

 Method:

  • Line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases and preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
  • Cream together the sugar and margarine with an electric mixer. Gradually add the eggs, flour, vanilla essence and baking powder whilst mixing.
  • Half fill the cupcake cases and put into the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden and well risen. Take the cupcakes out of the oven and place onto a wire rack to cool.
  • Roll out the icing to around 3mm thickness, then use a circular cutter to cut out 12 circles.
  • Put some apricot jam into the microwave for 20 seconds to make it runny. Brush the cooled cupcakes with the jam, and then place the icing circles on top so that they stick. Draw a basic union jack with your blue and red pens on to the icing on each cupcake.

You now have some really Royal treats!

Adding to the ideas we’ve given, why not try making some red, white and blue pompoms, or get some plain white serviettes and get the children to colour some red and blue onto them, or even onto a plain white paper tablecloth. There are hours of fun to be had, all in the name of Queen and country – have fun!

New Job, New Family

Starting a new job is always nerve wracking but when there are children, parents and possibly animals involved it can be doubly so! But remember the family are probably as nervous as you are….

Starting a new job is always nerve wracking but when there are children, parents and possibly animals involved it can be doubly so! But remember the family are probably as nervous as you are, they may never have had a nanny before or their previous one was well loved and in their minds difficult to replace or maybe they have had a nightmare with childcare previously and they are worried this won’t work out either. So going in with an open mind and a friendly, respectful attitude will almost certainly get you off to a good start and have the children and therefore Mum and Dad loving you within days!

Preparation for those first few days is key and we have some top tips on how to get the foundations of a good working relationship off to a good start.

1. Once you have been offered the job try and spend some time with the previous nanny while they are still with the family or arrange a day with the family so that you can all get to know one another a bit better. Expectations and requirements should all have been discussed prior to accepting the job and should all be stated in a formal contract, for example are you responsible for just watching over the children and keeping them entertained or are you also expected to cook and clean up after them. Do you have regular days off or is it on a week-by-week basis and if the parents are in the house who has responsibility for bedtimes etc all these are important factors to discuss prior to starting work. But getting to know the family and all the personalities that go with it takes much longer and spending time with them before you start may help that first week go more easily.

2. If they family have had a nanny previously it may be a good idea to discuss the routine they had with that nanny and what worked for them and what they would like to see done differently, remember that it’s possible that the children may have had the nanny from a young age and that routines and house rules need to be changed to consider the more grown-up child. Check that you have been fully informed about allergies, medications, disabilities, or anything that may make the child particularly anxious. Having a better understanding of the children you are in charge off means you can often exceed expectations and avoid the need to constantly be referring to Mum and Dad with questions they might expect you to already know. Having all the specifics of how they would like things done from what time mealtimes are to when they should go to bed means that you can structure the day and make sure that the children are happy, healthy, and having fun!

3. Make sure the first week or two with a new family are full of activities, days out and plenty of getting to know you time. It’s important that you bond with the children quickly and that they are comfortable around you. The parents will love to see happy, smiley faces and hear about all the thoughtful and well structed activities their youngsters have had. Parents like nothing more than to see that their children are learning and having fun. Hands on activities help children bond with strangers and get them chatting without feeling self-conscious around new people and try and find time to do something with each child individually and find out what they like and dislike. Gaining their trust and confidence is imperative in the early days and will make for excellent solid foundations if a bit if time and effort is put into this.

4 Plan for things to go wrong, make sure you know where the first aid kit is, how the doctor or dentists are and do a quick trip around the house to identify a hazard (you’d be amazed how many families forget to mention they have a pond (or even a swimming pool!). Check you have all the necessary contact telephone numbers and

5 Most Nannies now use their mobiles to pop a photo or message about how the day is going but it is also a useful tool to debrief parents each day about what has gone on and what the highs and lows of the day have been. It’s also great to look back if there are any issues further down the road to see if there is a pattern in a child’s behaviour or to clarify a situation. Mum and Dad love to hear about their children’s day and being involved in this way, being asked questions, or letting them know about some of the positives and negatives of the day helps them to feel involved.

6 And finally, have some little treats planned for yourself throughout the first week. Starting a new job is hard work and when working with children there definitely isn’t a minute to yourself during the day. So, arrange to meet friends, go for a massage, or visit the cinema, it will help you relax and switch off and you will go into work feeling refreshed and ready to face the new day.

Nannies and Disabled Parents: It’s a Winning Combination

Parenting is one of the most challenging things you’ll ever do. Raising a baby through childhood isn’t easy, and it’s even harder for disabled parents. Especially those without a solid support system.

Disabled parents often have a harder time admitting when they need help. Every parent has days where they feel overwhelmed and in desperate need of respite, but disabled parents don’t always have the courage to stand up and ask for the help they need for fear of negativity from others like being seen as unfit to parent or unable to cope.

By welcoming a nanny into your family, you can gain the help you need without worrying about negativity – after all, it’s not like nannies are unheard of!

Here are our top reasons why a nanny is a perfect choice for disabled parents: Continue reading “Nannies and Disabled Parents: It’s a Winning Combination”

FURLOUGH 4.0

FURLOUGH 4.0 
Our partners at www.PayrollForNannies.co.uk  provide payroll advice for parents and nannies and have provided this content. For more advice and support please get in touch with them.

Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced a new raft of support measures connected to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.  This seems to be a response to the growing lock-down and complaints that the government was not doing enough to assist businesses and their employees.

The Job Support Scheme

When originally announced, the JSS – which will come into effect on 1 November – saw employers paying a third of their employees’ wages for hours not worked and required employees to be working 33% of their normal hours.

This announcement reduces the employer contribution to those unworked hours to just 5%, and reduces the minimum hours requirements to 20%, so those working just one day a week will be eligible.

Employers will pay their staff normally for hours they work. Then, they’ll be paid two-thirds of their pay for the remaining hours (with the employer covering 5% and the government paying 95%). So people will still see lower take-home pay – we have prepared the table below.

Normal Hours                    JSS Hours                             Take home percentage of contracted hours
20%                                        80%                                        74%
25%                                        75%                                        75%
30%                                        70%                                        76%
33%                                        67%                                        77%
35%                                        65%                                        78%
40%                                        60%                                        80%
45%                                        55%                                        81%
50%                                        50%                                        83%
55%                                        45%                                        85%
60%                                        40%                                        86%
65%                                        35%                                        88%
70%                                        30%                                        90%
75%                                        25%                                        92%
80%                                        20%                                        93%
85%                                        15%                                        95%
90%                                        10%                                        97%
95%                                        5%                                          98%

The maximum payment will be £1541.75 per month. The cap is set above median earnings for employees in August at a reference salary of £3,125 per month. The employer will be reimbursed in arrears for the government contribution. The relevant employee(s) must not be on a redundancy notice.

The JSS is intended to protect viable jobs over next six months after the furlough scheme ends at the end of the month.

All small and medium-sized firms with a UK PAYE scheme and UK bank account are eligible – but large firms are only eligible if their turnover has fallen in the pandemic and can document this. The JSS is open to firms who have not used the earlier CJRS scheme.

That means that if someone was being paid £587 for their unworked hours, the government would be contributing £543 and their employer only £44.

Employers will continue to be entitled to receive the £1,000 Job Retention Bonus: https://src-time.co.uk/the-job-retention-bonus-explained/ 

Self-Employment Income Support Scheme

As part of the Winter Economy Plan, Rishi Sunak had announced an extension to the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

There was to be a lump sum to cover November to January next year, worth 20 per cent of average monthly profits, capped at £1,875.  There was also to be a second grant for February to April 2021of an unspecified value.

Today’s announcement sets the amount of profits covered by the two forthcoming self-employed grants from 20 per cent to 40 per cent, meaning the maximum grant will increase from £1,875 to £3,750.

Business Support Grants

The Chancellor has also announced approved additional funding to support cash grants of up to £2,100 per month primarily for businesses in the hospitality, accommodation and leisure sector who may be adversely impacted by the restrictions in high-alert level areas.

These grants will be available retrospectively for areas who have already been subject to restrictions and come on top of higher levels of additional business support for Local Authorities moving into Tier 3.

Local Authorities (LAs) will be able to support businesses in high-alert level areas which are not legally closed, but which are severely impacted by the restrictions on socialising. The funding LAs will receive will be based on the number of hospitalities, hotel, B&B, and leisure businesses in their area.

LAs will receive a funding amount that will be the equivalent of:For properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or under, grants of £934 per month.For properties with a rateable value of between £15,000-£51,000, grants of £1,400 per month.For properties with a rateable value of £51,000, grants of £2,100 per month.This is equivalent to 70% of the grant amounts given to legally closed businesses (worth up to £3,000/month).

Local Authorities will also receive a 5% top up amount to these implied grant amounts to cover other businesses that might be affected by the local restrictions, but which do not neatly fit into these categories. It will be up to Local Authorities to determine which businesses are eligible for grant funding in their local areas, and what precise funding to allocate to each business – the above levels are an approximate guide.

Businesses in Very High alert level areas will qualify for greater support whether closed (up to £3,000/month) or open. In the latter case support is being provided through business support packages provided to Local Authorities as they move into the alert level.
 
SRC-Time are one of the South East’s leading accountancy firms in advising the self-employed and partnerships in all aspects of their tax affairs and we are able to assist in any issue raised above.

Being a good enough parent in the 21st century

This article examines some of the challenges facing parents in the twenty first century and suggests ways in which we can steer a middle ground, providing our children with a loving upbringing while making time for ourselves as well.

Parents under pressure

The byword these days is “pressure”: pressure to be a top parent, pressure to have your children do well at everything. Parents who can afford to do so attend baby yoga and music classes with their newborns. Primary school children attend extra tutorial classes to have the edge on their classmates or simply because working parents cannot spare the time to give the extra help needed.

Parents matter too

And while it is a good thing that there are more activities for children from babyhood upwards, it also puts parents under pressure to have their children do as much as everyone else’s. The Irish writer Adam Brophy makes an interesting point in a newspaper article entitled “It’s not just about the kids, we matter too”, when he says: “When did we come to the conclusion that the development of our children’s skill set was the be-all of our existence? What message does it send to drive them from one class or training session to another when all we can manage is to spark the car’s ignition?” It’s not a point of view that we hear voiced very often but doesn’t it strike a chord with many of us?

Previous generations didn’t do as much worrying about their children’s academic or sporting achievements. People didn’t have as much disposal income as parents today and moreover, children weren’t given as much importance as they are now. Twenty-first century parents would find it difficult to envisage a world where children were expected to be “seen and not heard”. Needless to say that particular perspective on raising children isn’t one we’re advocating, however, it’s worth reflecting on the fact that as we have become better off as a society, we are giving a lot more to our children, both in emotional and material terms and often feeling under greater pressure as a result.

The extreme focus on early childhood

A recent conference at the University of Kent examined what organisers called “the extreme focus on early childhood”. Academics argued that parents of babies and toddlers, mothers in particular, are subject to ridiculous levels of pressures to “get things right” which leads to “unwarranted anxieties and guild”. Led by John Bruer, author of The Myth of the First Three Years, they said claims of the importance of parental connection in the early years have been hyped and that social policy focusing on the parent-child bond is “a waste of resources”. Parents, and especially mothers, will more than likely welcome the fact that they need not feel guilty about having to leave their child in the care of someone else while they work; nor will they “fail” to give their child a head start if they don’t sign up for various baby and toddler classes.

UNICEF study

When a recent UNICEF study found that British parents tended to overload their children with material goods to make up for not spending enough time with them, the journalist and broadcaster Mariella Fostrupp wrote in The Observer: “No offence to Unicef but a UK riddled with shopaholic parents trying to assuage their consciences with expensive toys for their unloved children is one I don’t recognise. Most people I see are struggling to pay their utility bills let alone splash out on Xboxes. The vast majority are simply battling to make ends meet”. And she rubbished the notion that our consumer culture was to blame for parents’ neglect of their children in this way: “Our entire financial system is built on our ability to work and consume to keep the economy afloat. And now we’re in the wrong for buying the odd toy for our kids?”

A good enough parent

To conclude, parents can only do their best. And to borrow the paediatrician Donald Winnicott’s phrase, being a “good enough” parent really is “good enough”. Rather than placing undue pressure on ourselves – and our children – to “get it right”, we can be good parents by spending time with them and allowing them room to develop their own interests. And by the same token we need to allow time for ourselves – as individuals and as partners in a relationship. That’s a topic for another day!

Parental Bereavement Leave

As of 6th of April 2020, the government have introduced a new entitlement called Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay.

Under this leave/pay, parents who lose a child with a day-one employment right can take 2 weeks off work. These 2 weeks are at a statutory rate of £151.20 from April 2020.

Parental Bereavement pay is for adoptive parents, parents of a child born to surrogate, parents who are fostering to adopt and individuals caring for a child in their home, continuously for a period of 4 weeks ending with the date of death.

Parents will be able to take the leave as either a single block of 2 weeks, or as 2 separate blocks of one week each taken at different times across the first year after their child’s death. This means they can match their leave to the times they need it most, which could be in the early days or over the first anniversary.