| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
BATH, England: Immaculately dressed, smiling broadly and with hair and hat perfectly in place, the nannies-in-training at Norland College aim to embody the model of a modern-day Mary Poppins.
The prestigious college in Bath, southwest England, has for more than 100 years trained the crème de la crème of the world's nannies, sought after by the rich and powerful.
"People are more aware of the importance of the nanny, and the importance of high quality training," Thirza Ashelford, the private college's principal and herself a graduate, or a "Norlander", told AFP.
"We always have a high demand. All Norlanders leave the college with a job and they have a guaranteed job for life."
Recent increases in the standard of living in countries such as Russia have only added to demand for "Norlanders", previously driven by the Middle East and United States, where the British television programme "Supernanny" has been a hit, whetting appetites for British nannies.
That is of course without omitting perhaps the most famous, albeit fictional, nanny of them all – Mary Poppins.
Though they may not possess the magical powers held by the heroine created in 1934 by Australian Pamela Lyndon Travers, and revisited in the 1964 hit Walt Disney film, a nanny-hopeful at Norland does have to survive two years at the college as well as one probationary year with a family in Britain before she – only two men have ever attended – graduates.
"We have a very demanding academic programme in childcare, psychology, law, financial management, and a practical skills programme quite extended," Ashelford said.
"Our philosophy hasn't changed since the college was founded in 1892. Our belief is that children come first, their needs are individual and every need is met according to the individual child."
Starting out as a daycare centre and primary school at 9 Norland Place in Notting Hill, west London, the college then moved to a manor house in the southern English town of Hungerford, some distance from the nearest city.
Five years ago, the school ended its relative isolation and moved to Bath, where it is now housed in a classic Georgian villa wedged between a supermarket car park and a buys road.
Its teachers pass on their knowledge to about 100 students, divided into two years, each lasting three terms.
That knowledge does not come cheap, however – a single term costs between 3,500 and 4,000 pounds (6,900 and 7,900 dollars).
"During the probationary year, they are paid around 12,000 pounds and after that, there's no limit," said Rebekah Yeomans, head of the college's placement agency.
Annual income for graduates is often around 40,000 pounds, she added.
Along with their salaries, they are also typically given a range of benefits: independent apartments, access to a gym, a mobile telephone, and use of holiday homes, to name a few.
"A couple of years ago, a Norlander looked after children during a one-year cruise around the world on a yacht," Yeomans noted.
The college, which sends nannies all over the world, also recruits its hopefuls from around the globe, with students coming from as far afield as Hong Kong, Tanzania, France and Germany.
Stephanie Clark, 19, is hoping to move overseas when she graduates, but has been assigned with opening a kindergarten for now.
"I've always known that I wanted to work with children," she said. "Norland is a prestigious school with a prestigious name and it's nice to have that security of a guaranteed job."
Her best friend, 20-year-old Rebecca Newman, has similar ambitions, but notes that the workload was "quite a shock".
"It's not just sitting and playing with children," she said.
- AFP/so
|
