Au Pair
Extraordinaire
Information For
Families
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An au pair is not just a
babysitter for your children. An au pair becomes an extremely
important part of your children’s lives. He/she can be relied upon
to care for your children when you are not able to be with them, and
provide nurturance and stimulation. What training is provided to the au pair we
appoint? All au pairs are expected to
watch a video on effective discipline techniques to use with
children. Once an au pair has been placed with a family, the au
pair may attend the Powerful Parent, Powerful
Child workshop (free of charge for families who have
employed a long-term au pair through us), presented by child expert
and Educational Psychologist, Ilze van der Merwe-Alberts, where they
are empowered with the skills necessary to ensure nurturance,
understanding and intellectual stimulation of every child. Parents
are encouraged to ensure that the au pair attends. In this workshop, the following
skills are taught: • Encouragement of children
to have more self control For more information about this
workshop please visit Powerful Parent, Powerful
Child Testimonial from au pairs who attended: "The Powerful Child workshop helped me to
see the inner working of the child and to improve my understanding
of what the child may be going through, and how they deal with these
issues through play." In addition to the knowledge
gained from this workshop, parents may also choose one other
workshop or talk presented by Ilze van der Merwe-Alberts for
their au pair to attend (free of charge for families who have
employed a long-term au pair through us). For more information on the
current workshops available please visit Bella Vida Centre
and select the "Workshops" menu on the
left. The monetary value of the
workshops is at least R2,300.00, but you receive the benefit of
these free of charge by sourcing and appointing an au pair through
Au Pair Extraordinaire. We have also arranged for the presentation of a First Aid and
a CPR course to be held at Bella Vida Centre, 268 Bryanston Drive,
Bryanston. These each run for 3 hours. The cost is R320 per
person. 10 March 2012 09h00 - 12h00 - Basic First
Aid 17 March 2012 09h00 - 12h00 -
CPR What is the process to
find a suitable au pair through Au Pair
Extraordinaire? In order to find an au pair
through Au Pair Extraordinaire, you will need to complete a
Family Questionnaire
outlining the criteria that your au pair should fulfil, information
about your children, what you expect from your au pair and so on.
Once we receive this questionnaire and a signed copy of our
Family Terms and
Conditions we will begin the process
of matching your family with a perfect au pair who will fit into
your family. Soon after that, we will be in touch with you to set
up convenient times for you to interview possible candidates. Once you have decided on a candidate and the
candidate has accepted your position, our Agency fee is payable in
accordance with our Schedule of Fees The
fee must be paid within three days of receipt of the invoice and not
when the au pair commences working for you. If the au pair is
required to start working for you immediately, payment of our
placement invoice will also be due immediately as this must be paid
BEFORE the au pair may begin work. Please note that our guarantee is
dependent on these terms being adhered to. Au Pair Extraordinaire acts
as an introductory Agency, and not as the employer of the au pair.
We will send you an employment contract on request, and you, as the
family, will become the employer. As the employer, you will be
responsible for all statutory obligations relating to the
employment, such as PAYE and UIF. For information pertaining to the
Basic Conditions of Employment Act, please click here. For the 2012 PAYE tax tables, please click here. What duties can you
expect from your au pair? Each family will have different
expectations of an au pair. Below are common duties, although
your personal requirements can be discussed with your au pair: • providing nurturance, care, stimulation and
companionship for your children How much can I expect to pay my au
pair? An au pair’s salary / hourly rate will depend on
many factors, including his or her age, previous childcare
experience and childcare courses completed, as well as the number of
hours worked each week. Please contact us for guidelines in this
regard. Generally speaking, au pairs charge between
R55.00 and R80.00 per hour, excluding travelling expenses
(calculated at the AA rate). Guide when interviewing potential
candidates Interviewing candidates to look after your precious
children can be very daunting. Bear in mind that we have already
interviewed them personally, checked all of their references from
previous employers, performed criminal checks, and only select the
highest caliber and experienced au pairs for you to interview who we
feel will meet your needs. However, you will still need to meet with a selection
of candidates to make your decision. Trust your instinct. You will
know who will be right for your child. And if you call the candidate
back for a second interview, include your child if possible. After
all, he / she will be the one spending time with the au pair and
should be involved in the decision-making process (within reason of
course!). Try not to interview too many candidates – three is
usually sufficient. Before you begin your series of interviews, ask
yourself the following questions: -
Will my child respond better to a soft and
gentle person with flexible boundaries, or a firm person with more
rigid boundaries? -
Will I need my au pair to assist with
babysitting, weekend work, or overnight stays? If so, be sure to ask
the candidates in their interviews if they are willing to do
this. -
What salary am I prepared to offer?
-
If I go away on holiday with my family, will I
still pay the au pair their salary or a retainer for the time we are
away (bearing in mind that the au pair will still have expenses that
he / she will need to pay while you are away)? -
Does your child have scholastic or
psychological difficulties that the au pair should have specific
training or experience in? -
Would you be comfortable hiring an au pair from
a different race or religion? -
Will the au pair fall within the tax bracket,
and if so, what will the implication of this be on their salary?
In the actual interviews, ask questions around the
following: -
Previous experience with children, especially
around your child’s age group -
The reasons for leaving previous
employer(s) -
Religious and moral beliefs and his / her value
system and how these can potentially fit in with your
family’s -
Previous experience with educational or
psychological special needs, if applicable -
Hobbies and interests. If your child is sporty,
be sure you decide to hire an au pair who shares this
interest. -
If you expect the au pair to cook meals for
your child or for your family, ensure that the au pair is capable of
doing so -
The au pair must be able to
swim -
Childcare or first aid courses that the
candidate has completed -
Strengths (academic, sports, hobbies, crafts
etc.) -
Limitations -
If the au pair will be required to assist with
homework, be sure that they are competent to do so -
If the au pair will be required to entertain
your child during holidays or over weekends, ask the candidate to
provide examples of fun / creative suggestions -
Find out if the candidate smokes or
drinks -
Expectations around salary -
Expectations around paid leave, paid sick
leave, paid compassionate leave and maternity
leave -
Discuss hypothetical scenarios to see how a
candidate will handle different situations e.g. a hijacking, if your
child is injured, stealing, lying, questions about sex,
etc. -
Find out how the candidate will discipline your
child when needed (e.g. if your child is having a tantrum) e.g. time
out, taking away of privileges. Much of the communication in an interview is
non-verbal. A candidate should arrive for the interview on time,
well-groomed and appropriately dressed. Although some visible
anxiety is perfectly normal, an excessively anxious person is
unlikely to have a positive effect on your child. The candidate you
choose should have a friendly disposition, demonstrate
responsibility, show empathy and have a genuine love for
children!
Only high-calibre, dedicated, motivated and
reliable candidates will be suggested to families.
All candidates
attend a personal interview with us, are comprehensively screened,
criminal checks and reference checks are performed, and a
professional driving assessment is conducted. Only those who meet our
rigid criteria will be put forward to families. Parents can have
peace of mind that their children are in the most capable of
hands.
• Facilitation of independence,
self worth and empowerment in children
• Decreasing stress
with children
• Enhancing communication and improving
relationships
• Understanding how children
‘work’
• Teaching children emotional
intelligence
• Empowerment of parents / au pairs to feel
confident to take care of children
"I
have to say that I definitely learned how to give my daughter
choices, by letting her choose for herself. I can now also
effectively discipline the children I au pair
for."
Lindi
Donne
The dates are as
follows:
BOOKING IS
ESSENTIAL FOR ALL WORKSHOPS. PLEASE CONTACT US TO RESERVE YOUR PLACE. Click here for our banking
details. Use your surname as a reference. Please
note that we need a minimum of 4 participants for the First Aid
and CPR courses to be presented and therefore reserve the right to
cancel a course if this quota is not met.
• fetching your children
from school
• transporting your children to extra murals,
therapies, doctor’s appointments etc.
• supervising and
assisting with homework
• liaising with teachers, coaches
and therapists on your behalf
• arranging and supervising
play dates
• purchasing necessities for, and assisting with,
projects and assignments
• running errands for
you
• grocery shopping on your behalf
• engaging in
intellectually stimulating play and activities with your
children
• preparation of meals for your
children
• babysitting and weekend work by prior
arrangement
Babysitting up to midnight is
usually charged at R80.00 per hour and after midnight at R100.00 per
hour.
Tutors charge between R100.00 and R150.00 per
hour.
Drivers charge approximately R100.00 per trip.