au Pair Me up
Family Friendly Childcare
Children come in many different shapes and sizes - now your childcare does too!
VACATION NANNY
The average school student in Australia has 12 weeks of holidays, while the average full-time worker only has 4 weeks of holidays. This leaves many families with 8 weeks every year in which they have to scramble for help looking after the children. This is where a vacation nanny / vacation au pair can help.
A vacation nanny or vacation au pair is someone who assists you with looking after the children during school holidays or while you are on vacation.
HOW IT WORKS
A vacation nanny and vacation au pair basically perform the same duties, however the vacation au pair lives with the family whereas the vacation nanny lives at their own premises and comes to the family home at the pre-arranged times. For simplicity, we'll refer to both terms as simply 'vacation nannies'. The main difference between a vacation nanny and a normal au pair / nanny is that the vacation nanny expects to only stay for the limited duration of your holidays.
Whilst most vacation nannies live with families in the family home during the holiday period, some families opt to take the vacation nanny with them on holidays. This can help ease the burden of travelling with young children, enabling the parents to undertake activities together that would otherwise be impossible while looking after the children. In this instance, the family pays for the transport and accommodation of the vacation nanny. There are some circumstances where parents have asked us to provide a live-in au pair in their home while they go away without the children for a limited period of time. Anything is possible as long as you give us sufficient warning of what you need.
For those families that wish to just get childcare assistance from the family home during school holiday periods, the typical duties will include:
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Getting your children up and dressing them as necessary
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Preparing meals
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Taking children to and from any preset activities
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Looking after and playing with the children as required
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Taking your children on outings such as to the park, museum, movies or beach according to your wishes
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Assisting with household chores including cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, ironing and cooking
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Not all families require all of the duties required above. It is important that you make your expectations clear to us at Au Pair Me Up so that we can present the right candidates to you.
The hours that you require your vacation nanny to work are entirely up to you, provided, of course, that it is not excessive or unreasonable (say above 45 hours per week). It is ok to require flexibility from your vacation nanny depending on your requirements, but this must be stipulated to them as an expectation during the interview process. The flexibility that vacation nannies can provide means that the needs of virtually any family can be catered for. ​
There is no standard wage for a vacation nanny as this is up for negotiation between the vacation nanny and the family. The average weekly cost of having a vacation nanny varies according to your needs. If you require full-time hours, you may expect to pay the vacation nanny between $200 to $250 per week. We have found that the average cost for most families is approximately $200 per week, which is very affordable next to other forms of vacation care, particularly if you have more than one child.​ The weekly cost is the same if you choose to take your vacation nanny on holidays with you, except that you will have to also pay for their transport and accommodation. Of course every family has different needs. We are happy to advise you on the likely cost that you should expect to pay for your given circumstances. Our agency fee is $550.
The majority of live-in candidates tend to be either backpackers travelling around Australia or international students studying English. As a result, we frequently have candidates from all over the world, including Germany, England, Ireland, Korea, Japan, Italy and France. These candidates are usually keen to learn the Australian culture and improve their English. Living as an au pair in Australia gives them one of the best opportunities to do this. Families mutually benefit from this experience by learning about the culture and language of their au pair. We also occassionally get candidates from Australia.
We will present you with the appropriate candidates depending on what you specify as the required employment period. The majority of families require help for between 2 to 6 weeks around school holiday periods.
We have dozens of vacation nannies currently seeking families for live-in arrangements. We can arrange a vacation nanny for you in as little as one week. If you let us know your requirements we will find you the three best candidates who are suited to your needs and present them to you for an interview. It is then up to you to choose who you like best. We screen all our candidates with a psychometric test and by checking their references and requiring them to obtain a Blue Card and First Aid Certificate. We also test all candidates with an on-line childcare quiz to ensure they are equipped for the essentials of child development and care. To get started just call us on 1300 300 170 or fill in the free registration form.