Student nannies help parents

Porse nanny intern Ashley Presland keeps Chloe, 1, and Dani Hudson, 3, amused. Photo/John Borren

A new nanny training programme has been launched to help meet demand for home-based childcare.

In-home childcare provider Porse now offers an internship programme in Tauranga for people who have had no childcare background to train as a nanny. It provides young people with job training and allows families access to cheaper home-help.

Ashley Presland, 23, was one of eight girls signed up for the city's first intake of the free 20-week course. She had some previous experience as a nanny. "I was always going to get into it," she said.

"[The programme] just kind of fast-tracked it for me."

The students spent 21 hours a week with the family they were placed with and attended classes and did assignments. A parent had to be at home to supervise the student early on but by the end of the course the student was expected to have full control. Papamoa mum-of-four Bronwyn Hudson had nothing but praise for the programme and for Miss Presland.

"I actually work from home so I can duck down to my study and get some work done for a couple of hours but still supervise," she said. "It's perfect."

Having two people at home also meant the routines of the younger children did not have to be disrupted to drop off or pick up the school-aged children, she said.

Mrs Hudson had used Porse in-home care for a number of years but would not be able to afford the level of help Miss Presland was providing was it not for the programme, which cost less than employing a trained nanny.

"Having her now is allowing me to actually build my business to a point where I could actually afford that extra help," she said.

Porse charged $5 per hour for a nanny intern which was comparable with most daycares.

The arrangement was working so well Mrs Hudson was already looking to be part of the next intake in July as Miss Presland was moving out of the area once the course was finished.

Tauranga Porse consultant Hilary Fraser said she expected the scheme, which was already run in Hawke's Bay, Auckland and Christchurch, to become more popular in Tauranga.

The scheme had been set up to help young people get into the industry.

Demand for nannies and in-home care was slowly increasing as it became more affordable, Ms Fraser said. Access to the Work and Income Child care subsidy and the 20 hours free early childhood education helped many families afford the extra help, she said.