"We strive to understand the unique needs of the individual family, match the abilities, experience and personality of the au pair in order to support that family structure. "

OUR STORY

We have been involved in the au pair placement field since early 1993. In 1994, Lilian sent au pairs overseas under the name Au Pairs Abroad. Later that year the name changed to Au Pairs Abroad & @ Home as the demand for local au pairing emerged. Finally changing to Au Pair @ Home in 1995.

We initiated the local placement of au pairs in Cape Town and found that our passion lay with childcare and family rather than youth-travel and au pairing overseas.

Au Pair @ Home has the special knowledge, understanding and experience to assess your family's needs, and the ability to match these to the ideal au pair. We take pride in selecting and placing high calibre candidates with the families best suited to them.

Lilian - Since very young has had a keen interest in family and people dynamics and studied Psychology at UCT. She spent time overseas where she worked in various related fields including having her own playschool for 5 years. She returned to South Africa with her 3 young children and experienced first hand the balancing act between being solely responsible for her family, quality time and growing her business. She has expanded her knowledge and people skills by reading extensively and doing courses in counseling, coaching, facilitation skills and a learner facilitation course.

Caron - Joined Au Pair @ Home 7 years ago on the administration side of the business. Due to her background in HR and Recruitment in the corporate field she soon thereafter starting involving herself in all aspects of placement of au pairs. She is married and has 2 daughters.

Tarn - Joined us this year as our general assistant having had many years experience in administration and as a PA. She has been such a success that we see her evolving with the demands of the business. She is the mother of a 2 ½ year old little boy.

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We are personally passionate about the work that we do and view our core values and standards of business ethics to be on par with the integrity and standards of professionals in the psychology and educational arenas.

Working parents, particularly working mothers are at the forefront of the work-life balance debate in the western world. Woman live with the necessity and realty of wanting to grow their careers, but they also want to have a family and provide their children with all they need in terms of education and stimulation.

We believe that children require plenty of care, love and attention. Parents play the important role of core provider with the au pair supporting this role, leaving quality time for the parents and children on their return from work.

Au Pair @ Home seeks to raise the standards and expectations of the kind of childcare and education that parents wish to offer their children. We continuously review our approach to doing business in order to remain in the forefront of setting standards of professionalism.

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The term "Au Pair" is the equivalent of the overseas version of English nanny, Nanny, Mother's helper or Governess depending on the family's needs. We apply the word Au Pair to be at times - Baby Specialist, 'Big' Sister or 'Big' Brother, Professional Au pair or Au Pair / PA to the family.

Au Pairing as a form of childcare is becoming a norm in our modern post 1994 South Africa, fast being acknowledged as a needs-based necessity for the futures of the children of the working parent family. Career-orientated families, single parents and working mothers see hiring an au pair as a necessity in order to sustain a healthy family life.

The basis of all au pairing positions is to look after children of all ages in their respective home's and surroundings, whilst providing plenty of fun and learning opportunities in an environment safe for the children. A special bond and friendship develops between the au pair and children she takes care of.

For the child-caregiver and those with a passion for children, being an au pair in South Africa is becoming a recognised career choice as well as an option whilst studying.

There are different kinds of au pairs to match the varying types of childcare needed for different age groups - A professional au pair may be well qualified to care for newborns to 6 years old and have qualifications in childcare but she might not be the candidate for a 14 year old teenager with an enquiring mind and a desire to surf the net to source material for a school project or for a home work assignment. In this case a university student/au pair might be a better candidate, as would be the person with tertiary education who has chosen to work with children as opposed to being office bound.

Au Pairing has been proved popular as a way of keeping children of working parents abreast with other children of the same age and strata - the accent being that an au pair aids a child's development by building the child's self esteem, spending one on one time in educating and exposing that child to interests and extra murals that are part of their discovering their world.

These professionals play a major role in supporting the family structure, enabling parents returning from a difficult day to concentrate on enjoying parenting.

Au Pair Duties

The physical duties of an au pair vary from family to family and the norm is different for the varying age groups. In all the age groups the child's developmental and emotional needs must also be catered for. The au pair needs to give the parents regular feedback on the activities and happenings taking place on a daily or weekly basis, preferably documented otherwise verbally. The parent/s should at all times know where and what the children are doing.

Primary responsibilities: During her working hours do anything that is required around the children. Depending on the ages - ie bottle feeding the baby etc, singing and jumping, running up and down the garden, taking the children for a picnic to Kirstenbosch or a trip to Butterfly world, collecting from school, preparing lunch and taking to extra-murals. Homework supervision. Surfing the net for information for a project. Ensuring all relevant bags are packed and ready for the following day.

Secondary responsibilities: Shopping and errands for the household, preparing dinner and home organisation.

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• Consultations: This is a home visit to assess your family needs. A R300 fee will be charged for this consultation, should you not place an au pair through Au Pair @ Home.
• Life Coaching (contact Lilian for further details)
• Placement of Learner Facilitators within the school system:
  Special needs, Educational/ Learner Facilitators
  For many years we have had a keen interest in and placed special individuals as au pairs and carers with families in need of special care for their children.
  
  With inclusive education being included in our mainstream education system, there has been a natural progression by Au Pair @ Home towards placing learner facilitators within the school system to assist individual students with special needs or behaviour difficulties.
  
  The Learner Facilitator focuses on the pupil's needs on a daily basis to support, guide and assist the pupil towards reaching their potential, to integrate socially, to gain self confidence and independence.
  
  We have worked together with special-need departments and teachers in top schools as well as the parents of pupils with difficulties.
• Night Nurses - we supply night nurses on a "short term" basis ie 6 weeks to 3 months
• Babysitting Service due to open in December - see later for further details
• Sleep Therapy is very successfully accomplished by Rhonel, who is an au pair herself, with 15 years experience in child care. She will visit your home for a consultation and thereafter carry out the sleep therapy with your child/children. For further information, please contact her on 0722226279.
• Tutors come to your home for an hour or two, bi or tri- weekly to provide tutoring to your child/chi ldren. It could be on a general "homework" basis or subject specific.

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