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CompaNanny now offering English-language child care...

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10/09/2010CompaNanny now offering English-language child care (sponsored contribution)

Struggling to find child care in the Netherlands? CompaNanny has been providing quality, flexible care for 0-12 year olds since 2003, and now offers its service in English.

A guide to the Dutch childcare system

Finding a child care solution in the Netherlands can be difficult. Waiting lists in The Hague, Amsterdam and surrounding areas can stretch as long as 18 months. High demand and low supply mean a lack of flexibility, often forcing families to organise their schedules around which time slots are available at the crèche.

The challenge is even greater for expat families who may be seeking English-language day care for their children. Whether you want to prepare your child for starting at an international school or you want your child to have care in Dutch after school, options are limited.

Quality care, flexible hours
Enter Bas Beek, managing director of CompaNanny. Before starting CompaNanny, Beek visited a local crèche, and was unimpressed. “The quality was really poor. There was dirt in every corner. There were too many children. It looked like a waiting room in a hospital. And I was thinking to myself, ‘I will be married someday, and will have children. Would I send them here?’”

Beek was also discouraged by what he perceived as a lack of customer service. Many crèches close their doors at 6 pm, and if a parent is late because they are stuck in traffic or have a meeting, they risk losing their child’s highly coveted place.

Beek was inspired to create a child care solution for parents that was based on quality and flexibility. “Flexibility means people can get their children until 8 pm every night. And you can customise the schedule,” says Beek. “For example, you can choose to drop your child off at 7:30 am on Monday to avoid traffic, then pick up your child at 7 pm on another day and have a more ‘normal’ 8pm to 6 pm schedule on another day. It’s personalised to fit your needs.”

English-language care
Since June 2010, CompaNanny has been providing child care in English at their Atlas ArenA location and is considering offering child care in English at their Oegstgeest location (subject to demand). These locations were chosen because of their proximity to the corporate offices of many multinational companies where expats are employed. Nannies are native English speakers and currently there are no waiting lists.

Partnership with parents
Beek believes child care should be about more than babysitting your child. “We like to say we are partners in the upbringing of the children who come here. It is more than babysitting – it is child development.”

In addition to a daily report, nannies organise an individual annual conference with parents to discuss their child’s progress. Parents are also free to meet with the CompaNanny pedagogical coach. “We really want to help parents,” Beek says. “We want to help them balance work and family.”

Philosophy of care
CompaNanny’s philosophy is based on the Reggio Emilia method (include hyperlink: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggio_Emilia_approach). The day care centres are decorated to feel like homes, so the children are relaxed and comfortable. The atmosphere is not chaotic.

“We have a strong conviction,” Beek says, “regarding how the world works for children. The world is very busy. So we like children not to have too much stimulation, too many blinking, plastic, noisy toys. We want children to play in ways that develop their imaginations in lasting ways. We have no toys like Mickey Mouse or characters from ‘Cars’. Children should develop their own creativity.”

Even the infants are not left idle. Nannies are trained to ensure babies do not spend all their time in bouncy chairs or cots. “We forbid our nannies to do that,” Beek explains. “We put children on the floor so they are able to develop motor skills, learn to roll over, learn to crawl. In this way a child is much more able to discover his surroundings and the rest of the world.”

After-school care
The CompaNanny also provides after-school care for children 4-12. For older children with homework, a quiet atmosphere is provided, but CompaNanny does not overwhelm children with after-school activities.

“Many after-school care providers sell services to parents by offering as many programmes as possible. That’s not always good,” says Beek. “School for a young child is already pretty heavy—the day is full of stimulation and experiences. Children also need rest and free time after school, they need choice.”

CompaNanny allows individual choice in after-school activity, but Beek stresses that they are still working to develop children, and to provide meaningful experiences. “We don’t have a Wii, for example. No video games. And no television, only sometimes during the holidays. But we are strict.”

Key skills for life
CompaNanny’s nannies are trained to encourage the following characteristics in the children:
•   Self sufficiency
•   Social skills
•   Sense of responsibility
•   Consideration for others
•   Self-respect and respect for other people, animals and property
•   Tolerance
•   Politeness
•   Not to be indifferent

September 2010
Expatica / Tracy Brown

Want to know more about CompaNanny? Visit CompaNanny.nl, or stop by the CompaNanny booth at the “i am not a tourist” Fair, a one-day fair for internationals living in or moving to The Netherlands. CompaNanny will also arrange child care during the hours of the fair! Expatica's 2010 fair will have all the resources from previous years, but with the extra attention given to lifestyle and community related services. Information on the programme can be found on our fair website.

To order your FREE tickets to the “i am not a tourist” Fair, please click here.