Practically perfect in every way...

 

IT’S a uniform as distinctively British as anything a Beefeater or a Chelsea Pensioner might wear but a million miles more modest.

 

Just the sight of that trademark brimmed brown hat, brown tweedy skirt and brown sensible shoes and you know you’re looking at that icon of top-drawer childcare – a Norland nanny.

 

Established as a brand in 1892, the graduates of the august Norland training college in Bath are still the first choice carers for the precious offspring of the rich and famous: Prince George and Princess Charlotte had a Norland nanny, ditto the Jagger children and Sonning resident George Clooney.

 

These pinnacles of nursery perfection are in demand internationally as never before and only the highest standards are acceptable.

 

College rules prohibit piercings and tattoos, nail varnish, loose hair and even fast food and chewing gum, for instance.

 

And that somewhat matronly uniform, which must be worn at all times, even during training, has hardly changed since the start, the theory being that as Norland nannies were the best, they had to look it.

 

The uniform list requires the girls to purchase a wardrobe, including a Norland tweed jacket for £175 and a Stormtex trench coat to match at £100. The felt hat is nearly £50 and both white and brown gloves are compulsory, as are aprons in both white and navy.

 

There’s even the option of a Norland crested umbrella, to be carried Mary Poppins-style.

 

Until businesswoman Emily Ward founded the Norland training school 130 years ago, childcare for the affluent had often been left to housemaids until the children reached school age.

 

She identified a need for early years childcare to be more structured and child-centred, thus founding an institution which still insists that its alumni sign up to the Norland code of professional responsibilities and uphold standards as role models for their charges.

 

Depending on your point of view, this sounds either outdated and over the top or absolutely wonderful but graduates of Norland, which is now

an accredited university, can command beefy salaries beginning at around £40,000 and exceeding an eyepopping £100,000 per annum if working overseas.

 

The Norland in-house agency gets at least six job inquiries for every Norlander.

 

Sarah Vaughan, 36, is a Norland graduate and currently works for a family in Peppard but she came to the career later than some after first studying marine biology and zoology.

 

She says: “While studying for my degree, I came to the conclusion that I really wanted to work with families and children and that nannying would be a lot of fun.

 

“I also knew that becoming a qualified Norland nanny would offer a lot of opportunities and that if I was going to do something, I wanted to be the best qualified I could be.”

 

The already intense two-year training Sarah underwent at Norland more than a decade ago has now been increased to a four-year programme which includes personal and cyber security lessons from former military intelligence officers.

 

“We covered everything under the sun and it was never dull,” says Sarah. “From children’s development, both physically and emotionally, from pre-natal to eight years old, plus child psychology, first aid, child protection, safeguarding and all that entails, which is all the more paramount in the more digital world we live in.

 

“We also spent alternate weeks on practical placements in schools, nurseries, plus maternity and paediatric wards at the local hospital.”

 

That’s not to mention the more hands-on skills the girls have to learn, such as cookery, nutrition and sewing, as well as defensive driving and self-defence. Sarah is actually married and lives in Oakley Wood so travels daily to work to look after the two children in her charge.

 

She says: ‘It’s an honour to be trusted with someone’s most precious possession and also to be invited into someone’s home and family, to be part of the good days and the bad days, the rainy Tuesdays and the happy birthday celebrations. It’s just such a rare thing. Most people only get to be part of their own family and I have been privileged to be part of several families over the years.

 

“The travel is always wonderful as you often get to visit places you’d never normally visit outside your own summer holiday.”

 

Other Norland nannies also form a network of friends who newcomers can call on for support when they move to a new area. Nevertheless, the hours can be long and sometimes unpredictable, making it challenging to find friends outside the nannying world. Sarah says: “It’s not impossible but it does take a special sort of person to understand you may be late to an evening meal out and if your boss gets stuck in traffic on the way home from work, nannying isn’t the sort of job you can just leave at finishing time irrespective of whether your employer has returned.”

 

Yet she calls her work “The best job in the world”.

 

“I absolutely love my job – it’s varied, no day is ever the same, and I’m lucky enough to work for a wonderful family in a beautiful part of Oxfordshire,” says Sarah. “I certainly won’t be changing my career any time soon.”