Your hours and duties should be agreed between you and your host family prior to accepting the postion with them. There is a sample contract on our website that you and the family can use/customize to suit your needs. LUKE -PLEASE INSERT LINK TO CONTRACT ALREADY SENT. The hours of work that you agree should be reflected in the amount of money you are offered. Please note that any hours you are required to be at home is counted as babysitting. You may do up to 2 evenings of babysitting per week free of charge but any extra evenings should be paid according to the number of hours you are needed. Hours worked during the day may not be substituted for evening babysitting.

Yes you will have to pay for your flight. The reason for this is that whilst you may agree a contract in terms of your length of stay – you can never guarantee how long you will stay with the host family. This means if you leave earlier than planned it could be very expensive for the family. However some families are prepared to pay for your flight even with this possibility in mind. Please remember they are not obliged to do so and that this is a gesture of goodwill. Some families may offer to reimburse your flights at the end of your stay if you stay for the agreed length of time.

Yes you can drive abroad but you should bring your driving licence with you and remember that you may need a few lessons first as it is quite likely that your country of origin drives on the right whilst the UK is on the left. Please check the laws of your new host country as some countries will only allow you to drive on your foreign licence legally for a set period of time and then after that you may need to pass the driving test of the country you will stay in. The family should cover the cost of insurance on their car for you and also the cost of petrol during your working hours.

Heatlh insurance will depend where you are from and where you are going. Generally EU countries have a reciprocal agreement and so if you are from the EU this will not be a problem. You can apply for a free European Health card here if you are from the UK: https://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.aspx  If not then please search through google for your own country. Please remember that this card is FREE. There are many sites that will try to charge you for what should be a free service so please be aware and make sure you visit the correct government website.

You can improve your CV by listing as much information about yourself as possible. As you will be looking after children it is vital that you include all of the experiences that you have had with children in the past and also include any references you may have. If you have worked as a teacher or a housekeeper please include this as well as any languages you may speak too. If you have any photos of yourself with children you have looked after it would be great to include these as well. You will be looking after the children of your host family. The family will be very protective over their children and will be very careful about the aupair they choose so any information you can include that will reassure the family that you are the best aupair for their children will be helpful. If you have a CRB or first aid certificate/knowledge then please be sure to include this.

You can earn extra money be offering to do some extra babysitting for the family or other duties outside your contract. If they do not need you to do any extra work then you could ask if they have any friends who would like you to babysit for them or to help out with any household tasks. Some families may allow you to take up some extra paid work outside the family home but you may only do this if it does not interfere with your hours that you will work for the family and your ability to do so. If you are too tired this will reflect on your abilities to execute the duties you have agreed with your host family. Your host family always comes first if you are to enjoy a successful and happy placement.

You can save money by socializing with the host family as much as possible Generally the host family will cover your costs on family outings and this can be a great way to get to know the family well and form a strong bond. Also by offering to do any extra paid work for the family  or their friends should enable you to save. The family covers all your day to day living expenses (excluding your personal items such as toiletries, clothing, socializing with your friends) so if you are careful you should be able to save most of the money they pay you quite easily.

Children love to play games indoors and outdoors so use your imagination and make some up or play games with them that you used to pay when you were a child. Children also love arts and crafts as well as baking. If you play any sports then try to get them interested and teach them what you know. You can also ask the family for permission to take them out to adventure parks, the cinema, the zoo etc as long as the family are prepared to cover all the costs and feel ready to trust you with their children on your own. You can take them to friends houses for playdates and also invite their friends to your host family’s house with the family’s permission.

If you are unhappy please speak to the host family and let them know how you feel. Do not keep your feelings to yourself and this will make you feel resentful and reflect upon your attitude within the family. The family will in turn wonder what is wrong with you and so this will create bad feeling. If unaddressed then sometimes these feelings go too far and it becomes impossible to repair the relationship. So it is most important that you speak to your host family to try and resolve any issues you may have and the host family should be encouraged to do likewise if you notice they seem upset for some reason. Remember a problem shared is a problem halved and in 99% of cases a compromise can usually be made. If however you cannot resolve your issues then you should give your family 2 weeks notice to find alternative care for their children and you may register with our agency again in order to find another family. If there are serious issues regarding the behaviour of either you or the family that we become aware of we will reserve the right to exclude the aupair or the family from our website. If it is unclear who is at fault then we will offer the benefit of the doubt to both parties so that you may both search through us again. In all cases Almondbury will offer support and advice in case of any difficulties. You may email or call us for advice.

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You can keep in touch with your family and friends via social media. Is is pretty standard these days that the host family will have wifi in their house. Please check before you travel so you are aware. You ask the family if you may use one of their computers but if this may be a problem then make sure you remember to bring your own laptop or tablet with you as well as your mobile phone so you can use facebook, messenger, whatsapp and Skype. Check with your phone network provider before you travel to find out the cost of using your phone abroad. You may find it cheaper to buy another phone in your new host country when you arrive or your host family may even offer to help you with this although please remember they are not obliged to do so

The family is not obliged to cover this cost. It is at the discretion of the host family so some may choose to help you and others may not. However the host family is obliged to help you to identify a suitable language school and ensure that you have time off to attend classes and that you have adequate means of getting to and from you classes. This may be public transport but if you are in a remote area then the family should take you themselves or arrange transport for you.

Yes you can take 4 weeks paid holiday a year or 1.66 days a month if your placement is for a shorter period of time. You should also get 8 bank holidays. Holiday times are to be mutually agreed between the aupair and host family well in advance so that the family is able to make other arrangements if needed. If the family decide to take the aupair on holiday with them it should be decided in advance of this will be a holiday for aupair as well (ie: the aupair is totally free to do as they wish) or if the aupair is required to work so that expectations are clear. If the family decide to go on holiday without the aupair then they should pay their aupair as normal even if the aupair has no duties during this time and the family should ensure that adequate food etc is available for the aupair whilst they are gone.

This will be free time for the aupairs too