Carla

My Summary

My Experience

I started babysitting neighbors' children from my estate which was normally children aged 1-4 at the age of 14. It was from morning until evening while the parent worked from home, but I always enjoyed helping feed the children, baths, cooking and baking together, and playtime. It didn't feel like work to me as I was just happy to help.

When I was 16, I started volunteering at a summer camp that was for children aged 5-12 from low-income families, the camp meant that over the summer they still received healthy hot meals and had access and opportunities to enriched summer activities that some of them might not always have the chance to do. The camp had over 90 children that were split into groups of 15 depending on their ages. My role was a young leader for one group making sure they were all involved and having a good time. I acted as a positive role model to these young children as I wanted to make sure these children had the best memories. I enjoyed this camp so much that I volunteered the year after again and then was asked to work the following three summers but due to the fact I had proven myself and had the experience, I then was able to take a salary as a member of staff. As a paid leader I gained more experience and confidence in working with kids. I was able to manage children independently and knew how to handle situations where children were upset or not involved or had behaviors different from mine. I like to think I'm very patient with people and listen to them, I'm very caring and attentive so will make sure everyone’s happy before myself. The group age I was normally responsible for was ages 5-7, 8-9 and sometimes 10-12, I found all age ranges manageable and fun to get along with. The summer camp was normally over 6 weeks Monday- Thursday and was 9-4 pm. We'd spend the last 30 minutes having a team meeting reflecting on how the day went and if anything happened or how we can improve for the next day.

Due to the summer camp and the impression I made there, I had opportunities to do more volunteer work within communities working with children and young people up to the age of 17 running group sessions and even large events. Some sessions were workshops for children involving arts and crafts, baking, life skills, and sports/ exercise. I've also helped train emerging young leaders aged 11-14 to develop new skills and training into becoming future leaders. There was also a project I was involved in called 'That's Life', which supported 16-18 year-olds to learn independent skills for life after school.

My Qualifications

I have 8 GCSE's including maths and English. As Levels in photography and business. Level 3 diploma in Fashion Business and Retail. I currently study BA (Hons) in Fashion Branding with Communication.

My Availability

My course timetable changes most weeks so some days I might be available longer as I’m normally only needed in uni for max 3 hours in one day, it’s always just in the morning too. My course isn’t very demanding as it’s more independent work so I can be very flexible with availability. Sometimes we might have guest speakers in too or extra sessions put in place but I’ll always know at least a week or two in advance just Incase I can’t make a certain time required with you. I’m very good at balancing work and study as currently I can do around 35 hours a week at my job on top of uni so my availability is very good.

My Fees

• Babysitting from £12.00 per hour
• Nannying from £13.00 per hour (gross)