Melissa, Kindermädchen (Salzburg - 5020)

I am a highly educated British young lady who grew up in a fishing village on the Kent coast of England. My mother is a teacher and my father is a fisherman. I grew up surrounded by family and was constantly outdoors playing or engaging in sport activities with my siblings and cousins. My upbringing and experience working as a part-time and full-time nanny have led to my belief that children thrive in stable environments filled with lots of outdoor activities that can develop their health and engage their imaginations. I believe in routines for children of any age and have worked together with parents to develop routines for children from newborns to ten-year-olds.
I enjoy working with infants and toddlers. In my last position I took care of my tenth toddler! I really enjoy teaching English to children this age as well as arranging playdates, introducing fun and beneficial activities and encouraging potty training and sleep training. I am very keen on toddler and baby classes as they help children learn to interact with other children, have fun and try different activities from a very early age. I have taken care of three 16-month-olds alone before which has given me experience working with multiple toddlers.
I have newborn experience; I first took care of a 2-week-old baby before I went to University. My latest newborn experience was with a baby born December 2014. I am competent in changing, warming milk, making formula, weaning and introducing solids.
In Russia I was responsible for the education of three five-year-old children. I enjoy helping children around that age learn and more importantly develop a love for learning. I think that is a perfect age to encourage children to try out different hobbies and develop extra-curricular activities. I have a strong dance and musical background, which enables me to feel able to help a child develop in any instrument. At boarding school I was given a full scholarship, which meant that I had to be a member of every girls sports team, every school play and the choir. I believe children should have hobbies and experience sports these really contribute to a healthy, well-rounded lifestyle. I have experience working as a teacher’s aide in my mother’s school and have tutored primary school aged children in various subjects before, this is an experience which I thoroughly enjoyed. I have a strong theatre background and have previously used theatre as a way to get more reserved children to become more confident and connect with other children their age.
I have experience managing diaries, making travel arrangements and helping my employers with administrative tasks as a family PA.
I first lived away from home when I attended boarding school then I worked abroad in 2011 when I moved to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida to work as a lifeguard for 3 and a half months. I then moved to Moscow, Russia and since then have lived in Austria and Germany. I have learnt German to level B1. I have worked as a children’s entertainer before and I want the children in my charge to have fun but also to learn and become well-rounded individuals who succeed in school but also succeed in communicating with others and building team-like relationships which other children their age. This is an age in which people are expected to be masters of numerous skills and this is what I try to help and teach the children I take care of, I want them to be successful both in and out of school to help them succeed as much as possible in the future.

Thank-you for reading my cover letter, I hope to hear from you soon!

Best wishes,

Melissa BA(Hons)