My role as Early Years Consultancy Manager

Claire Burgess is Norland’s Early Years Consultancy Manager, a role which is extremely varied. Claire is a Norland graduate, has worked as a nanny, managed a nursery, lectured at Norland and now consults and trains a range of external clients. Here, Claire explains a little about her role at Norland.

When asked to explain my role as the Early Years Consultant for Norland I find myself reeling off a variety of different aspects and responsibilities…and this is exactly why I love my job!  I never have two days that are the same and I can go from training external clients one day to lecturing students at the college the next.

The past month has been another busy and exciting one!

At Norland College the second year students have spent May completing their employment preparation lectures which I was involved in coordinating; ensuring all of the students are ready to go out as Norland Probationary Nannies and prepared to uphold the reputation and standards that Norland expects.

I have had several meetings with external clients; one meeting was to present some work I have completed for them.  It was a very successful meeting and great to share ideas and suggestions for developing the client's own organisation. I have also had a couple of other meetings with some new consultancy clients who wanted to discuss what Norland could offer their organisation in terms of consultancy and training.

Another part of my role is to organise and deliver Norland’s programme of CPD courses. These are a range of courses that are available to Norland graduates to ensure that their training and skills remain up to date.  This month was a busy one as we ran a 12 hour Paediatric First Aid training course alongside one day course focusing on the Care of the Newborn which I delivered. It was a busy weekend and wonderful to see so many Norlanders coming back to update skills and knowledge and we received some fantastic feedback:

“Claire was brilliant, so informative and I have learnt loads – thank you”

“A brilliant day which jogged my memory and got me thinking about the future with new babies”

Last week, through our relationship with TAMBA (the Twins and Multiple Births Assopciation) I got to spend time with some beautiful baby twins and visit a family of triplets. I coordinate Norland Agency’s support of the TAMBA Helping Hands project by arranging for voluntary qualified Norland professionals to help families with multiples (twins, triplets and more) in crisis. This project was set up to provide free professional advice, support and even care to families who are in desperate need of help. As part of this I have been lucky enough to be able to personally support some multiple families with whom I have stayed in touch. It is so wonderful and rewarding to see these families come out the other side of a traumatic or difficult time thanks to the support Norland and TAMBA are able to offer. My multiples skills and experience has increased dramatically through my link with the charity, something which I am really grateful for.

That’s been about it for the past month, but there is plenty in the pipeline to keep me busy, as with all of Norland my role is continually evolving and I look forward to the next challenge. 

I love to keep my experience with children current so on top of a busy working life I am also very lucky to have 8 beautiful godchildren. When I have time off I try to make sure that I get the opportunity to spend time with them and the May bank holidays were no exception.  Here is my gorgeous godson Harrison who I was able to enjoy cuddles and going out for a picnic with!