Set 36 Display Day

Thursday 15 May was Set 36’s Display Day at the Bath Assembly Rooms. 

This is a Norland tradition where the second year students display all of the creative work they have completed throughout their training. The displays were presented in the beautiful Ball Room and the presentation of awards was held in the Tea Room.

Here are some of the displays of students’ work: 

This year the awards were sponsored by Mothercare, Cuddledry and The Golden Cot.  The winner of the award for ‘most artistic display’ went to Lauren for her ‘The Enchanted Forest’ display.

Following the presentation of the awards the Norland College signing group, introduced by Geraldine,  demonstrated their signing skills by signing along to John Lennon's ‘Imagine’. 

Choir Master Grenville Jones then led the Norland Choir for three songs, Shoshone Love Song, Baba Yetu in Swahili and Happy (an uplifting finale). It was an emotional end to the presentation of awards with a few tears shed.

The students now only have 1 week left at college before they start applying for their first positions working as Nannies in the UK. These students will be the last year to complete the Norland Probationary Year, a year long nanny post that needs to be successfully completed before the students will qualify as Norland Nannies.

A day at The Baby Show

I am very lucky within my role as Early Years Consultant for Norland that I get to do lots of exciting things and meet lots of interesting people – my day on Sunday was no exception!

I was asked to attend The Baby Show at Excel on behalf of Tamba (Twins and Multiples Birth Association) to take part in a panel on the topic of ‘Expecting Twins’. As an honorary consultant for Tamba I am very passionate about raising awareness of multiples - I have been very lucky over my career to care for several sets of multiples so was honoured and excited to be part of the panel. 

When preparing for the panel I was thinking about what I wanted to get across to the audience and it came down to 3 main things; 

    1.  When it comes to multiples; you don’t need two (or more) of everything

          2. You should never be afraid to ask for help

          3. The most important point, enjoy your babies!

Having multiples can be hard work but it is so rewarding and such a special experience.

I was one of 4 panellists – Jane Denton (Director of Multiples Births Foundation), Professor Mark Kilby (Consultant in fetal medicine at Birmingham Women’s Hospital) and JennieEdspire (online blogger and mummy to twins).  It was lovely meeting others who share the same passion and approach to supporting families with the challenges (and successes) they face in the world of parenting. 

As soon as we were on stage it was evident that we all wanted to get the same things across and had a shared passion and enthusiasm for wanting families to have as much practical and useful advice as possible.  45 minutes went by really quickly and there was so much more that we would have liked to share, but I find that is always the way when talking about children!

It was a privilege to take part in this event, but more so in meeting the other panellists and families.  I hope that we were able to reassure any anxious expectant parents and offer some hints and tips that we have learnt along the way!

Claire Burgess