And the nominees are...

This year's shortlisted nannies are (from left): Filsane Gure, Kerri Brown, Clare Hawley-Smith, Debbie Darnborough and Sophie Mitchell.

Every June those shortlisted for the Professional Nanny of the Year Award make their way to Reading and Chiltern College, where they take part in an all-day interview. Like the nannies before them, this year's nominees enjoyed their day, which started with a tour of the college. Steeped in history Chiltern College first opened in 1931 and is the only residential childcare training college in the U.K. The college is set in acres of beautiful gardens and the children who attend nursery here are very lucky to have large outside areas to play in.

After the tour the nannies spent some time in the college nurseries, where the staff had the opportunity to observe the nannies interact with the children. Following some refreshments the interviews started around mid-morning and each nanny had to answer questions covering a range of topics from strategies on managing children’s behaviour, to questions on nutrition and the steps they take to ensure they keep their childcare knowledge up-to-date.

Nannytax has been on the panel selecting the Professional Nanny of the Year since 2005, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to meet some amazing nannies and find out more about the work they do. The selection process is never easy and this year was particularly difficult with an unusually high calibre of professionalism demonstrated by the short-listed nannies.

Eventually a decision was made, but since we like to keep both you and the nominees hanging for just a bit longer... the winner won’t be announced until the awards ceremony in Daventry on 29th July. Check out the Nannytax website on the 30th to see who the winner is.

The Professional Nanny of the Year Award was first held in 2004. It is organised by the Professional Association of Nursery Nurses (PANN). Nominations for the award are sought from fully qualified nannies (NVQ 3 or equivalent), and nannies must be nominated by their employers. Candidates are also required to have a full CRB Enhanced Disclosure Check. The main purpose of the Professional Nanny of the Year Award is to recognise the highly professional, important role nannies play in providing hight quality, safe and flexible childcare.

Nannytax would like to encourage families to put their nanny forward for the Professional Nanny of the Year award 2009. Please contact PANN on 01332 372 337 for more details.

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