JulietLeach

Hi, we live in Honor Oak Park have have just got a new au pair from Sweden - Sophia. She arrived today and is eager to meet any au pairs in the local area for friendship. I'm sure she will be a wonderful addition to our family and we are eager to make her time her as comfortable and friendly as possible. Please do contact me if you are an au pair and would like to exchange phone numbers or if you have an au pair who would be interested in making a new friend. Many thanks, Juliet

Hi All, thanks very much for all your help about language classes and offers of friendship in regards to our new Au Pair. The ELT in Clapham looks very interesting. Is it normal for the Au Pair to pay for their own language classes or should we offer to help with these fees? When she arrives on the 3rd I'll speak to her about what she want to do in regards to meeting other Au Pairs and suggest she contacts those of you who have offered friendship herself. LittleEDfamily - I too used aupairworld.net after seeking advice on this forum. We got about 160 responses but managed to focus our search on what we really wanted. At the end of the day we naturally don't know if our new Au Pair will fit with our family, but we can only hope and the fact that I actually met her, as she was on a weeks holiday in London a month ago, gives me a bit more assurance. Thanks again all, and if anyone has any additional advice on how to ensure a smooth transition for both the Au Pair and the children, I'd be very grateful. Best wishes

Hi, we are really excited to be expecting our first Au-Pair on the 3rd January. She is 24 years old and French, as as well as experiencing London and the UK she naturally wants to do a language course to improve her English. Can anyone recommend a good English course? Also, are there any social meets for Au-Pairs, or does anyone have an Au-Pair who is looking to meet others? This is our first time using an Au-Pair so are eager that it goes well, so if anyone has any advice on how best to ensure everyone gets along and a smooth transition to someone living and sharing our home, please let me know - all advice would be helpful. Many thanks, Jules

would suggest not getting the gates with the bar along the bottom - especially at the top of stairs - can be a tripping hazard.

Hi, further to my request for advice on how to find an au pair - to which I had some fantastic advice, thanks - we are now very close to offering the post to a french lady. She has asked the question as to whether there are any english language courses in the local area. Can anyone recommend a good english language course that either they or their au pair has been to? Many thanks for any advice, Juliet

Thank you so much for all your advice. I have mo registered with au pair world and hope to find someone very soon.I hadn't heard of this website before so really really helpful. I will also call the abc/lina agency just to chat and see what they're like. Thank you so much again, Juliet

Hi, we're desperately looking for an au pair for our 4 year old twins from January 2011. I put an ad on gumtree but then the au pair we thought we had, got herself another job (full time). Now due to time getting on, I wonder if it is better and safer to go through an agency. Can anyone recommend an agency they used? Also is there an agency with offices in Dulwich or surrounding area - I'd love to actually go and speak to someone face to face. Just in case anyone knows anyone - we need an au pair to work 3 days a week, plus a couple of evenings babysitting. They would have their own bedroom, bathroom and sitting/study room. Happy to get them insured on our car and welcome them into our family. We have 3 kids (4 year old twins and 8 month baby) but the baby will be looked after by a childminder on the 3 days that I work. The au pair will be responsible for the twins and be expected to take them to pre-school, feeding them and any before or after school activities. We are completely new to this, so any help and advice would be so gratefully received! Thanks, Juliet