Knockout Nannies

[GeneChing]

There's a vid if you follow the link

Meet the knockout nannies: 'Mary Poppins' school teaching trainees martial arts and getaway driving
Norland College in Bath, Somerset, has been training professional nannies for royalty, celebrities and high society since 1892
Yahoo! NewsBy Rebecca Lewis | Yahoo! News – 6 hours ago


Trainee nanny Fiona Searle shows one of the self defence moves while holiding a baby at Norland College (SWNS)View Photo

What would Mary Poppins say? Trainees at Britain's most prestigious nanny school are learning martial arts and stunt driving - to protect against robbers and kidnappers.

Norland College in Bath, Somerset, has been training professional nannies for royalty, celebrities and high society since 1892.

But gone are the days when a nanny only needed to be equipped with the ability to make scrumptious scones and wear a kind smile. Now the college are arming nannies with stunt driving and martial arts skills to protect the precious offspring of wealthy clients.

Lessons include driving classes which go beyond a simple three-point turn. Nannies are expected to drive at high speed in any weather conditions to enable them to escape the clutches of kidnappers or paparazzi.


”Trainee nanny Lucy Draper looks nervous on a skidpad course in Bath, as part of her Norland college studies ( …

Student Lucy Draper, 24, said: "It teaches you how to look after your charges so if you have them in the back in dangerous situation you know how to cope.

"It teaches you things like how to get away from the paparazzi or if you're being chased as well as if you are on black ice or something like that.

"I definitely feel a lot better and more prepared now."

Nannies from Norland are in high demand among royalty and the extravagantly wealthy. They are immediately recognisable by their Mary Poppins-style brown uniforms, felt hats and white gloves.

The trainees learn everyday skills such as sewing, first aid and cooking at the 36,000 four year BA Honours degree course.

And they are now trained in high-speed driving by driving instructor John Yeo, who used to train bodyguards.

He said: "We put them under as much pressure as we can.

"If we're putting all the pressure on them and they can still pull the car out of a situation quickly and efficiently, it's been a good reward.

"And we know when they go out there and that happens they've got the best chance possible of keeping safe."


‰Caroline Hymas practices her self defense skills at Norland College in Bath (SWNS)

They also undergo Tae Kwon-Do self-defense training where they learn to manoeuvre prams away from kidnappers and give themselves the best chance at escaping or alerting attention.

Claire Burges, lecturer and former graduate of Norland College, believes the college's founder, Emily Ward, would have loved the new additions to the prospectus.

She said: "When Emily Ward set up Norland, it was forward thinking it was always thinking about what was needed for the children in the families that the nannies were going to be caring for.

"And I think she'd love the idea that we're now moving it even more forward."


A Norland nanny in 1933 (SWNS)

[GeneChing]

We'll never be royals.

Nannies with martial arts and stunt-driving skills could be option for royal couple
Scott Stump TODAY contributor
July 24, 2013 at 9:36 AM ET

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are not believed to have hired a nanny yet, and it remains to be seen whether they will break with royal tradition and raise the future king without one.

However, if they need a 21st-century Mary Poppins who can perform martial arts and driving stunts as well as change nappies, a school in Bath, England, has plenty of candidates for them.

At Norland College, prospective nannies learn traditional child care and cooking skills that have been taught at the school since it was founded in 1892 — but they also learn modern techniques to help protect the rich and famous.


Nannies in training learn martial arts at Norland College in Bath, England.

They may still dress in their old-fashioned brown uniforms with felt hats and white gloves, but they also can handle hand-to-hand combat with an attacker and outrace aggressive paparazzi in a car. The nannies are trained in martial arts to fend off potential kidnappers and also learn evasive and stunt driving skills to deal with everything from dangerous weather conditions to dodging the press.

“We are creating the most prepared nanny that we can for the modern-day family,’’ Claire Burgess, an early years consultant at Norland College, told TODAY Wednesday.

When the couple return to their royal duties, which require extensive travel, they will likely have to consider hiring a full-time nanny to raise their son. If they decide to bring on a nanny, they will know where to look for ones with modern and traditional skills.

“I think ‘supernanny’ is definitely the term or would be in the job description,” NBC royal expert Camilla Tominey said on TODAY. “Looking after the royal baby Cambridge, it couldn’t be more high-profile.”

Trainees pay $55,000 for the four-year course, learning skills like first aid, sewing and cooking in addition to self-defense and driving. In the second year of the course, students learn from a stunt driver on the Castle Combe Racing Circuit in Wiltshire about how to handle a car in all kinds of situations, from icy roads to potential kidnappers to pursuing paparazzi.

Nannies are part of the fabric of British society and have been a fixture in the royal family over the years: Prince Charles had two nannies, and Prince William and Prince Harry each had three. Thus far, William and Kate have not announced any decision on whether they are hiring a nanny for their young prince. William has taken paternity leave from his job as a helicopter pilot to help care for the boy.

“They have said, ‘Look, we don’t want to have huge amounts of people around us for these first weeks and months, we’d like to be hands-on,’’’ Tominey said.

[GeneChing]

Meet Prince George's Newly Appointed Spanish Nanny: Knows Martial Arts and Other Self Defense Techniques
By nidhi tewari | March 21, 2014 9:36 AM EST

Prince George's parent Prince William and Kate Middleton have finally zeroed in on a nanny to care of him. She is a Spanish lady and her name is Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, it has been revealed. The royal couple is "delighted she has chosen to join them" and Maria will be accompanying them to their three week tour of Australia and New Zealand in April, Mirror.co.uk has revealed.

Maria is not just any nanny. She is a through professional who has reportedly got her training at the prestigious Norland College which trains nannies in an intensive (and expensive) full-time three year BA course. William and Kate directly approached the college and chose Maria after getting accustomed to her since quite some time now. The Spanish born nanny for Prince George has already been spotted with George in Kensington Palace Gardens some time back, the Web site reveals.

Maria joins the royal couple after the contract of the previous nanny, Jessie Webb, got expired. Maria had reportedly "worked for other high-profile families and it was from there that the Cambridges heard of her and hired her," Hello Magazine has revealed.

"She is not married and doesn't have a boyfriend, as her life is totally dedicated to the family she is working with. She is known for being totally professional-married to the job," the source close to the nanny revealed to Hello Magazine.

The Palace has been very secretive about the personal details of the nanny even since she has joined them and would like to keep the matter private.

"We will not be giving further details on Maria or her employment, except to say that The Duke and Duchess are of course delighted she has chosen to join them," the Palace said in a statement, E Online reports.

According to Daily Mail, Maria has been specially trained in self defence and knows the art of Tae Kwon-Do. She has also received training on how to "skid pan" a car in poor weather conditions, the Web site reported.

Kate and William wanted to be hands on parents to Prince George, who is eight months now but since they have lot of public appearances and tours as a part of their royal commitment, it is best to have a help to fall back to. What are your views?

Needs a pic, no? Couldn't find one in a cursory web search.