When I saw yet another study on early years education recently — inviting nurseries, early years educators, and childminders to take part, but not nannies — my heart sank. Once again, the very people who have been caring for and educating young children in the home for generations were left out of the conversation.
We had to ask the lead researcher if nannies could even be included. That small moment said it all.
And yet, the nanny was the original early years educator. Long before nurseries or early years settings existed, nannies were teaching, guiding, and nurturing young children in the home. We were — and still are — the foundation of early education.
Our History Has Been Forgotten
In the late 1800s, long before “EYFS” or “curriculum” became part of childcare vocabulary, nannies were already shaping young minds. We taught through play, built social and emotional skills, introduced letters and numbers, and modelled manners, kindness, and curiosity.
When Emily Ward founded Norland College in 1892, she formalised what nannies had long been doing — combining education, care, and professionalism. Her vision shaped the development of the nursery nurse and early childhood education itself.
But as early years education became increasingly formalised, moving into classrooms and group settings, the home-based educator — the nanny — quietly disappeared from policy papers, research, and even public understanding.
We never stopped educating. The world just stopped noticing.
The Perception Problem
One of the biggest barriers to recognition is perception.
The word nanny means very different things to different people.
Some families see hiring a nanny as a quick childcare fix — someone to “help out” rather than a qualified professional. Others assume that because some nannies are untrained, the role must be unskilled.
As a Norland-trained nanny, I know how far that is from the truth. I trained for three years in child development, early learning, behaviour, nutrition, and safeguarding. My role was to educate and nurture. I planned learning experiences through play, supported social and emotional development, encouraged independence, monitored progress, and reported to parents on milestones and concerns.
That is education. It just happens in the most natural learning environment there is — the child’s home.
And it’s not just Norlanders. Across the UK, there are countless dedicated, qualified, and deeply experienced nannies who approach their role with the same professionalism, care, and educational intent. Whether trained through CACHE, Montessori, or through years of hands-on experience, professional nannies share one mission: to bring out the best in every child.
Why We’re Still Overlooked
Despite our contribution, nannies remain invisible in early years policy and research.
We’re rarely included in studies, excluded from consultations, and often absent from discussions about the early years workforce.
Why? Because we don’t fit neatly into the system.
Nannies are typically employed privately, not through settings. We don’t have an Ofsted category. We work one-on-one, behind closed doors — creating an invisible form of education that is no less impactful.
Every day, nannies are implementing the EYFS principles, fostering literacy and numeracy, encouraging creativity, and guiding emotional development — but because our classrooms are living rooms and gardens, our work goes unseen.
Changing Perception, One Family — and One Policy — at a Time
As Chair of the National Nanny Association, I am passionate about changing these perceptions — both among families and at government level.
We need policymakers, researchers, and the wider early years community to recognise nannies as part of the same ecosystem as nurseries, preschools, and childminders. We are not the “other.” We are early years educators — we simply work in a more personal, flexible, and individualised way.
When a nanny supports a toddler to self-feed, helps a preschooler sound out words, or guides a child through emotional regulation, that is early years education in action. It deserves respect, research, and recognition.
Professional nannies also need regulation and pathways for training and development, to ensure families can identify qualified, vetted practitioners. The National Nanny Association’s ongoing campaign, The Road to Nanny Regulation, is pushing for exactly this — because recognition isn’t about status. It’s about safety, quality, and children’s right to the best start in life. I learnt this from Norland.
Time to Reclaim Our Place
The truth is simple: nannies were here first.
We laid the foundations for early years education — and we continue to shape children’s futures every single day.
As Emily Ward, founder of Norland College, reminded us more than a century ago:
“Nursery work is not menial and domestic, but educational… habits, thoughts, ideals formed in the nursery, are formed for life.”
She also said:
“I look forward confidently and hopefully to the time when a nursery nurse will command from the public the same amount of affection, respect, and trust as is now universally accorded to the hospital nurse and the trained teacher.”
That time is now.
It’s time the early years sector — and society — saw us for who we truly are and what I was taught at Norland.
Allie Bell | Chair National Nanny Association