Red Hot Info

Recent My BIG Buddy research

More and more families are choosing to have a ‘manny’ and research shows that this is not to be sniffed at…..A recent survey by MY BIG BUDDY told us that many children under the age of 11 have few male influences in their lives and that boys in particular, especially those over the age of 4, relate better to a ‘older brother’ type figure as a carer. This can be backed up by the Government statistics that tell us that only 1% of Britain's 215,000 nursery teachers and only 15% of primary school teachers are male. At home many fathers are absent from their children's lives during the week due to work commitments and there are currently 1.7 million lone parent families in the country, predominantly female headed, bringing up 2.9 million children.

Research conducted December 2007

Fast Appointment Interview Process

To find out the date of the next scheduled Fast Appointment Interview Process please call Annie directly on 07809777884 or click this link to be emailed the information.

Big Buddy Profile of the Month…

David Lester

Nationality: British
DOB: 01/08/87

I'm 21 and I was born and raised in Surrey. I left Tiffin Boys School with 10 GCSE's and 3 A-levels which earnt me a place at Sussex University. I studied Product Design for a year and a half but decided I wanted to work with children sooner rather than later.

I've spent the last two years working in various child-care positions. These include 2 summer activity camps for disadvantaged children in northern England, a 6 month winter season with a family ski company in the Alps and as a tennis coach in between. I’ve been registered with My Big Buddy since September 2008 and during this time I’ve been casually placed with a number of different families. The girls keep ringing me so I must be doing something right!

I spend my free time playing tennis and golf mainly, visiting friends across the country and staying as active as possible. I'm hoping to begin a part-time primary school teaching course either at university or college this year to eventually qualify me as a teacher, which I'm looking to pursue as a career.

Education & Qualifications
David graduated from Tiffin Boys School with 11 GCSE’s and 3 A-levels, earning him a place at Sussex University, studying Product Design. He thoroughly enjoyed his first year, but decided to intermit for the second, to experience some more long-term work with children and decide whether he wanted to base himself permanently in child-care.

• Experience

Employer – Sigi Cornish Tennis Club
Duration – (06/2003 - 09/2005)
Job Title – Tennis Coach

Job Description – Coaching groups of up to 8 children from 4 years upwards with pre-lesson warm-ups, drills, match play and games.

Skills Acquired – Scheduling and planning of lessons, motivating groups to focus and participate enthusiastically, providing customer satisfaction through reporting back to parents about visible improvements.

Employer – Beadlesford School
Duration – (October 04 – November 04)
Job Title – Voluntary Classroom Assistant

Job Description – Working with physically and mentally disabled children on a one to one basis to ease strain on the teachers. Helped with reading, writing, music and P.E one day a week.

Skills Acquired – Ability to work with more demanding children and deal with a wide range of behaviors. Received good insight into the structure and importance of everyday routine and learnt valuable teaching techniques to convey the curriculum in a variety of ways, depending on the children.

Interests

• Coaching and Refereeing Tennis
• Sports and all outdoor activities
• Cycling
• Canoeing
• Climbing

Recipe of the Month

Beef Lasagna

Meat Sauce
500g Beef Mince
1 can of Chopped Tomatoes
½ tube Tomato Paste
1 Brown Onion (diced)
2 Garlic segments (fresh and crushed)
1 cup Red Wine
1 Beef Stock Cube (no water added)
2 generous squirts of Tomato Sauce
Small sprinkle of Garlic salt or granules

Béchamel Sauce
1 2cm x 2cm cube of butter
1 cup plain flour
2 cups of milk
200g strong cheddar (grated)

1 packet of Egg Lasagna Sheets
1 Mozzarella ball

Brown Onion in large saucepan or fry pan
Add crushed garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes
Remove from pan and set aside

Add beef mince over very low heat and flatten to cover pan surface
Turn the meat regularly so it cooks but doesn’t brown
Once the mince is almost cooked push to one side and drain out excess fat into a mug
Add onions and garlic back to pan and combine
Add wine and leave to deglaze for 2 minutes or until small bubbles begin to appear

Add half tube of tomato paste, can of chopped tomatoes, crumbled beef stock cube, garlic salt and tomato sauce. Stir to combine over low heat.

Leave sauce simmering over low heat for approximately 30 minutes, stirring every now and then to prevent sticking.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a deep but small saucepan. Keep heat low
Add the flour and whisk to combine until you have a sand like mixture
Add milk a splash at a time and whisk quickly
(The aim here is to get the sauce as lump free as possible, put some arm into it!)
Add the grated cheddar and continue whisking whilst cheese melts
Give the sauce one last heavy whisk to remove the last of the lumps. If really bad use a fine strainer when pouring over lasagna.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

In a large, deep baking tray place one layer of beef sauce, followed by one layer of pasta sheets, followed by one layer of béchamel sauce. Repeat the meat and pasta layer then place the slices of Mozzarella evenly over the top of the pasta sheets. Top off with remaining béchamel sauce and any left over grated cheese.

Place in oven and cook for 20mins or until brown on top. Use a knife to check pasta sheets are cooked by stabbing the dish in the middle. Leave to stand for 10mins before serving.

Serve with salad and garlic bread