THEY are the elite among nannies, the special forces of childcare providers. They will parachute in and create order and calm in the nursery before you can say ‘spit spot’—all while running up a fancy-dress costume from curtains and making shepherd’s pie for tea. It’s why Norlanders have long been the nanny of choice for royalty (the Cambridges have Maria Borrallo and The Princess Royal also employed one), high-net-worth individuals and celebrities such as Sir Mick Jagger.
Echoing that other quintessentially British institution, Eton, any innovation at Norland commands inches of newsprint. ‘Mary Poppins meets James Bond’ was one excitable headline, on the news that students were receiving lessons in self-defence and counter-terrorism. ‘Mary Poppins learns to escape the paparazzi’ was another, after it emerged that skid-pan training had been added to the curriculum.
‘It’s not for escaping the paparazzi!’ exclaims Norland College principal Dr Janet Rose. ‘The skid-pan training is really about driving in icy conditions at the end of a long day, with two fretful children in the back.’ As with all new additions to the course, it’s about giving families confidence, explains Dr Rose. When former military-intelligence officers come into college, it’s to raise students’ awareness of personal security online. ‘Things such as being tech-savvy about the use of social media; not giving away your geographical location,’ Dr Rose divulges.
Norland through the years
1892 Norland Institute is founded in Norland Place, Holland Park, London W11, by Emily Ward. She was an advocate of the ideas of Friedrich Fröbel, inventor of the kindergarten system
1895 The uniform is introduced, supplied by Debenham & Freebody of Kensington
Denne historien er fra December 02, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra December 02, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds
