All About CACHE

If you’re from the UK, chances are that when you hear about CACHE, you recognize it as a household name in the nanny industry. But if you’re from the US, you may have heard of the name but have little understanding of what this name means and the role it plays in the global nanny industry.

CACHE, or the Council for Awards in Care, Health, and Education, was established in the UK in 1945 by the Ministry of Health under the name of the National Nursery Examination Board, or NNEB. In 1994, the National Nursery Examination Board merged with the Council for Early Years Awards to form CACHE. In 2015, CACHE joined NCFE, the UK’s longest-established awarding body.

NCFE is the UK’s national educational awarding organization that designs, develops, and certifies diverse, recognized qualifications and awards, including for distance learning courses. It’s a registered educational charity that has been dedicated to learning for over 150 years. While NCFE was originally called the Northern Council for Further Education, the organization dropped the full name in the 1990s to better reflect its geographical growth and mission.

Bringing CACHE to the US

In 2015, seeing the need to elevate nannying as a viable career choice, Stella Reid, who is most famously known as the star of the hit international reality television show Nanny 911, had a light bulb moment that culminated in the 2016 launch of Nanny Stella Training, the first and only US-based, CACHE-endorsed nanny training center.

What many people don’t know is that the launch of this training was more than thirty years in the making.

With over three decades of experience in the childcare sector, Stella has always been committed to raising the bar for nannies and having them seen as more than glorified babysitters.

Her credentials include a Level 3 NVQ CACHE Diploma in Playwork, which is now the NNEB equivalent, a CACHE Customized Qualification in Newborn Care, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in human behavior. Stella has made a career out of combining her experience, education, and continued professional development.

Recognizing the need for third-party accreditation, Stella wanted to provide a path for nannies to obtain the same type of high-quality education and professional development with UK standards she was familiar with and knew she could trust.

Although CACHE is an international brand that originated in the UK, Stella advises that “US nannies should care about any brand that gives them access to education, training, and certification that will elevate their career. While the industry is not regulated here in the US, and no license, formal training, or certification is required to become a nanny, I don’t see that remaining that way.”

Michelle LaRowe, lead educator at NannyTraining.com, agreed: “It’s been a long time coming to be able to offer nannies a third-party certificate. I am so pleased we can now provide nannies in the US with opportunities that were just a dream a short time ago.”

Partnering with Nanny Stella Training, NannyTraining.com and Nanny Stella Training began the process to launch the CACHE Customized Qualification Foundation Practice for Nannies. Shortly after, through a partnership with Tonya Sakowicz, founder of Newborn Care Solutions, the CACHE Customized Qualification Foundational Newborn Care Training followed.

With more CACHE qualifications in the pipeline and expected to launch in 2021, US-based nannies now have access to two CACHE qualifications. Because NannyTraining.com offers its courses exclusively online, and Newborn Care Solutions offers courses online as well, nannies from around the globe have access to third-party-endorsed qualifications from wherever they have internet access.

All about Customized Qualifications

A CACHE Customized Qualification is a qualification that has been developed to meet the specific needs of learners, has been accredited by CACHE for demonstrating quality and rigor, and is designed to give formal recognition to an organization’s courses, such as programs designed to enable professional development.

A Customized Qualification is an unregulated qualification and is not a nationally recognized qualification; however, it must follow the same requirements of the national frameworks.

On completion of the Customized Qualification, learners receive a certificate of achievement. The certificate is evidence of the knowledge and skills gained by completing the qualification, and the certificate of achievement is issued directly by CACHE.

To maintain quality, CACHE qualifications can only be obtained through CACHE-endorsed learning centers.

Why CACHE

CACHE Customized Qualifications allow educators and training centers to gain accreditation from a national Awarding Organization, which provides reassurances that the qualifications are of a high standard.

When considering certification for her newborn care courses, Tonya Sakowicz, founder of Newborn Care Solutions, chose CACHE: “We looked into multiple options for certification; however, it was critical to us that approval came from an organization that was a fully independent third party. And we wanted one with high standards and protocols in place. And, of course, everyone recognizes the iconic British Nanny around the world, so it was natural for us to consider pursuing this with an organization that is the Gold Standard worldwide. And given that CACHE has been around since 1945 and specializes in childcare programs, not in things like certifying forklift drivers, it just made sense to go with an organization whose focus was on our number one priority: children.”

And once courses are approved by CACHE, they need to maintain their approval with annual auditing by CACHE. An External Quality Assurer (EQA) monitors the quality and consistency of any assessment decisions made and reviews the internal quality assurance taking place within each center. In addition, the EQA reviews the scheme of work for each Customized Qualification to ensure that the learning and assessment are being delivered effectively and to also review the Curriculum Vitae of all staff involved in the delivery of each Customized Qualification.

“We hope to have other courses also approved by CACHE in the future, but it is, of course, a rigorous process and takes considerable time, effort, and expense on our part to accomplish that,” says Sakowicz. “Our students can have the assurance that what they are learning with us has been reviewed by experts in their field and that the information is evidence-based and directly relevant to the care of newborns, regardless of the student’s specific career choice. Our students are proud when they receive their CACHE certificates, and we see them sharing them all over social media and on their resumes.”

To learn more about CACHE courses offered through Nanny Stella Training, visit NannyStellaTraining.com.