Meet Raquel, who leads our approach
Raquel leads Little Penguins Nannies after years spent on both sides of childcare in London — as the nanny families trusted with their children, and, more recently, as a qualified teacher training to hold that same standard formally.
Before qualifying as a teacher, Raquel spent close to a decade working directly with children and young people in different settings — as a riding instructor guiding over fifty students of all ages and abilities, and as a camp instructor designing workshops focused on children’s social and emotional development. That hands-on foundation came well before the classroom did.
She then trained formally through a PGCE in Primary Education with QTS, including a specialism in supporting children with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities), alongside a BSc (Hons) in Education Studies from the University of East London. Her teaching placements across London schools, and her time volunteering as a teaching assistant supporting SEND pupils at a primary school in the city, sit at the core of how she now assesses every nanny Little Penguins places.
“While working with several families here in London, and connecting nanny colleagues I met during my teacher training with families who needed them, I realised how many people on both sides were figuring this out alone — families unsure where to start, and nannies unsure how to find the right match. I decided to do it properly, and professionally.”
Meet Carlos, our director
Carlos G. Hernández Romero is the director of Little Penguins Nannies, bringing experience as a company director and a background in accounting to how the agency is run. While Raquel leads on vetting, placements, and the pedagogical standard behind every introduction, Carlos oversees the company’s operations, finances, and compliance — making sure Little Penguins is run properly and responsibly from day one.
Why “educational,” specifically
Most nanny agencies are built around logistics: matching availability, checking a CV, making an introduction. Little Penguins Nannies is built around a different question first — does this person understand how children learn, not just how to keep them safe?
That standard comes directly from Raquel’s own training. Every family we work with gets the benefit of someone who has sat in a classroom assessing a child’s development, and who knows exactly what to look for — and what to ask — when vetting someone to spend their days with your children.
What that means for families
- Every nanny is assessed not only on experience and safety checks, but on how they think about a child’s development
- Extra attention to children with additional or specific educational needs, drawing on Raquel’s own SEND training
- Someone genuinely reachable — not a call centre, a real person who has done this work herself
What that means for nannies
Little Penguins Nannies started because Raquel kept meeting brilliant nannies who had no straightforward way to find families who valued what they actually brought to the role — not just supervision, but real educational input. If that sounds like you, we’d like to meet you too.
