Registered in Scotland – Company No. 265660
Scottish Charity No. SC035442
Laura's Indigo Story
Head of Early Years
Laura is our Head of Early Year at Indigo Childcare Group and we are delighted to have our longest-standing employee still with us at Indigo 25 years later.
Read below to hear Laura’s story:
“I started my career in childcare in 1988, attending Langside college training as a nursery nurse. After completing my training I worked for Strathclyde Regional Council working in local authority nurseries before gaining employment at one of our nurseries in 1994, as a part-time Child Development Officer in our 0-2 room, which fit around my family life, which working in childcare is always a benefit as it is very flexible. In 1998 I became a full-time Family Support Worker, which involved working with vulnerable families who were looking to seek out education and training to eventually gain employment and offer their families a better standard of living. I would support families by offering free childcare while parents attended training courses, as well as providing additional support such as accompanying families to appointments and facilitating in house parenting classes, developing skills such as cooking on a budget, parenting and stress management which is very similar to our Family Matters support we now have in place at Indigo.
In 2005 I became a Senior Child Development Officer, then in 2007 when Indigo merged I became the Service Development Officer and later moved on to become the named manager of our Castlemilk nursery. In 2010 I returned to college to complete my SVQ level 4 in ‘Childcare Education & Learning’ and in 2015 I completed my degree in ‘Childhood Practice’ at the University of Glasgow. During this time I became the Head of Early Years, which is my current role.
In 2015 Indigo opened a new purpose-built nursery in Garrowhill and I moved to the nursery to oversee the set-up and management of the new service. During 2020 I was seconded to cover maternity leave at School aged services and Debby (our now manager of Garrowhill) became the full-time manager of Garrowhill , this has allowed me to concentrate on my role as Head of Years. In addition to being the Head of Early Years, I am Indigo’s Company Child Protection Officer, ensuring that all staff are updated on Child Protection, overseeing any child protection incidents, and giving advice and support to managers and leads.
During my time working in childcare I have loved working with children and young people and their families, being able to watch them grow and develop and supporting families in any way I can. I also take pride in supporting and developing our team, seeing them grow and develop as and gain confidence.
I love when you meet someone at interview and think they are going to fit in and go places and you prove yourself correct! certain team members stand out and you can see the promise of what could be, and by giving people the chance you see them bloom, that’s one of my favourite parts of this job.
I always said if I didn’t continue to love my job or the place I work and it no longer fit within my values I would move on however Indigo has always continued to put families and the community first with children's wellbeing and happiness at the heart of everything we do at Indigo and it has continued to demonstrate those values 25 years later. I want our families to continue to see Indigo as a helping hand and an extension of their family to help them reach their full potential.”
If you liked reading Laura’s story and want to grow in your career just like Laura, follow the link below to start your Indigo Journey today!