South England
Teacher Laura’s Life-Changing Experience Fostering Teenagers
For Laura, a Qualified Teacher, now part-time from the South of England, the road to Fostering was paved with 20 years of experience guiding teenagers and young adults through education.
“I often thought, if I could take you home with me, you’d have an amazing life,” Laura recalls from her years teaching secondary school science. “But as a teacher, you can’t – so I carried that thought for a long time".
Laura’s teaching journey wasn’t always smooth. During her NQT year, the workload felt overwhelming, and she was close to giving up. Fortunately, she had an exceptionally understanding school that found creative solutions, bringing in a retired teacher to share her class on a week-on, week-off basis so she could complete her three qualifying terms.
Even with the support, she knew she needed a change of school to find her place. “It took me six years to find the right school for me – it was tough,” she says. When she eventually joined a local College, she stayed for over a decade, working her way up to Head of Science and leading multiple roles at once.
At one point, Laura took a two-year break from teaching, feeling she couldn’t keep up the pace. She became a support worker in adult mental health, quickly earning a promotion to run a residential home. “I enjoyed it and I was good at it – but once I knew the job inside out, I got bored,” she explains. “I need mental stimulation, and for me, teaching has always given me that.”
Returning to the classroom reignited her passion for science and the variety of teaching, but after having her daughter, she decided to move to part-time work to focus more on family life.
Laura hadn’t set out with Compass in mind at all. In fact, before fostering, she had been hosting exchange students for about a year, usually in pairs. Then, adverts for fostering began appearing on her Facebook feed: “I thought, why not check it out? I clicked for more information, and before I knew it, the process had started – and it was so quick. Just four months later, I was approved and welcoming my first foster child.”
Laura’s first foster child was a 15-year-old girl who quickly became part of the family, and who Laura says isn’t going anywhere now that she’s with them.
“She’s here forever, as far as I’m concerned,” Laura laughed. “To be honest, it feels like they’ve both – my birth daughter and foster daughter – have always been here. My youngest has never known life without her foster sister".
The two girls call each other sisters and are treated the same in every way. “It’s lovely,” Laura says. “My foster daughter has a birth sister, but here, she and my youngest just see each other as sisters. It’s a real bond.”
She believes the transformation came from simple but powerful things: love, boundaries, and stability. “Once she knew she wasn’t going anywhere and was safe, she settled. Now she’s in college, working hard because she wants a better life for herself”.
This October marks two years since Laura began fostering, and she says she can’t imagine life without it. “I can’t remember my life before fostering. It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done”.
Laura is currently planning an extension to her home so she can welcome another teenager into her care, and Compass has been right behind her in making it happen. “They’ve even written to the council to support my application for the extension”, she explains. “I would love to give another teenager the same love and stability my foster daughter has had”.
“Teenagers just need someone in their corner,” she adds. “If you’re a secondary school teacher, you’ve already got the skills – you know what you’re going into. It’s easier at home than managing a class of 30”.
