Staff Profile

Name
Ian & Sheila Higginbotham

Joined the Nursery
May 2004

Job Title
Directors

Qualifications
Life!

Notes (By Sheila...)
I was born in Milton Keynes, the youngest of 6 children. I met Ian in 1988 and joined him in his business, a franchise in Amtrak Express Parcels, in 1989.

Ian was born in Wroughton, Wiltshire, the oldest of 3 children. Ian’s father was in the RAF and as a result he lived in many different countries including Malta, Germany, Bahrain and the UK. Due to his fathers career Ian went to boarding school in Winchester, which enabled him to have consistent schooling.

Ian’s career initially began as a Navigation Officer in the Merchant Navy, working on all types of ships all around the world. During this time he also worked as a ski instructor and windsurfing instructor.

We married and continued to work together until 1993 when we sold our business. Ian also became a Retained Fire-fighter for Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service.

In July 1994 our son Glenn was born. A year and two weeks later, in August 1995, our daughter Laura followed.

Although mainly being a stay at home Mum, I was appointed as a Magistrate in 2000 and Chairman of an independent Foster and Adoption agency in Banbury in 2001. Ian was employed by Norman Data Defense Systems Ltd and became the Managing Director, which involved managing offices in the UK, Czech Republic and Dubai. This was a time when Ian was away from home a lot and although we got to have some lovely holidays, we found that we missed the family values of being together very much. Ian was made redundant in 2000 and was immediately head hunted by Symantec to set up a new operation in Dubai. Unfortunately 9/11 put paid to that and in 2001 he took a job as Chief Executive of Rainbows Children’s Hospice in Loughborough.

We found the daily commute from Milton Keynes to Loughborough was again affecting the quality of our family life so in 2002 we moved to Smisby. Having accomplished a huge amount in a short time Ian left Rainbows in May 2003. We learned about the Nursery being up for sale within a week of Ian leaving Rainbows and in May 2004 we took over the reins.

I qualified as a Counsellor and Psychotherapist in 2007 and have over the years worked with vulnerable adults and children in different settings including schools, GP surgeries and hospitals. I also spent 18 years as a Panel Chair for three Independent Fostering Agencies across the country.

My role has changed and evolved over the years and I now have more of a light touch involvement. Many different roles, most of which I have now passed on to others, have included accounts, marketing, Safeguarding Lead, disciplinary procedure, training, quality assurance and working with practitioners to promote best practice. I still take a keen interest in Safeguarding and Child Protection within the setting and I’m always on hand to discuss and guide practitioners on such matters. I am proactive in supporting mental health and enjoy promoting wellbeing amongst the staff, making myself available to them if they need an empathic ear. I have the ‘not so’ nice task of chasing bad debts which are thankfully few and far between. I thoroughly enjoy helping out in Smiz Kids and if cover is ever needed that is where I’ll be. Although very amateur I have been appointed resident photographer and get to do the fun photos for Christmas and special events along with staff photos.

Ian is the main man in the nursery and is in charge of everything! His role includes the day to day management of the nursery, finances and payroll. He is very versatile and can turn his hand to most things. He has to take most of the credit for the new build in 2015 as he project managed it from start to finish to a tight timescale and was involved in a great deal of the fitting out work.

Despite being so busy Ian has in recent years become an Ambassador for the Merchant Navy Training Board (MNTB). He is passionate about the Merchant Navy and helping young people achieve their goals. He attends careers evenings at schools and jobs workshops to promote this, and gives valuable advice and support to school leavers. So far he has enabled 37 people to gain a cadetship, including our own son Glenn, who followed in his father’s footsteps in 2012. He qualified as a Navigation Officer with Maersk in 2015, was promoted to Second Officer in 2018, was promoted to Chief Officer in 2021 and completed his Masters Certificate of Competence in the same year. He spends his life travelling the world by sea!

Our daughter Laura qualified as a Paediatric Nurse in 2017, started at Derby Royal Children's Hospital, moved to Nottingham Queen's Medical Centre as a Sister and is now back at Derby Royal Children's Hospital as a Site Practitioner (Band 7 nurse). She has furthered her skill set by training and becoming a Nurse Prescriber as part of a Masters Degree. We are very proud parents!

As an owner led nursery we have a unique ethos that means we care a great deal about our employees and the children and families who attend our setting. Both Ian and I enjoy our work at the nursery and our aim is to provide a caring atmosphere for all those who come through our doors, children, parents and staff. We pride ourselves in providing our staff with a family orientated environment in which to work and help them progress themselves through training opportunities.

Ian and I support a number of children’s charities but we don’t like to just put our hands in our pockets. In 1991 we embarked on a journey to Siret in Romania. We organised and led a convoy of three lorries of 33 tonnes of aid and supplies to an Orphanage in Siret in the North Eastern most point of Romania. This had a profound effect on both of us, and many of those around us, who went on to organise their own aid convoys.

We both look forward to staying at Smisby Day Nursery until our retirement and hope to continue to be a positive part of so many children’s lives.

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