Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Mum who fell pregnant aged 16 proves her doubters wrong
When Louise Mansell fell pregnant at 16 years old, she vowed not to be judged as “just another schoolgirl mum who would end up on benefits”.
And her determination has paid off - because last week she proudly graduated with a teaching degree and a career for life. That might have seemed a pipe dream back in 2012 when the teenager, then Louise Pottle, went to her exam results day at the Chaucer Technology School in Canterbury with her little baby daughter Ella in tow. But even then, motherhood at such a young age was not going to deter her from pursuing her studies.
Now 29, she is a Year 1 teacher at Canterbury Primary School and a happily married mum-ofthree with the same partner. She told the Gazette: “I hope that if by sharing my story it inspires even one young teenage mum, giving them some hope that there are ways of getting that dream job or family life they’ve always wanted, then I’ll be happy.”
But looking back now, Louise admits it was a huge shock to discover she was pregnant while still at school.
“It was a bit scary because we were dreading breaking the news to our parents,” she said. “I know some people looked down on me and were probably thinking, ‘oh, another single mum who is going to be living on benefits’, but I was determined it wouldn’t be that way.” “There was never any question that I wouldn’t keep the baby and I wasn’t daunted by the thought of looking after her.” Ella was born in the June of 2011 but Louise was back at school when her daughter was just three months old. With the support of the school and her family, Louise was able to pursue her studies through a government scheme called Care to Learn, which funds nursery placements, enabling her to go back to the classroom.
She admits she wasn’t a model pupil before having Ella but says becoming a mum completely changed her mindset.
“I wasn’t the best behaved, to be honest, but having Ella changed me as a person,” she
said.
“I knew I had to be the best I could to give her the best possible start in life and she is an amazing young person who is now at grammar school.
“I was determined to continue my education and also got a part-time job at the Spring Lane nursery - to help if I applied to go to university in the future - and then later became a teaching assistant at Wingham Primary School.”
Her hard work culminated in her achieving a degree in Early Childhood Studies and now a post-graduate certificate in education from Canterbury Christ
Church University. Louise and her school sweetheart, landscape gardener Tom Mansell, live in their own home in Wingham with Ella, 11, Olly, eight, and Ava, four.
“I was fortunate to have such a good support network around me,” Louise continued. “Even Tom’s mum is a midwife which obviously helped hugely with a new baby,” she said. “But I appreciate that many teenage mums won’t have that - or sometimes even the father of the child around to support them.”
Louise says she has given talks to other groups of young teenage mums about the opportunities that are out there, if they put their mind to it.
“I knew I wanted to work with children and becoming a teacher is my dream job,” she said. “My message to any young teenager who becomes a mum is not to give up hope of a career - because the opportunities are out there, it you put your mind to it.”
‘My message to any young teenager who becomes a mum is nottogiveuphope of a career...’