We want all kids to feel AWESOME!
We are a family of families dedicated to growing awesome South African children!
We offer affordable out of school care to pre-school and primary school children at our centres across the country. More than 3000 children come through our doors each day and we consider it a great privilege to support parents, schools and communities.
We want all kids to feel AWESOME about who they are, so our programmes have been designed to grow core capabilities in kids, so they flourish in life. We offer a range of programmes including, our after school, before school and school holiday programme.
Sherpa Kids South Africa | Management & Franchisee’s
We aim to deliver a ‘fresh and vibrant’ approach to Out Of School Care, and to “give children such a great time that they do not want to go home!”, so we believe:
That every child should be safe and cared for
That every child has a voice
That every child should be encouraged to be themselves
That all children, no matter what their background, should have the same opportunities
That having strong relationships with our schools, families and children is vital for growing awesome South African children
In being pioneers, in the out of school care industry by leading the way in offering new innovative programmes
Our core values
These are the values you can expect from us, and the values we look for in franchise owners working in our local communities.
SHERPA KIDS HEAD OFFICE TEAM
Supporting our local communities
Genevieve Allen
Managing Director
Genevieve’s twenty years experience in Education focused on brand development and operational excellence which is in tune with customer needs and market trends.Her experience was gained at the JSE listed Advtech Group in the position of managing director of two of their tertiary education brands, Rosebank College and College Campus. While at Advtech Genevieve served as a member of the Group Executive Committee for over five years.
She holds an undergraduate qualification in Marketing, an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and has recently attained a Masters in Business Innovation from Deusto University in Spain.
“After working in the education industry for 20 years, I have a passionate commitment to learning in South Africa. As such, I was motivated to launch this business and offer an out of school hours programme that works.”
Doriann Hewlett
Doriann has 18 years of experience in working with children from teaching to being a principal of a nursery school.
She studied towards her ECD qualification. She is very passionate about working with children and helping them become the best they can be. She has run and managed a few aftercare centre’s over the past 3 years. Doriann has also assisted in the training of Sherpa Kids staff and working on the ground with a few of our partner schools.
Stephanie Carter
Operations Manager
Stephanie has her Post Graduate Diploma in Educational Leadership and Management and brings along with her a number of tutoring and lead teacher positions at various schools within Johannesburg. She has also held a Principal portfolio where she gained experience in managing and maintaining an effective operational school that included aftercare and ensuring the fostering of parent as well as student relations.
Stephanie is responsible for quality assurance, franchisee and staff operations support as well as heads the training portfolio for our teams working at our various Sherpa Kids centres.
Sean Coughlan
Training Manager
Father of five boys (aged 8 to 26), Sean holds an M.Ed. with post-graduate specialisation in Special Education (Remedial). Sean’s almost 46 years in the education sector includes 20 years at Rhodes University as a lecturer in the Education Department and many years as a High School and Primary School teacher. In addition, he was Education Officer for the 1820 Foundation in Grahamstown where he was responsible for administering and planning Southern Africa’s (annual) English Olympiad, National School’s Festival of English and many other varied educational offerings.
Sean is perfectly positioned to ensure that Sherpa Kids out of school hours (including before school, aftercare and holiday care) solution is perfectly matched to the needs of South African parents, their children and our schools. Responsibility for Training and Quality Assurance completes Sean’s Sherpa Kids portfolio.
Ray Wilke
Operations
Ray started his career in the Building Society field and moved onto a career with Major Companies in the FMCG Industry. He has held roles as Regional Sales Manager, National Sales Manager and National Accounts Manager. He has been employed by NCP Yeast, Illovo Sugar and Rainbow Chicken Limited.
If we look internally into anything we do, being it within our own business or personal life, it is those very important people that we deal with on a daily basis, how we treat and respect them is the key to success.
Our Staff
When interacting with your children
When interacting with your children, our staff will:
- establish a rapport with your children
- encourage children to communicate, explore and be creative and spontaneous
- allow children to make decisions, problem solve and express and share their thoughts and opinions
- assist children in developing positive relationships with other children
- use praise and reinforcement with children to boost self-esteem
- encourage and motivate good practice
- celebrate children’s efforts and achievements
Sherpa Kids programmes are developed to:
- provide challenging and interesting age appropriate activities
- engage and stimulate children’s physical, intellectual, social and creative abilities
- plan for a range of daily indoor and outdoor
- enable children to participate in quiet/active activities, as well as small group or individual activities
- encourage children to feel part of the school and wider community
- be evaluated regularly by children, parents and staff using a variety of assessments and strategies