About Us

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

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.”

Benita Boonzaier

Office Manager

Benita has over 10 years’ experience in customer service and advanced office administration as well as personal assistant duties.

Her experience has been fostered within educational institutions and in particular primary school environments working with parents and children, facilitating arrangements for school activities and arranging meetings, teacher development as well as parent development activities. At Sherpa Kids she contributes to service excellence by managing our Head Office and being involved in quality assurance site visits.

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

I have enjoyed bringing up my 2 daughters, Candice and Emma-Leigh, now aged 31 and 26 respectfully. I have always been a hands-on Father and enjoyed being able to have been at almost every single 1st time event during both their schooling history, 1st time Netball Game, 1st time Eisteddfod etc.

I started my career in the Building Society field and moved onto a career with Major Companies in the FMCG Industry. I have had such roles as Regional Sales Manager, National Sales Manager and National Accounts Manager. I have been employed by NCP Yeast, Illovo Sugar and Rainbow Chicken Limited. Some of the lessons I have learnt throughout my extensive Sales Career are as follows:

• Sales is perhaps perceived to be the easiest job in the World, free Car, never in the office, set their own times, enjoy all the perks of events etc., this is not the case and I can tell you that it is one of the hardest Professions to be in.
• Sales is not about selling to a Buyer or Consumer, it’s about involving everyone in the Sales Value Chain, be it the Receptionist, Buyers Assistant, Receiving Clerk, Buying Clerk, Distribution Staff, Warehouse Staff, Admin Staff, Accounting Staff and many more including your Customers Business and Staff and finally their Consumers
• Knowledge and relationships with all these facets of People that form the Sales Value Chain is the Key to any Business or Salesman’s success.

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 in my opinion.

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