ABOUT OUR TEAM
Our Staff
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Our dedicated staff form the backbone of our success. For this reason, we appoint qualified and dedicated teachers and assistants to ensure that they are able to implement our MiniGenius curriculum to our required standards. We also deliberately foster a specific culture of care which puts the physical and emotional welfare of our children above all else. All teachers undergo our in-house MiniGenius and MiniRobotics induction course and attend annual MiniGenius and MiniRobotics workshops. We also partner with the SA Noodhulpliga / SA First Aid League for our First Aid certification as well as additional annual refresher courses to best prepare our staff in case of an accident or medical emergency.
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Practical Stuff:
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We are open during all school holidays
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We close in the second week of December and open in the first week of January
Carika is a University of Pretoria graduate with a BE.d Foundation Phase degree and also a mother of three beautiful children. Since starting her teaching life as a preschool teacher, her passion for nurturing young minds and their character development has only grown. Her passion for Early Childhood development is fuelled by her commitment to understanding and realising each child’s unique potential. Carika has actively participated in various educational initiatives with Tuks Creative, emphasizing the significance of passion and creativity in learning. Over the last ten years, she has served as the Principal of Kleutermaatjies, dedicated to transforming it into the outstanding school it is today.
Our Principal: Carika du Plooy
BE.d Foundation Phase
Dr J (Lieb) Liebenberg
PhD & MIT (Information Technology)
Owner & founder of Crayon Kids & MiniGenius
Dr J (Lieb) Liebenberg holds a doctorate from the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and MIT (Information Technology) from the University of Pretoria (both with distinction). He has a keen interest in how humans of all ages understand and learn and has delivered and published academic papers on learning and eLearning locally and abroad since 2006. He is on the review panel of the South African Journal of Childhood Education. Dr Liebenberg was also the organiser of the first Mind, Brain and Education Seminar in Africa (2018) as well as the follow-up in 2019. He has presented workshops on “Mind, Brain and Education” to educators all over South Africa and written a number of blogs and popular articles on “learning and the brain”.
Dr Liebenberg founded ITSI (which pioneered eLearning in South Africa) in 2006 and was the CEO until 2019. During his time as CEO the ITSI platform was used by many of the top private and public schools in SA as well as by the University of Johannesburg and University of Pretoria. He has been involved in learning research and development since 2006 and has delivered academic papers on eLearning as well as published on the subject in peer-reviewed journals.
His current research focus is Mind, Brain and Education - specifically how foundation teaching and learning could benefit from the latest findings in neuroscience, cognitive science and pedagogy.
