Sherpa Kids Ireland | Before & After School Care, Holiday Care

About Us

Our ethos is to be a childcare provider that strives honestly to build social value into everything we do.

At our heart is our purpose – to support Ireland’s families and to make a difference. Our values define our service, and we live our values everyday in everything we do.

Sherpa Kids Ireland | About Us

Every child should be encouraged to use their imagination

Sherpa Kids Ireland | About Us

Planning for the next term – Anne Marie Hegarty, Charlene O’Toole and John Miles

Safety

Will my child be safe?

The first thought and concern of any parent when choosing a childcare provider is “will my child be safe?”.

So we ensure that our schools are safe and only accessible to authorised colleagues. All our staff are Garda Vetted.

Our Health and Safety policies and procedures can be viewed by you on site at any time.

Our colleagues are all trained in child protection through the accredited Tusla ® programme “Children First E-Learning” followed by the “Always Children First” foundation programme.

Our Child Protection and Welfare Policy Document and our Child Safety Statement are always displayed on site in our schools.

All our colleagues are certified in Paediatric First Aid and there is always a qualified First Aid Responder on site.

Everyone is Fire Safety trained and a risk assessment and management form on the school site and surrounding area is completed. A Fire Evacuation Drill is carried out every month in line with Tusla® regulations so that the children are aware of what to expect.

Sherpa Kids Ireland | Tulsa

SHERPA KIDS IRELAND HEAD OFFICE TEAM

Supporting our local communities

John Miles

John Miles

Managing Director
John is the Managing Director of Sherpa Kids Ireland and is an outcome driven individual with a proven track record of successfully shaping and managing businesses to deliver operational and regulatory excellence. His strong background in leadership, driving change management by mentoring start-up businesses across sectors, arms him with the skills, drive and gravitas for the changing Irish childcare environment. The environments in which John excels are generally characterized by a focus on continuous improvement, creative idea generation, clarity of decision making and the capacity and mandate to mobilise solutions. John’s motivation is to create a real social value within Sherpa Kids Ireland so that they can truly support Ireland’s families.
*John is pictured with his grandson Ruaidhri.
Anne Marie Hegarty

Anne Marie Hegarty

Director of Operations
Anne Marie is the Director of Operations for Sherpa Kids Ireland and the Managing Director of our Head Office services division. Being the eldest of 8 and growing up on a farm in Ardfield in West Cork she began to learn about childcare at a very young age. She still lives in Ardfield and has two children of her own. She understands the needs of parents when it comes to childcare and the need to support families who don’t have a family network close by to help out. Anne Marie’s motivation is to change children’s lives for the better - something she constantly instills in all of her colleagues.
*Anne Marie is pictured with Ava & Liam.
Charlene O’ Toole

Charlene O’ Toole

Operations
Charlene is one of our General managers who look after the day to day running of our services. She has been working in the childcare sector from the age of 16 and has had numerous roles within early years and SAC settings. In 2015 she joined Sherpa Kids in Clonakilty as a Programme Manager and has been with us ever since progressing to Head Office and the role she now occupies. She is currently responsible for 11 of our services in the counties of Cork, Dublin, Waterford, Longford and Westmeath and brings her sense of kindness, fun and fair play to all she interacts with. Charlene’s motivation is to help children be the best that they can be.
*Charlene is pictured with Nathan & Madison.
Karen Deasy

Karen Deasy

General Manager, Support Office Services
Having worked in the Early Years and School Aged Childcare sector since 2011, Karen joined the Sherpa Kids team in January 2020 having managed a stand-alone Afterschool service for 6 years. Karen holds a First Class Honours B.A in Early Childhood Studies, certification in Child Psychology from Portobello Institute and most recently a Certificate in Digital Marketing from Cork's Institute of Technology. Karen is responsible for our services around Cork City and neighbouring Kinsale and Carrigaline and brings her happy and real can do personality to bear in the running of these 9 services. Karen’s motivation is to motivate others and to encourage self-belief and positivity in both young and old.
*Karen is pictured with her nephew Cathal.
Sherpa Kids Ireland | About Us

Having fun, a large part of the learning process.

Pay For What You Book

Sherpa Kids is your Flexible Childcare Solution

We believe flexibility in childcare solutions is very important for parents or guardians who do not need access to full time school age childcare.

Our childcare model is built to suit your needs which means we operate a “pay for what you book” system.

So, whether it is a couple of hours on Wednesday afternoons or 12 hours a week, you just pay and access exactly what you need for your child.