Randburg, Gauteng

Carmen qualified with an HDE Primary and has taught for 18 years, 9 of those in London. She has experience in teaching nursery to Grade 7. When teaching in the UK, she became a senior manager, and head of 7 subjects, as well as acting deputy head for a term. She has now returned to South Africa and is currently a Grade 0 teacher. Carmen has taught Jolly Phonics for the last 5 years and has experienced the joy of seeing the benefits of this incredible programme. Because she has seen the benefits of the programme in her classroom, seen the joy it brings children, Carmen decided now it was time to become a Jolly Phonics Professional Trainer. She has used many different phonics programmes in the classroom, none of them has been as successful as Jolly Phonics. Because it is a sensory-based, fun and interactive programme, the children love it! The speed at which they pick up the sounds (naturally) and start blending, reading and writing are incredible to watch! By the end of Grade 0, all the children are reading and they are excited about their progress. Carmen is passionate about Jolly Phonics and she wants to empower other teachers to access this incredible programme.

Kenya

Diana has her B.Ed and has been working in the Foundation Phase for six years. During this time she has teaching Jolly Phonics, four of which have been in Bangkok, Thailand where she was teaching expatriate children and second language learners. Diana moved to Cape Town, South Africa in 2016 and taught 5 and 6 year old girls using the Jolly Phonics methodology. She saw fantastic improvements in language learning, as well as children learning to read and write from a very young age and enjoying the process. Although Diana is now based in Kenya, she would love to share her passion for teaching Jolly Phonics with other teachers in and around Kenya and South Africa. She feels that Jolly Phonics is the key to improving the literacy rates in the country and is excited to be here to help anyone willing to learn!

Somerset West

Liz has a BEd (Honours) majoring in learning support from Stellenbosch University. She is a qualified pre-primary, foundation phase and special needs teacher, having worked in all stages of primary school in a variety of mainstream and additional support settings. She has also travelled throughout South Africa with an accreditation team so has a good sense of the overall educational needs. Liz has used Jolly Phonics successfully with a wide range of children. The results she has seen have been amazing, children engaging with the tactile cues and the musical aspect which accompany the stories.

Cape Town

Mashudu has been a teacher intern for five years. She has recently finished her E.Ed Degree and has worked with all foundation phase grade levels, currently a grade three teacher.  She began using the Jolly Phonics programme four years ago and she has seen excellent results since. The children can read and write using their phonic skills.  Mashudu is available to offer her knowledge on teaching Jolly Phonics, with a focus on the very beginning stages of letter and sound recognition, alternative spellings of sounds and the skills involved in reading and writing.

Johannesburg

A native from Johannesburg, South Africa; Stacey has recently immigrated to Adelaide, South Australia with her husband and three year old son. She obtained her bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education and Foundation Phase in 2012. Stacey has been teaching for over a decade in South Africa, mainly in Reception and Year 1 classes. A full time teacher, Stacey fell in love with Jolly Phonics when she saw not only the amazing results the programme offers, but also the pure enjoyment the children experience while participating in the programme. She has seen her strong learners soar to new heights and her weaker learners achieve results in their reading and writing that they would not of ordinarily been able to achieve.  Stacey became a Jolly Phonics certified trainer in 2019, because of her love for the programme. She has trained educators in both private and public schools across South Africa and is particularly proud of her participation in the pilot training programmes throughout the Western Cape in 2019 and 2020.  Jolly Phonics breeds confident readers and writers in the youngest of children and Stacey is excited to share her passion for the programme during her training sessions. She hopes to instil this passion in other educators so that the magic of Jolly Phonics may be given to all children in South Australia! 

Cape Town

Stephanie du Plessis has her B.ed degree and has been working in the Foundation Phase for 10 years. She lives in Cape Town and has taught and trained teachers all around South Africa in Jolly Phonics since 2019. Stephanie has joined the international team in training the Namibian country in 2024 with Jolly Grammar. She has delivered a few online courses and PLC’s for the department of Education. She has experienced the joy of seeing the benefits of the programme with her first English classroom that was filled with ten different languages, all eager to learn how to speak, read and write English. This was a great challenge for her to help this very diverse and multi-cultural grade 1 class. It was only possible with the incredible Jolly Phonics programme. Stephanie has developed and helped her school in Stellenbosch with an online Library during the Covid 19 pandemic, for children to be able to continue reading at home. Her creativity knows no bounds and her passion shines through in every aspect of teaching. Stephanie was nominated for KFM 94.5’s teacher of the year 2020 awards and can be seen on multiple platforms. You can find her on YouTube delivering WCED Reading indaba 2022 or on the Western Cape Education Department’s website named e-portal. Where Jolly Phonics development videos can be streamed. She loves teaching, training and being a mentor along with all the learning, creativity and challenges experienced in today’s classroom. Even though Stephanie is based in Cape Town she would love to share her passion and love for teaching Jolly Phonics and Grammar to the whole world. She strongly feels that Jolly Phonics is the best Synthetic approach to use in teaching the English Language. Her goal is to inspire a lifelong love for learning and reading.

Somerset West, Cape Town

Tarryn is a BEd qualified Educator with 7 years experience in the Foundation Phase. She currently teaches Grade 1 and also holds responsibility as Grade Head. Tarryn has been using the Jolly Phonics programme for over 3 years and has seen tremendous results in her students' ability to read and write. What Tarryn loves most about Jolly Phonics, is that it is engaging for young children and appeals to various learning styles. The children she teaches are learning valuable skills while having fun! What impresses Tarryn the most, is that after only the first 12 weeks of learning the letter sounds, children are able to decode words successfully as well as form letters correctly. By the end of Grade 1, they are confident readers who are able to read and write at an increasingly higher level than taught through any other programme. I believe in Jolly Phonics and have seen, first hand the wonderful way in which it develops a love and passion for reading and writing. Tarryn would love to share with others how using this programme will benefit the children each year, as well as improve ones own teaching methodologies and to share strategies to support children as they embark on their journey of reading and writing!

Cross River State

Thelma is an enthusiastic and fulfilled Jolly Phonics teacher and has been using the programme in her teaching for a number of years. She has seen amazing results in the children she teaches every year. Her Jolly pupils make steady progress through school and are great readers and proficient writers. As a project coordinator, Thelma has facilitated and delivered Jolly Phonics trainings to countless colleagues across Nigeria, South Africa, Guinea,Sierra Leone and beyond.  She has continued to inspire and influence them with her "Jolly" passion! Thelma is willing to share her wealth of expertise with others through Jolly Phonics training and is available to train all over Nigeria and internationally. 

Cape Town

Valma Adams has considerable teaching experience in both Cape Town and the UK. She first used Jolly Phonics in 2002, teaching in Birmingham, continuing with it on after returning to Cape Town. She consistently sees her pupils enjoying the learning the skills and quickly reading and writing form using Jolly Phonics. They want to write stories and read aloud it to anyone who will listen! Valma has spent the last few years working closely with a team of trainers in South Africa and with Universal Learning Solutions to support the adoption of the programme in the Western Cape.