Karen

About Me

Dear Family
My name is Karen and I was born in Tallangatta, Australia, when my father was seconded to the state of Victoria as a Mechanical Engineer. At the age of six, my parents returned to South Africa where they continued to raise me as an English-speaking child where they spoke Afrikaans to each other. I speak Afrikaans fluently and can understand Dutch as well.
I am a graduate of UNISA (University of South Africa) and Pretoria College of Education and entered the UK in February 2002 to continue my career in London due to the political unrest in South Africa. In 2005, I obtained my QTS and completed a MaST in Specialist Teaching through IOE (University of London) which took two years to complete while I was teaching full time.
At the start of my career, I taught nursery children and through the years have worked with teenagers and children displaying challenging behaviour and worked with children with special educational needs for four years.
Back in South Africa, after three years of teaching I was employed as a PA to the Managing Director of a Cabinet and filing company (Optiplan). As part of my duties, I collected his two children from school, completed tasks such as paying the bills and buying their weekly shopping. During this time, I travelled with Mr Van Wyk to various meeting around the country, typing up minutes of meetings and arranging travel and hotel booking for business and family holidays. During this time, I also attended parent’s evenings and sorted out the children’s school clothes for the week ahead.
When my children came along in the 1990’s, I took time to be a mother to them. I taught them how to read at the age of four. Today both children are successful, Andrea a Bio-chemist in Harrogate and Sean a Civil Engineer (Deputy Director) working in the Middle East for the past eight years.
I have also worked with various families, tutoring and assisting them to become well rounded individuals. I have privately tutored twenty-seven children from 2006 to 2012, often working with all the children in the family, helping them to be accepted by Dame Alice Owen, Haberdashers, Fortismere, Queen Elizabeth School for Girls and many other private schools.
I believe that it is important to relax by participating in some sporting activities. I am a good swimmer and have taught several children to swim in my care. I have taught most of my foster children in my care to swim, to read and write as these children have started life at a disadvantage.
I have caring experience and have been trained in all the various standards, which are undated yearly, which includes first aid. I perform the cooking and cleaning duties and am willing to work with different stakeholders to make children’s roles and responsibilities a reality and help children achieve their physical, social and emotional needs.
I enjoy cycling, swimming and watching historical dramas. I have a good sense of humour, am a very patient person and have a pleasant cheerful personality.
Kind regards

Karen Benghiat