the curio role model
Four roles. One ecosystem. Not a hierarchy.
Explorers sit at the centre. Around them: Guides, Mentors, Specialists, and Leads — each doing different work, all working together.
Guides
Create safety, energy, and connection.
Guides are the people who make Curio feel like a place where it's safe to try.
Mentors
Drive engagement and group learning.
Mentors run the studios. They make learning feel like the most interesting thing in the room.
Specialists
Bring depth and targeted expertise.
Specialists go deep. Robotics, chess, music, neurodivergence, particular subjects.
Leads
Design pathways, quality, and coherence.
Leads are a design and oversight role — not a rank above everyone else. They make sure the whole experience holds together.
How the roles differ.
| Role | Who they're for | What they do | What they're not | Typical experience |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guide | Children who need warmth and steadiness first. | Hold the room. Build trust. Notice what's actually going on. | Therapists. Subject specialists. | Background in early years, youth work, special education, or facilitation. |
| Mentor | Children ready for substantial group learning. | Design and lead small-group sessions in their domain. | School teachers. One-to-one tutors. | Subject expertise plus real experience working with this age group. |
| Specialist | Explorers who need depth in a specific area. | Lead Deep Dives, run specialised studios, advise on individual pathways. | Generalists. Available every day. | Significant professional or academic background in their field. |
| Lead | Families needing a thoughtful overall plan, or complex situations. | Curate pathways, support the team, oversee quality and child safety. | Managers in a corporate sense. The 'top' of a hierarchy. | Senior practitioner background in education, psychology, or program design. |
Meet the team.
Sana Idris
Sana spent eight years in inclusive primary settings before joining Curio. She's the person children describe, weeks later, as 'the calm one'. Her work focuses on regulation, communication, and the quiet skills that make everything else possible.
Theo Marsh
Theo is a working writer and editor who runs our writing and storytelling studios. He believes most children write better than they're allowed to.
Iris Bell
Iris came to Curio from secondary maths teaching and never looked back. She designs problems children can fall into, not run from.
Petra Vos
Petra is an engineer turned educator. She runs our robotics, chess and Space Mission programs and consults on individual pathways for technically-minded Explorers.
Mo Karim
Mo runs our hands-on workshops — Lego, Inventions, Submarines. He's the person you want when a child is sceptical about the whole thing.
Elena Ross
Elena is one of the founders. Her background is in educational psychology and program design. She oversees pathways, quality and child safety, and is usually the person families speak to first when something is complex.