Award-winning, NZQA Category One English language school, Seafield School of English celebrated its 40th successful year in New Zealand’s language education industry this October 28th.
Already an educator to over 1,664 students, 464 of whom are Chinese, Seafield celebrates yet another milestone and promises to continue providing academic excellence to students globally for years to come.
Seafield’s 40th Year of Excellence isn’t an everyday celebration of longevity, it is also a celebration of recovery, success, resilience, adaptability, and of humble origin.
Opening its doors to a small handful of students in the early 1980s, the school has since, grown, closed its doors, opened its doors, relocated, moved temporarily online, won multiple awards, broke records, and – most notably - navigated itself through two separate tragedies: the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and the 2019 COVID-19 pandemic.
Both tragic events saw momentous fluctuation in student numbers, teaching methods and operational planning – a fact especially true following the Christchurch earthquake, which resulted in no one wanting to remain in the city to study furthermore. Yet Seafield, flagging its first badge of resilience, made the decision to relocate and reopen once more.
Since the school went on to be ranked 6th of 700 language schools by the prestigious Ryugaku Journal and received accreditation as an NZQA category one educator in English Language. The pandemic brought about further flexibility with learning and, once again, in 2022 Seafield’s student numbers are back in the triple digits.
Head of School, Daniel Goodie said, “Longevity should always be lauded, but Seafield's survival and recent recovery is something to really celebrate.”
To give the school the credit it deserves and truly commemorate the inspiring Seafield journey, the school was joined by its holding company, New Zealand’s Skills and Education Group and all subsidiaries, to celebrate its 40th Year of Excellence in the Auckland City headquarters.
Welcomed by gifts, the guests spent the afternoon celebrating the beginning of Seafield, and its resilience over the last 40 years, before eventually looking towards the future and what is yet to come for the school.
The day saw a fantastic turnout; hosting a full house of seats, Seafield’s 40 Years of Excellence event was joined by students, current CEOs and directors, industry leaders and affiliates, external parties, and a surprise guest speaker, the original leader of Seafield in the 1980s, William Neale.
As the day continued, guests enjoyed live talks, performing arts, food buffets, networking opportunities and a prize draw.
Group CEO and speaker a the event, Wendy Liao says,
"I think everyone today can agree that an organisation such as Seafield is an anomaly; consistently defying odds and wearing a badge of excellence in its every stride, regardless of difficult circumstances.
“The goal of today wasn't just to talk about the multiple awards and success stories Seafield has achieved, but to also reflect back on where the English school has come from and how it has overcome each and every challenge it has faced with truly unique agility.
I feel honoured today I can stand here to tell this tale of excellence and success."
As a multi-award winning, NZQA Category One accredited English language school, Seafield offers both online and in-person classes in General English courses, NZCE Language Certificates, LanguageCert exam and IELTS exam preparation classes to domestic and overseas students.
For more information regarding Seafield School of English and its offering, you can find out more on the website: https://www.seafield.ac.nz/