New school to open in Sheffield in 2027

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01-08-2025
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North Coast Courier
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The school will eventually cater for Grades 0000-12 but will open with partial intake.

The new private school coming to Sheffield has officially been named Seaton House and will open for partial intake in January 2027.

Originally confirmed last year, many more details about the school have been released following a media launch at the Manor House on Thursday afternoon (July 31).

Situated off the P228 in Sheffield, the co-educational school is being built on a 25-hectare site that includes the old Seaton polo fields, which will be used for sports facilities.

Construction is set to begin early next year, with development led by Collins Residential in conjunction with REACH-SA and Khanyisa Inanda Seminary Community Projects (KICP).

The school plans to cater for Grades 0000-12, but will initially only open to pupils from Grades 0000-4 in the junior primary and Grades 8-10 in the high school, after which the grades will grow organically.

High school pupils will follow the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) curriculum.

“Seaton House is a day-school for now, but there are plans for boarding in the future,” said project lead of the Seaton House project, Elwyn van den Aardweg – former headmaster of Kearsney College.

“We are going to be a value-driven Christian school, open to pupils of all faiths.

“We plan on being much like the Diocesan or Methodist schools in the Midlands that you are all familiar with.”

The school plans to blend tradition with a forward-looking approach however, and Van den Aardweg says incorporating technology and artificial intelligence (AI) is a focus.

“We see AI not as an add-on but as a core strand of our curriculum.”

“We will recognise what AI is and what it is not, how it works at a high level and also its limitations.

“We believe AI should be taught methodically and with principle, starting off with AI literacy.”

Teaching staff will be trained to model best practice in AI for their pupils and Van den Aardweg said a safety framework is already in place that aligns with global standards.

“Human oversight and human values will ensure that technology elevates rather than replaces the great teaching that we are going to offer,” he said.

Outside of the classroom, dedicated facilities will support the school’s ‘core sports’ of aquatics (swimming and water polo), athletics, hockey, netball, rugby, cricket, basketball, tennis, cross country and soccer.

The site’s past use for equestrian sports will also be considered, while a surrounding natural area will include cycling tracks and nature paths.

Seaton House is a not-for-profit school and a fee structure published on their website puts it on the lower-end of equivalent independent options on the North Coast.

Annual fees start at R42 000 for Grade 0000 and rise to R126 000 for matric, subject to annual increases.

Looking into the wider North Coast community, the school’s affiliation with KICP aims to upskill teachers in underprivileged surrounding schools with the goal of improving the standard of education across the coast, not only in its wealthy pockets.

KICP executive director Judy Tate is part of Seaton House’s leadership team to that end.