December Newletter
Christmas Greetings to you all,
We are looking forward to rolling over into 2025 and what a busy year it has been! At NZSFW, we are about to celebrate 30,000 registrations for our part time courses since 2013 and in September acknowledged 30 years of NZQA registration with a special dinner and also Alice Hay's 21st birthday. See photos here.
NZQA compliance has dominated my last 18 months with over 30 new versions of unit standard assessments re-written, sent off for pre-moderation, workbooks updated, all our NZQA qualifications re-written and re-approved - this is a long, arduous process of submission, correction and cost. And, there have been many other consultations requiring submissions including NZQA's own rules, academic integrity in the face of AI, tertiary funding, proposed new cookery qualifications... The bureaucracy of education seems to know no bounds and there is no clear sense that learners will benefit from new regulations, learning outcome statements and compliance overload.
Congratulations to Tori Haysom, our graduate of both the Certificate in Cookery and Professional Wine, who earlier this year travelled to Chile and Argentina after winning a WSET Wine & Spirit Education Trust Scholarship. You can read her story here.
I was very excited to be invited to Bangkok to judge at Thailand Best Sommelier Competition and was impressed to see the depth of skill developing in their sommeliers. Click here for the blog. I also had the opportunity to meet with a group of international education agents at the New Zealand Embassy offices. This meeting, coordinated by Education New Zealand, was an excellent platform to promote our programmes in this market.
It was fascinating to read Tony Astle's autobiography. This is a story of ambition and of the New Zealand dream: a young man, raised in the working-class suburb of Brighton, Christchurch, leaves school aged 15 with no qualifications, moves to Wellington, works as a chef, spends his breaks watching question-time in Parliament and takes elocution lessons. Moves to Parnell and establishes Antoine's with his wife, Beth. Well done Tony. I have written a post here.
You can find our Part time Classes in January 2025 including Barista, WSET Level 1 Wines and Level 2 Wines by clicking here.
With all the very best wishes for Christmas,
Celia Hay
No1 Family Estate Wines & Virginie Le Brun
NZSFW recently hosted a wine tasting with Virginie Le Brun and Marie, winemaker of No1 Family Estate. This provided yet another opportunity for our students to experience event management first hand. Many thanks to No1 Family Estate for generously sharing their exceptional wines with us.
We are also delighted by the impressive service delivered by our talented hospitality and cookery students. The service and menu were outstanding.
View photos and the inspiring canapés here.
Next intake for F&B Level 4 is February 10 2025
Certificate in Baking & Patisserie Micro-Credential
The Certificate in Baking and Patisserie (Micro-Credential) introduces fundamental baking and patisserie techniques required to prepare a range of classic cakes, pastries, desserts and breads.
Evenings : 20 evenings over 10 Weeks
- 12-13 February to 16-17 April 2025
- Wednesday and Thursday Evenings: 4pm - 8pm
Please view more information here
Certificate in Cookery & Bakery Level 3 & 4
Gain the specialist skills you need to start an exciting career in the culinary arts and graduate with industry recognised and respected qualifications in this 36 week Advanced Certificate in Cookery Level 4 course.
Semester One covers the Certificate in Cookery & Bakery, Level 3 and Semester Two builds on these foundation skills. Speed, accuracy and consistency are characteristics that you will develop. Next intakes:
- 11 February 2025 - 24 October 2025
- 10 June 2025 - 10 October 2025 (18 Weeks)
Please view more information here.
Cookery & Bakery Level 3 Weekends
Learn the skills to begin your culinary journey and as a baker or chef and gain confidence in a professional kitchen.
- Induction Week hours (First week only):
- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 11, 12, 13 February 2025 (9am - 2:30pm)
- Regular Weekend Schedule:
- Saturday & Sunday - 8:30am - 4:30pm
- 15 February - 20 July 2025
Please view more information here.
Judging Sommeliers in Bangkok
In November, 22 candidates gathered in Bangkok from all around Thailand to compete in the Thailand Best Sommelier Competition 2024.
I was invited to be a guest judge along with Master Sommelier Joao Pires from Macau, Michel Conrad and Tommy Lam from Singapore.
It was hot and tough work for the sommeliers and a great result. Read my blog here.
Graduate Tori Haysom wins WSET Scholarship
After working in hospitality, nutrition and food production, I enrolled in the New Zealand School of Food and Wine for the Certificate in Cookery with the aim of becoming a chef. I do recall Celia’s recommendation to also complete the Professional Wine (Sommelier) programme, to which I politely said, “no thank you” not realising how complex and exciting wine study could be.
However, Celia knew something I didn’t, and just one session in the NZ Certificate in Wine course, included in the Cookery programme and I was hooked!
During my WSET Diploma study, I was not aware there were awards for exams and when I gained distinction in my Wine Business paper, I also won the Marcia Waters Vintner’s Bursary Award – an Award dedicated to another impressive female Master of Wine sponsored by the Worshipful Vintners Company in England.
I used the scholarship fund to visit Chile and Argentina earlier this year.
Click here to read about my wine experience in Argentina and here for Chile!
Tony Astle of Antoine's, Parnell
This is a story of ambition and of the New Zealand dream: a young man, raised in the working-class suburb of Brighton, Christchurch, leaves school aged 15 with no qualifications. Tony Astle traveled to Wellington to seek out legendary TV Chef Graham Kerr, of the Galloping Gourmet fame, who was then living in New Zealand. Kerr introduced Tony to Madame Louise of Wellington’s fine dining restaurant Le Normandie restaurant in Cuba Street, where he started work as a waiter. Crossing into the kitchen, Tony went on to work for Des and Lorraine Britten at the The Coachman.
This is a true story. Here is my blog post on Tony's autobiography.
WSET Award in Wines & Spirits
WSET Level 1 Award in Wines - If you want to develop a nose for wine, this is the perfect introduction. Learn the language of wine, and become comfortable with aromas, flavours, structural characteristics and more.
Tuesday and Thursday: 5:30pm - 8:30pm
- 14, 16, & 21 January 2025
WSET Level 2 Award in Wines - Explores the important grape varieties of the world and how they are transformed into outstanding wines. WSET is a well-respected international qualification.
Saturday & Sunday: 9am - 4pm
WSET Level 3 Award in Wines - The classroom based course over 4 weekends gives you detailed understanding of the wines of the world and their distinctive regions.
Saturday & Sunday: (9am - 4pm)
22-23 Feb; 8-9 March; 22-23 March; 5 6
April 2025
Certificate in Professional Wine Knowledge, Level 5.
Students can gain multiple WSET qualifications as a package by enrolling in the NZ Certificate in Professional Wine Knowledge, Level 5. New Zealand students may be eligible for student loans for the Level 5 programme.
Read more information here.
Certificate in New Zealand Wine
This programme provides an introduction to wine regions, grape varieties and wine styles that have made New Zealand wines famous around the world.
It covers key international grape varieties and explores the significance of geography, climate, environment, winemaking techniques and the vision of leading winemakers to establish New Zealand's reputation for fine wines. The textbook is the New Zealand Wine Guide, by Celia Hay. This book is included in the course fee.
