Agriculture

The Gate 2 Plate School’s Challenge 2022

In 2016 Mr Bevan and Mrs Bec Ravenhill won many of the awards at the Harvey Beef Gate2Plate Challenge with cattle from their Lawson herd of pedigree Angus. That same year they kindly agreed to lend the School eight of their in-calf Angus cows under the agreement that we wean the bulls and send them back and we keep any heifers born to those cows. These heifers slowly accumulated over the years to the point where we no longer needed to borrow any more cows, as the School can now run its own herd of Angus.

This has meant that in 2022 for the first time we were able to compete with our own animals in the Gate2Plate Challenge. Being a competitor in this challenge gives students the ability to see details of the data produced, and how well our animals are doing genetically against other cattle in the state. Currently we have a little way to go here but you must start somewhere. WACOA Harvey took out the main prize, the first school ever to do so.

Combined with the cattle challenge, every year in March there are two presentation days at Willyung Feedlot, where the animals are kept during the challenge. The first day is a Producer’s Day allowing competitors to network and see how their entries are fairing, the second day is the School’s Challenge. Unfortunately, this year they both had to be cancelled. In place of the School’s Challenge, where students are educated and challenged on their knowledge of the beef supply chain, they were given an assignment to make a video at their School Farm on “How a producer can be successful in the Harvey Beef Gate2Plate Challenge”.

The Year Ten Agriculture students at Grammar grabbed this challenge and ran with it. Writing the scripts to explain how success could be achieved, filming each other and the School’s Angus cattle to bring about a lot of video clips. This was then cut and spliced and then modified by Miss Katie Gunning and her media students, to produce the award-winning video.

The whole Challenge culminated in the Awards Presentation evening on Friday 10 June. We were delighted to be awarded the prize for the School’s Challenge. The prize was accompanied by a generous $1,000 cheque from the kind sponsors of G2P, Harvey Beef, Bendigo Bank, Coles and MLA. Rewarding a true example of teamwork, incorporating two areas of the School and many students. The video will soon be able to be seen on the Gate2Plate Facebook page and website (gate2platechallenge.com.au) and I encourage you to like it and share it.

The Agriculture team was Daniel Barrett-Lennard, Kayde Bessell-Browne, O'Shea Durack, Noah Hagnhofer, Marcus Leckie, Marcus Pigram, Fergus Sandilands, Michael Watson and Steven Wiech. Congratulations to these students on a job well done.

If your business is connected to the beef supply chain then you may be interested in entering or sponsoring the future challenges in 2023 onwards. If so, please feel free to contact Narelle Lyon on admin@gate2platechallenge.com.au.

The School farm also includes a Pedigree Dexter herd and I have a few pedigree Dexter bulls, cows and heifers for sale. If you are interested, please get in touch with me on julian.gugenheim@gsg.wa.edu.au. I can also organise the loan of a Dexter bull if you have a few house cows and need them in calf with an easy calving placid bull.

Grammar Grown Kanyinak, the third vintage of Sauvignon Blanc produced by the School, was bottled on Wednesday 15 June. This is the culmination of all the work by last year’s Year Nine Agriculture class who pruned the vines, then the staff and students who harvested the grapes early one morning in March. This wine will be available for purchase in September.

Year Eight Exhibitions for their Project Based Learning went ahead on Tuesday where invitees of the students, mostly parents and staff, were treated to explanations and demonstrations of their projects along with some tasty snacks representing the products of their enterprises. They explained the problems they encountered and the solutions they came up with to overcome them, along with the welfare and sustainability considerations of their agricultural enterprise projects.

Mr Julian Gugenheim | Teacher and Farm Manager

Digital Technologies

The Year Sevens are forging ahead unpacking the wide world of data! Do you know the difference between data and information? Students have been understanding how data is represented in a digital system, and then it is up to humans to make meaning of that data – then it can be called information. This is an important foundation in computer science, which directly impacts their learnings moving forward in DigiTech. One piece of data can be interpreted in different ways depending on how it is represented. Early next term we begin to consolidate our learnings across data representation and begin working on exciting and new collaborative platforms to complete the Data Representation Project.

For the current students in Year Eight, their semester-long program is coming to an end. In the final few weeks of term, we have practiced design-thinking in “unplugged” lessons. Mr Bailey has led students through a design challenge that is closely linked to GovHack, allowing students to preview what it may look like to compete in the international competition that looks for forward-thinking people of all abilities and challenges to make productive use of open data and information available to us in everyday life. In GovHack, you get to apply your creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking skills to design a project in response to social, economic, and environmental challenges. Mr Rose and Mr Bailey also unpacked creative projects and some big ideas planned for the 2023 Digital Technologies courses, which move to electives from Year Nine onward. We look forward to seeing you all again!

In Year Eight Digital Product Design and Innovation, we have been learning about patience. Being patient whilst things are not going really tested out problem solving abilities, but lucky for us, we are innovators! The 3D printers were out of action in our most precious high-production weeks. Students enjoyed the challenge faced to innovate workflows to ensure our projects could be completed by the production deadlines. The hot glue guns were out, soldering irons, carboard cutouts and plenty of craft supplies helped them over the line to produce wonderful projects. Student work and prototypes will be displayed at the Technologies Showcase in September.

Mr Kyal Rose | Teacher

Hospitality

Year Seven

Drawing upon the knowledge and skills learnt this term, the Year Seven students worked on a design brief to make savoury muffins. They completed a recipe, developed a workflow plan, and identified the equipment required to produce them. All the recipes designed were cooked beautifully with a golden brown colour, looked rustic and appetising, and smelt delicious!

Year Eight

Following an analysis of takeaway and homemade burgers, students designed and made healthy burgers then wrote food blogs about them. Reflecting on the current costs of food and the importance of food sustainability, the class visited the GSG Kitchen Garden to choose a seasonal product on which to base a recipe suitable for a picnic. Students worked in groups to produce the picnic food, then enjoyed sitting outdoors on a sunny wintery day to enjoy it. A fun MasterChef Team Challenge ended the term. Some creative dishes resulted from the design brief - to make a sweet dish that included two elements, a citrus, an egg, one spice, and tinned apple. Thank you to our guest judges, Mrs Ball and Miss St Jack, who tasted and scored each dish on presentation, colour, flavour, texture, and adherence to the brief. Well done to Paige Tapscott and McKayla Ettridge for taking out the win, producing a giant apple cinnamon scroll served with a selection of homemade sauces!

Year Nine

Students made homemade sweet and savoury muffins and focaccia bread which were frozen, as well as bliss balls that were stored in the fridge for use in a nude food lunch box. Using a selection of seasonal produce to create a balanced lunch, the homemade waxi wraps replaced regular packaging in lunch boxes of goodies suitable for teenagers to eat at school. A food blog marketing school nude food lunches without additional packaging was created by each student. We learnt about food allergies and intolerances, and how it is possible to substitute ingredients so a product is safe to eat and still have pleasing sensory properties, in particular lactose and gluten intolerances. Students used aborio rice, which is naturally gluten free, to design a range of flavourful risotto meals.

Year Ten

Students were required to use the design processes to create two recipes influenced by Chinese cuisine: one savoury and one sweet, suitable for service at a Dim Sum, or Yum Cha, meal that served six. A magnificent array of dishes were served to a number of invited staff who provided a sensory analysis feedback to the class. Using plums that were preserved in Term One, each student produced three spiced plum and coconut loaf cakes – two of which were offered for sale to staff. Included in the packaging were wooden labels, handmade using recycled timber by the Senior School Woodwork students.

Years Eleven and Twelve Certificate II Hospitality

A selection of appetisers and salads are made each week by both classes, with the Year Twelves final practical assessment this week. They planned, produced, served, and sold a selection of freshly made salads to staff for their lunch. Participating in industry functions is a requirement of the qualification. Several weeks ago our Year Twelve students made us all proud, serving a three course meal at the Harvey Beef Gate2Plate Awards Dinner held at Retravision Stadium. Congratulations to all students who presented professionally, worked hard, were gracious towards their customers, and completed late night, end-of-shift procedures.

Mrs Teresa McAllister | Teacher and Head of Technologies

STEAM Elective

To finish our semester the STEAM class is making Rube Goldberg machines. In a group students had to create a convoluted machine to complete a simple task. They needed to consider force and motion and utilise a range of materials to make it work.

The machine needed to have six or more unique steps and utilise at least four to six different types of simple machines.

It has been a very topsy turvy term, with many students out of class due to COVID-19. Students worked well to complete this task, quite often with group members missing. The final run of the machine was in front of a group Year Twelve students. After two weeks of trial runs and refining their machines, the final runs in front of observers went very well.

Students were able to explore the topics involved around creating a Rube Goldberg Machine: simple machines, balanced, and unbalanced forces, Newton’s three laws, potential and kinetic energy, and calculating speed.

Well done on a great semesters work!

Ms Elinor Couper | Teacher and Head of Library Services

Wood Technologies

Middle School

The Year Nine Wood Technologies class has been working very well to wrap up their toolbox project, being their major construction task. The students were required to build a toolbox from a diagram and plan the steps of construction. In addition, they were given the task of designing and constructing ‘built in’ compartments to the toolbox. These included purpose-built fixed compartments, sliding trays and boxes so that for whatever the toolbox was to be used, items could be separated. Whilst this task has been referred to as a toolbox, some of the uses for this box may be variable to include: a gardening kit box, fishing tackle box, model construction box, or a bike parts box, to name a few.

I have been delighted with many of the projects produced and for the patience shown by the students. The design aspects of this task were terrific!

Mr Peter Colgate | Teacher

Senior School

The Year Ten students continue to work on their projects which have all developed rapidly this year, in both their process and production areas. Some of the Year Eleven students helped with some recycled wooden labels that were going to be used by the Year Ten Hospitality students as part of one of their design briefs. This is one of what we hope to be many cross curricular partnerships that will occur within the Technologies areas.

The Year Twelve students have almost finished what will be their second last project. The students are currently completing bedside tables and will be moving onto their flat pack furniture designs next term.

Mr Brodie Sarre | Teacher

Canteen News

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