TAS/VET Faculty

Term 3 has been extremely busy for the TAS/VET faculty.  The Year 12 Industrial Technology Timber and the Year 12 Society and Culture class have completed and submitted their Major Projects and their Personal Interest Projects. It was so wonderful to see the projects on display at the VISTAS night this term. I must congratulate the students for their dedication and commitment in completing these projects to such a high standard. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Miss Reynen for the many hours and for the constant support she has given the IT Timber students. 

There are some really beautiful projects. Year 12 SDD and Mrs Hogan, finished making their games based on a board or card game using the programming language Python. They showcased the skills in programming they have learnt over the last two years.

Our Year 12 classes have completed their studies and I would like to thank the TAS/VET staff for their continued hard work and the dedication shown towards their students in preparing them for their HSC exams in Term 4.  I am sure the hard work of our students will be rewarded when the HSC results are released. 

The Year 12 Hospitality, Retail Services and Primary Industries students who have successfully completed their competencies have achieved a Certificate of Attainment or their Certificate II in Hospitality Food and Beverage, a Certificate II in Agriculture or Certificate III in Retail Services. It is so wonderful for these students to achieve their credentials after such a challenging year in 2021. We are all so proud of Gregory Brien who won the Skilled Engineer Vocational Education and Training Award for the Central Coast 2022. Gregory won this very prestigious award for his diligence and commitment in his Primary Industries course and for his outstanding commitment when he was at Work Placement at Narara Valley Nursery. A huge thank you to Mr JP Grant for his support of Gregory.

The Year 12 classes we have had in the TAS and VET faculties have been so wonderful. Over the past two years, we have supported each through the stress of major projects, assessment tasks, managing time frames and finally the Trial Exams. You have all displayed such resilience and strength over the past two years and you all should be so proud of the amazing young adults that you have all become. Your care and empathy towards each other and your teachers are very special, and we will all have these wonderful memories of our classes for years to come. 

It would be remiss of me to not mention the fun times we have all shared and the many laughs we have all had in our time together. It has been an absolute privilege to watch you all grow into the amazing young adults that you have all become. I know I speak on behalf of all the teachers in the two faculties when I say that we are all going to miss you dreadfully, but we are excited for you all and wish you all the very best as you venture into the next exciting chapter of your lives.

Year 12 IT Timber Major Projects

12HOS3 Last Practical Lesson Making Caramilk and White Chocolate Cookies

Year 12 Primary Industries Class 

Our Year 11 classes have been working very well this term. Mr Ashby and his Year 11 Timber class have completed a Vanity Unit as their Major Project. The students did an amazing job with these, and I am sure the vanity units will have pride of place in their homes. 

Year 11 IT Timber Vanity Units 

I had the absolute privilege of watching the Year 11 Engineering Studies students present their last assessment task. The students researched a Biomedical innovation. It was so interesting to learn how advances in medical technology are used to support patients to live a more fulfilling life. The students produced outstanding presentations complete with models of examples of Biomedical technology in action. I know I can speak on behalf of Miss Reynen their teacher in saying how proud we were of these students. 

Year 11SDD have finished coding their first game – a text-based game in Python. Many students created an adventure-type game, showcasing their skills in adding functions such as ASCII art, colour-changing text and opening ULRs.  The Year 11 Society and Culture class have just completed the unit on Intercultural Communication, and this was their last Depth study for the Year 11 course. The students learnt about methods of communication, communication technologies, cultural misunderstandings in relation to communication and communication theories. 

The Year 11 VET classes have just completed their first round of Work Placement. Overall, our students performed extremely well and many of the students gained part-time employment at their host employers. A huge thanks must go to the Year 11 VET teachers, Mr JP Grant, Mrs Ellen Ofahengaue and Mrs Julia Kostalas for preparing the students so well before the students ventured out to their respective workplaces.  The Year 11 students have just completed their exams and next term the students transition into their Year 12 pattern of study.  We are looking forward to supporting the students in their HSC year.

This Semester, the Year 10 and Year 11 Hospitality students have been working on two units of Competency - Prepare and Serve Espresso Coffee and Prepare and Present sandwiches. They have developed a range of skills over the semester within an industry-simulated environment and they are all becoming much more confident in their Barista skills!

Year 11 Retail Services students at Work Placement

The students in our other classes have been very busy. Our stage 5 classes have been completing their assessment tasks this term. Year 10 200- hour Food Technology and Mrs De Kalb have just completed their Food Practical Exams with very professional results.  Students had designed their own Food Truck Menus based on knowledge of the Food Catering Industry. Individually producing a meal from their menu was the highlight of the term with some wonderful cultural influences integrated into students’ designs.

Year 10 200-Hour Practical Exam 

Miss Reynen and her Year 10 iSTEM are currently working on their PBL Major Project "Mega City". The students are creating a new city that must be bush fireproof, floodproof, drought resistant, sustainable and green.

Stage 5 iSTEM Water Bottle Rockets

Year 10 Industrial Technology Timber and Mr Ashby are working on Timber Tables.

Year 10 IT Timber Tables

Mrs Dekalb’s Year 9 Food Technology class have been researching the unit on Food Equity Around the World. Decorating their gingerbread cookies was the upside to a serious and challenging unit of work.

Year 9 200 Hour Food Technology Cookie Decorating 

Mrs Hogan and Year 9 IST completed their Robotics topic with a Robotics Day where they showcased their skills in programming robots to complete particular tasks. Students also created a log where they displayed images and videos, with documentation of how their robot performed. The next topic the class will study is the Internet and Web Design, where students are learning about the history of the internet and learning to create a web page using only notepad and HTML.

Year 9IST Robotics Day

The Stage 5 100-hour Industrial Technology Timber class and Mr Ashby have finished making a Gamers Shelf this term.

Stage 5 100-hour IT Timber

Gamers Shelves

Stage 5 100-hour Food Technology has been working on an Assessment task for the unit Food Product Development. The students had to design a new Ice Cream and design an Ice Cream Café complete with an appealing shop front and menu!  In addition to this, the students had to test and taste various flavour combinations and ice cream styles and then style and photograph their finished product. Over the last few weeks, a lot of ice cream has been eaten! I must congratulate my Stage 5 FT class on their hard work, creativity and enthusiasm shown toward this task.  The students practised using different lights, backdrops and angles to take their photos. The ice cream creations included some fruit-based, jungle-themed ice cream, the Cookie Monster, a Teddy Bear, an Eton Mess, a Chocolate Cookie Choc Sundae, a Biscoff Sundae and many more delicious creations!

Stage 5 100-Hour Food Technology Ice Cream Creations

Our Stage 4 classes have changed context areas for Semester Two and are all working well in creating some wonderful design briefs. 

8Tec2 and Mrs Hogan have started a unit learning about Artificial Intelligence and learning how to code using the programming language Python. For their assessment, students will be creating a game suitable for a Home Smart device or a Chat Bot. It has been fantastic to see how keen they are to learn how to code in a popular programming language.

7Tec1 has been busy mastering the sewing machines and creating some creative Chap Stick Keyring holders. They also now qualify for their Sewing Machine Licences!  They have also been having so much fun making Pompom animals. In Term 4 we will continue to design more exciting projects. 7TEC1 also have Mrs Hogan and they have been designing interactive PowerPoints in their Digital Technologies lessons. The students have been very busy creating fantastic PowerPoints with different pages where they can document their practical projects as well as the theoretical components of the course. 

7TEC1 Chap Stick Key Ring Holders and Pom Pom Animals 

Mr Ashby and his class are studying Engineering Systems and are going to be making Paper Roller Coasters this semester.  This Semester Mrs Ofahenguae and her Year 7 and 8 classes are working on a unit of Work called Grow n Thrive. It is a Food and Agriculture unit. The Design brief is to design a system for growing a vegetable, herb or fruit using a piece of recycled material as the vessel for growing it. The system must be self–watering and portable. They have made a Smoothie Bowl in one of their practical lessons. 

The Smoothie Bowl contained English Spinach, Avocado, Bananas, Frozen Berries and Honey. Students then garnished their smoothies with Shredded Coconut Fresh Banana and Strawberries.    

Stage 4 Technology Mandatory Making Smoothie Bowls

On behalf of the TAS/VET Faculty, I would like to thank all parents and caregivers for your continuing support and we wish all of our families a safe and relaxing holiday.

Mrs Caroline McTeigue

Head Teacher TAS/VET