Technologies News
Hospitality Electives
Year Seven
The Camfield students have kicked off the term with enthusiasm in the Hospitality kitchen, familiarizing themselves with the equipment through an engaging bingo game. Their first cooking adventure involved creating a nutritious snack of mixed fruit and yoghurt served in a waffle cone, adhering to all safety and hygiene protocols. In the following lesson, they mastered a quick and easy macaroni cheese recipe, and conducted a sensory analysis, using descriptive words to evaluate the dish’s appearance, taste, texture, and aroma. We were excited to see the delivery of freshly picked vegetables from the kitchen garden by some of the Year Seven Sustainable Production students!
Year Eight
As we started the new term, our Hospitality students wasted no time diving into their projects. They confirmed their food orders and set out to design, present, and capture their ‘Brilliant Breakfast’ creations. Adhering to a design brief, they included seasonal produce and elements from all five food groups. The kitchen was buzzing as everyone arrived early, eager to cook, wearing special chef hats and aprons! Our students produced a diverse array of breakfast dishes. I was particularly impressed with their attention to detail when plating and photographing their final product. To complete the breakfast theme, the students ventured into the world of pastries, experimenting with both puff and short crust varieties to make egg and bacon pies. Through this exercise, they explored the different baking performances and nutritional properties of each pastry type. Looking ahead, we are looking at the role of sugar in our diets. Stay tuned for more delicious learning in the weeks ahead.
Year Nine
This term our students are exploring the six essential nutrients. They’ve recently focused on carbohydrates, distinguishing between complex, simple, soluble, and insoluble types, and identifying foods rich in each. A demonstration on making individual apple pies led students to write their own recipes, recognising the high simple carbohydrate content. In a group activity, they prepared nacho bowls, incorporating ingredients high in fibre or complex carbohydrates. Lessons continued with proteins, where students learned about their functions and identified both plant and animal sources. A hands-on experience of making homemade tortillas using a tortilla press was a highlight. They learned storage techniques and prepared a nutritious plant-based filling of smoky, spicy butterbeans, complemented with a vibrant selection of seasonal produce from our kitchen garden. Some informative food blogs were written following this task.
Year Ten
In the first three weeks of this term, our students embarked on a delicious journey into the art of dessert making. They learned that a well-crafted dessert comprises four key elements: a main component, a sauce, a crunchy texture, and a garnish. A demonstration featuring a dessert with all these elements, but uniquely incorporating two native ingredients – samphire and mountain pepper, sparked their creativity. In the following lesson, students, working in groups, were challenged to produce and present a range of dessert recipes within 80 minutes. The diversity of recipes provided valuable lessons about time management, fragility of ingredients, and the varying success rates of different recipes. Armed with this knowledge, students paired up and followed a ‘Native Dessert Trail’ design brief. Over two lessons, they used their chosen ingredients to create and present their own contemporary desserts, featuring two native ingredients. The results showcased their creative and thoughtful ideas.
Certificate II Hospitality
Year Eleven
This term, our students are learning about the crucial aspects of food hygiene. They’ve been studying topics such as handwashing procedures, cross-contamination, food poisoning pathogens, the temperature danger zone, and the importance of cleaning, sanitising, and proper food storage in the kitchen. These lessons have been put into practice during their hands-on sessions in the kitchen, where they’ve arrived smartly dressed in their chef uniforms. They’ve already demonstrated skills by preparing sushi rolls, a variety of delicate finger sandwiches, and delicious spinach and feta triangles using filo pastry. In the coming weeks, we anticipate the creation of more mouth-watering appetisers. Adding to the excitement, our class has received an invitation to participate in the Taste Great Southern function, where they will work alongside Paul Iskov and his team from Fervor, assisting in the preparation and service of appetisers and a three-course meal to guests.
Year Twelve
Our students have recently completed a comprehensive unit on the preparation and service of non-alcoholic beverages, with a special focus on the intricacies of serving tea for two. They have now transitioned to a practical unit that involves the creation and presentation of various salads. This began with mastering the art of making two fundamental dressings - a tangy vinaigrette and a creamy homemade mayonnaise. These dressings have been used to enhance many salads, including a citrus and baby spinach salad, a grilled asparagus and orange salad, and a delightful tomato and bocconcini salad. Recently, our students explored the components of compound salads, creating industry-standard dishes such as potato salad and coleslaw. They further expanded their skills by preparing a Caesar salad, gaining valuable insights into the assembly and presentation of composed salads. In addition to their salad-making endeavors, they continue to refine their Barista skills. Offering staff espresso coffee weekly gives them practical experience and enhances their proficiency.
Mrs Teresa McAllister | Head of Technologies/Teacher
Sustainable Production
Year Seven
This term we welcome the Wilson Year Sevens into the Market Garden. The students were tasked with setting up their own vegetable garden in groups. Firstly they dug paths out and used recycled pallets as the borders of their garden. This helps the students know where they can walk without trampling their seedlings.
They planted winter crops including - lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale, cauliflower, peas and more peas. Now we just need winter to provide some rain.
On a positive note, the late onset of winter has meant that we are still harvesting corn, beans, beetroot, zucchini, cucumbers, ruby chard, radishes, and coriander.
This week we started providing vegetables and herbs to the produce-sharing stand in the Early Childhood Centre. This means that staff and families can take home some produce that has low food miles and is super fresh. We even took a corny photo of the produce stand - pun intended.
Some of the students joined the chicken welfare task force and relocated the chickens to a really nice patch of weeds and bugs for the double period. They also changed their straw and used the old straw manure mix to fertilise their new seedlings.
Ms Diane Thomas | Teacher
Woodwork
Year Seven
We have started in the wood workshop last week. All of the students have completed a safety induction works sheet and had fun getting around the workshop and identifying the potential risks and hazards as well as seeing some of the tools and machines we have. This has been uploaded into SEQTA. This Term we are spending time making a skill builder and a design task. The skill builder has started and it’s an acrylic wind spinner. The design task is a wooden spatula. I'm looking forward to working with this great group and seeing where their skills develop!
Year Eight
This term the class is continuing back in the workshop Creating their Design Task One a Western Australian Hardwood Timber Box. The group has mostly machined all the parts and have glued their boxes together. They are now fitting their tops into the routered groove on the top of the box. The class is using a step-by-step procedure which they developed back in class. The boxes are really looking great and I am enjoying the care and detail they are putting into finishing them off.
Mr Ashley Keatch | Materials Design and Technology Wood Teacher
Year Nine
The Year Nine class has started work on cutting and shaping their boomerangs. This project provides a fantastic opportunity to cut and shape with the added task of incorporating some Aboriginal inspired dot painting. The finished products look fantastic and if shaped correctly will function as a boomerang should and the students have a lot of fun trying these out.
Year Eleven
In recent weeks several of the Year Eleven group have successfully completed their upholstered footstool projects. This project incorporates both design and production as the students take control of the entire project from start to finish. This year saw more fantastic and original designs completed with some very happy-looking students trialling their finished products. The Year Eleven class will start the process all over again in the coming weeks as they begin to look towards their hall table task that must have at least one drawer.
Mr Brodie Sarre | Technologies Teacher, Woodworking Teacher