Ranges TEC News
Hospitality at Ranges TEC
Head Chef for a night | VET Cookery students have the experience of each running their own restaurant for an evening meal, served to a table of their own family and friends. This featured Head Chef wowed her seven guests with a three-course sensation!
Designing their own menu and managing the kitchen to prep, cook, plate and serve can be stressful, but our Head Chef took it in her stride and the plates were licked clean by her very satisfied guests!
Now, how did you create that incredible poached pear?
Ranges TEC Term 3 Summary
Term 3 has been awesome at Ranges TEC with many highlights.
Year 10 students are excelling in their transition from traditional schooling into the applied learning space at Ranges TEC. Having parents share with us at parent teacher interviews and via email constantly share their thanks because of how their child is excelling at school like never before. "My son is happy to go to school. He gets ready without the hassles of last year." "We are so thankful to Ranges TEC for helping our daughter come alive for the first time."
Work Placement can be daunting for students as they face real adult work. As the staff return from visiting students on Work Placement the reports from employers are glowing. In fact one of our problems is students getting offered apprenticeships before finishing their studies. The encouragement and growth this has on students is exponential.
Year 11s have completed their Design and Make projects which are just outstanding. The creativity and quality of product is far beyond those of most Year 11s. A visiting Director from another Trade Training Centre double checked with me to confirm that these projects were from Year 11s because they are well above the expected Year 11 standard. The Powertown Sawmill supplied timber for the students and came out for an award ceremony to celebrate the excellent student products that have been created from scrap timber. Seeing the students brim with pride as they received rightful credit from the wider community is just priceless. I'm so proud of our students.
The highlight of Year 12 is our Boots to the Bush trip to Darwin. By Year 12 students have developed many skills; trade skills, teamwork skills, and problem solving. In ten days they were able to build a ropes course for the Batchelor Area School. There is something special about a big trip like this into a new environment, a different climate and a majestical part of Australia. On return the students were raving about the trip and wanted to go back. Parents have thanked us for how much their children grew and enjoyed this experience.
On Wednesdays and Thursdays Ranges TEC teaches over 140 VET students from the Yarra Valley VET Cluster of 12 schools. This is so enjoyable and exciting as they enter our Applied Learning space. I love visiting these VET classes and seeing the development of their products; from the Furniture tables, to vices in Engineering, to restaurant nights in Cookery, to "electrical rough-in" in Electrotechnology, to building staircases in Horticulture and an extension to our Building classroom at the farm with our Building and Construction students. I am so proud of our students, our teachers and the way we prepare students for a trade career.
Ranges TEC really is a brilliant Christian Trade Training Centre that delivers, "More than Skills".
Ric Thorpe
Ranges TEC Director