Technologies News

Year Seven Hospitality Electives

Let’s go Mokare Year Sevens! This confident group of cooks has been following all the kitchen procedures efficiently to produce several recipes. Through the process of making apple muffins, students learned the process of combining a wet mix with a dry mix to form a batter. This batter, when placed in a muffin tin and baked in a preheated oven, underwent a transformative reaction with heat, moisture, and a raising agent, resulting in a batch of light, airy muffins. Additionally, the students delved into the preparation of macaroni cheese, a straightforward yet energy-boosting treat, prompting them to write a sensory analysis of the recipe.

Year Eight Hospitality Electives

At the recent Albany Agricultural Show, our students had the opportunity to participate in the Junior Cooking Section, where they showcased their cookery skills by baking and entering a variety of recipes for judging. Through several lessons focused on the preparation and presentation of scones, muffins, slices, tartlets, and biscuits, each student carefully selected their own recipe to make, bake, and present. We’re thrilled to congratulate the following students on their well-deserved awards:

Zahra Gersbach: 1st place in Scones
Kari Taylor: 1st place in Muffins
Riley Jenkins: 2nd place in Muffins
Caitlin Hooper: 1st place in Biscuits
Stella Altham: 2nd place in Biscuits
Charlotte Berryman: 2nd place in Slice

This term, our students worked on a design challenge: to create, prepare, and photograph a healthy burger. The results were not only delicious but also presented with care and creativity. To add an extra flair, students had a blast dressing up as chefs, taking photos of each other that featured in a food blog that highlighted their burgers.

Year Nine Hospitality Electives

Students were presented with an exciting challenge – to design, construct, and decorate a gingerbread model, which they later entered into the Junior Cooking Section at the recent Albany Agricultural Show. The most demanding part of this creative challenge was using the royal icing to connect the sections of their gingerbread creations. Guided by instructions on using a piping bag for decorating, students brought their gingerbread models to life with a variety of lollies, each telling a unique story upon completion. It’s worth noting that there were moments of tension and frustration in the classroom during this task! Nevertheless, congratulations to the following students for their achievements:

Charlotte Stephens: 1st place
Genesis Amisi: 2nd place
Jack Lange: 3rd place

Year Ten Hospitality Electives

This term’s challenge has tasked students with developing a weekly meal planner, writing a corresponding grocery shopping list, and executing a main meal and dessert from their planned menus. In addition to this, students were required to incorporate a morning tea item into their plan, which will be prepared and presented next week for a special audience comprising visiting chefs, food technology teachers, and students from other schools. Throughout the past few weeks, students engaged with technical recipes, navigating through precision-dependent steps. While some recipes were successful, others presented challenges. Notably, the ‘Powder Puffs’ recipe proved to be particularly demanding for most students, however several rose to the occasion, realising the importance of adhering precisely to the recipe for optimal results (well done boys, outcooking all the girls, including the teacher!)

Certificate II Hospitality

Following weeks of mastering the craft of mocktail creation, each student designed their own flavourful mocktail, drawing inspiration from diverse preparation methods and presenting it in a distinctive style of glassware. The ingredients featured a mix of frozen, dehydrated, and fresh fruits, along with homemade flavoured simple syrups, espresso coffee, floral cordials, pea flowers, sour lemons, and egg whites. Students calculated ingredient quantities to cater to the large crowd at the annual Mocktail Party for their Year Eleven peers.

Transforming the Hospitality room with a chic black and pink theme, students curated their own ‘bar’ setup, inviting everyone to the party where they skilfully made mocktails on demand during peak service hours. The overarching theme of the event was ‘Op-Shop’, inspiring students to showcase some creative outfits. It was fun to see teachers joining in the spirit by donning quicky attire. The night unfolded with an abundance of dancing, laughter, and the creation of lasting memories!

Year Seven Sustainable Production

The Wilson Year Sevens have had a very productive time in the Market Garden where they have planted heaps of different seeds and seedlings including lettuce, beans, beetroot, rainbow chard, radishes, coriander, cucumber, melons, strawberries, and eggplant. The lettuces they planted at the start of term are looking amazing and they have had great germination from the radishes they sowed directly into the soil. Cuddling a chicken continues to be a popular pastime. We are now eating a lot of peas and beans fresh from the plants.

Year Nine Sustainable Production

We have planted many varieties of strawberries, the students modified the reticulation to better water these and placed straw around them to protect the fruit from slaters. The strawberries responded really well and are growing and fruiting vigorously. Unfortunately, the crows are getting a lot of the fruit so that is our next challenge to solve.

We also have some interesting plants growing including Daikon radishes, pineapples and artichokes. The Year Nines have also planted two different Fig tree varieties grown from cuttings of plants that have been in my family for many years.

We have started covering the garden beds with pea straw to protect the soil. A few of the students from both year groups and VACS have had a turn of rotary hoeing the soil which they really enjoyed.

Woodwork

As the mid-way point of Term Four has come and gone many of the students across all year levels are really pushing hard to complete their final, or last few, projects for the year. The final group of Year Seven students are in and are working on their project for the term. The Year Eight and Nine students are working on Semester projects which has seen them create and present some fantastic products ranging from Lazy Susans to Race Cars. The Year Nine students have recently cut and shaped some boomerangs and included their interpretations of some Aboriginal-inspired dot paintings which turned out great.

Our Year Ten students are nearing the completion of their final major project, which is a coffee table. Photos of these finished projects will be in the next edition.

The Year Eleven group is much the same, working hard to complete their hall table with one drawer over the next week. Pictures of these finished projects will also be in the next edition.

Mrs Teresa McAllister | Head of Technologies