TAS/VET News

Year 12

The TAS/VET faculty have been very busy during Term 1. Our Year 12 classes have been working on their major projects during Term 1. The 12 ITT (Industrial Technology Timber) class have been working with Miss Reynen on their projects. They have started their practical projects and the students have also started on their written folios.  

The Year 12 Society and Culture class are in the process of conducting and finalising their various primary research methods for their Personal Interest Projects and will be starting to write their Central Material for their Personal Interest Projects from the beginning of Term 2. There are some fantastic topics and I am confident that the students will continue to produce some excellent work.  

12SDD (Software Design & Development)class and Mrs Hogan have completed the first part of their Major Project, the designing and planning to create a program based on a board game for a specific group in Python. The next stage will be the implementation of the code to create an executable file. There will be some workshops held at school in the holidays to work on major projects, please check with your teachers about the days and times they will be available to support their students in their HSC journeys. All major projects need to be at the 90% completion stage by then end of Term 2.

Year 12 Hospitality and Mrs Pratt have just completed their unit of work on Preparing and Serving Non-Alcoholic Beverages. The classes have made some outstanding drinks and their service skills have been most impressive! The students have been working very hard to complete the unit Prepare and serve non-alcoholic beverages. They have made a variety of different drinks in a very limited time period demonstrating their practical skills at using the equipment and ingredients. The drinks ranged from a basic milkshake to a Shirley Temple, health smoothies and mocktails. Aside from all succeeding in this task, the class had fun serving the drinks to several classes. The students all loved this and the Year 12 students were delighted that their drinks were so well received.

Mrs Kostalas and Year 12 Retail Services have been very busy this term with visual merchandising. The students have produced some beautiful displays outside the library including one for valentine’s day and also one for Easter.  

This term Year 12 Engineering Studies and Miss Reynen have continued to work really well and have completed their personal and public transport task particularly concentrating on bicycles.

Year 11

I must commend our Year 11 classes on the way they have approached their work in Term 1.  Our Year 11 classes have settled into their senior years very well. The Year 11 Society and Culture class have produced outstanding assessment tasks by applying the research method of Content Analysis. I am so proud of their efforts.  Miss Reynen’s Year 11 ITT have also been working very well and they have just completed their first Assessment task which was a drawer to go into a bedside table for Assessment task 2.   They have been learning about safety in the workshop and learning how to use the power tools correctly. 

The 11SDD class and Mrs Hogan have started the course learning about Hardware & Software, and Social & Ethical Issues. They have also been learning skills in writing algorithms and coding in python. They have completed their first assessment task, creating an interactive presentation on a computer system showing their design skills in designing a User Interface. Miss Reynen’s Year 11 Engineering Studies class have had an excellent start to their Stage 6 course and have embraced the rigour of Engineering Studies focusing on fundamentals of Engineering. Mrs Julia Kostalas and Year 11 Retail Services have been working very hard to complete their first Cluster task. 

The Year 11 Primary Industries students have made an enthusiastic start to their Certificate II in Agriculture. They have collaborated extremely well, overseeing the introduction of 25 pullets and ​organising and maintaining a new, luxurious free-range area at the farm. They have begun their tractor safety training and are looking forward to operating the tractor in Term 2.  All students have been busy preparing their own propagation media, sowing various seeds and nurturing the basil and tomato seedlings in the greenhouse in readiness for a winter crop.

Year 11 Primary Industries

Year 11 Hospitality

The two Year 11 Hospitality classes are working so well. They are working collaboratively as teams and they are producing some outstanding work as well as having a lot of fun! They have just completed their first Cluster Task and I must congratulate them on the level of diligence many of the students have displayed by submitting their first Cluster task.  They have been learning new skills and each week the students have progressed with more involved practical lessons.  In one of their practical lessons, the students made fettuccine and spaghetti from scratch and then served this with a tomato and basil sauce.   Students who successfully completed their Certificate I in Hospitality in 2020 have the opportunity to work on a variety of extension activities, this will really help the students to master the concepts in the course and will set them up for great HSC results next year.

Stage 5 Hospitality and Mrs Pratt are enjoying their course and all are working extremely well as a team in the kitchen, Stage 5 Hospitality are working on their first Cluster Task demonstrating their skills and knowledge in safe food handling and work safety. Hopefully they will finish this unit this term and move on to the much anticipated, coffee and sandwiches unit. The students are all embracing this VET course and particularly enjoy the practical component. 

Years 7 & 8

Our junior classes are all buzzing!! Our Year 7 and 8 classes are also totally immersed in their learning and it is an absolute delight to visit the classes and see so much learning and fun being had by both the students and teachers. The design briefs are varied and depend on what strand of Stage 4 Technology Mandatory is being studied. These range from some delicious food products, wood projects, learning about coding and mastering Scratch in Digital Technology and in Engineering Systems the classes are researching and producing working rollercoasters! 

The Year 7 Digital Technologies classes have been learning about Software Design with Block Based Coding with Scratch and App Lab and they will be creating a game as part of their project.

Year 7 Technology Mandatory 

Year 8 Technology Mandatory 

Year 8 Digital Technologies classes have been learning about Software Design, the skills of algorithms and text-based coding.  Their project will be extending their skills in block-based coding. ​Both Years 7 & 8 Digital Technology classes have also been learning the fundamentals on good design, they have showed these skills in creating posters for the Computer Room in EU6 to help brighten the room. 

Samples of their amazing work ...

Year 8 Technology Mandatory Food

Students and Mrs Pratt have made smoothie bowls, poached chicken and soba noodle salad, cheesy gozleme and low GI choc brownies this term. Year 8 also learnt how to make pickled ginger. These are just some of the yummy recipe’s Year 8 have cooked this term. For students new to the school kitchen environment, they have certainly shown they can cook up a storm. The ‘Fantastic Food’ unit focused on the six main nutrients and food sources where these nutrients are found. 

Well done Year 8! 

Stage 5 iSTEM  has continued to be a very popular elective choice in TAS. In 2021 we have three classes of iSTEM in Stage 5. Mr Guyot and Miss Reynen have been working on various activities. 

The Egg drop challenge is designed to test our students understanding of crumple zones and deceleration forces.  A raw egg is fixed in a device of their own design and construction and dropped from four metres onto a concrete surface.  

Those that succeeded in preventing the egg from breaking used designs developed by NASA to land the Spirit Rover on Mars, a tetrahedron with balloons. Such an amazing effort!   As we move into next term our focus is on building our understanding of hydraulics and hydraulic systems. This will lead us into our Assessment Task in Term 2. 

The iSTEM 200-hour class is really flying at the moment. Students have just completed several periods working on developing our skills using the TinkerCAD 3D design package and reimagining our Egg drop Challenge device in the digital world.

Year 10

The Year 10 200-hour iSTEM class has been working through various CAD/CAM programs to develop their 3D drawing skills and are now creating a 3D printed succulent plant holder!

The Year 10IST (Information Software Technology) class and Mrs Hogan are currently learning about robotics and how they help in many different areas. They have also been learning skills to programming robots using Lego EV3 and will be having a Robot Challenge Day first day back, competing in two challenges - Maze and Robot Wars.

Year 10 Food Technology

Mrs Ofahengaue’s Year 10 Food Technology class have been working on a unit called "Food for Specific Needs" where they will investigate circumstances which lead to specific food needs, the role of nutritionally modified foods, the role of support networks for individuals with specific needs.

Year 9 Food Technology

This term Year 9 Food Technology and Mrs Pratt have been studying Food Selection and Health and have been preparing some very interesting healthy recipes. Learning to cook with a team, managing time and using equipment safely has been a feature of their practical lessons. As you can see from the pictures the practical works are very colourful and enjoyed by the class.

Stage 5 Timber

Mrs Ellen Ofahengaue and Mrs DeKalb have been working very hard with the Stage 5 Timber classes. The students have been learning how to safely and correctly use tools in the workshop and how to use the lathe to produce their projects.  Their project this term has been to produce a paper towel holder using the lathe.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the teachers in the TAS/VET faculty for their hard work and dedication this term and for providing our students with such wonderful learning experiences. This term we have welcomed new members of to our faculties and school. Mrs Ofanhenguae previously worked at the Girrakool school at Kariong and we are very excited to welcome her to the TAS faculty.   Mr Grant joined the VET faculty and will be delivering Primary Industries. He brings with him a wealth of experience in the fields of Horticulture and Agriculture. He will also be assisting us with the growing of vegetables and herbs that the Stage 4 Technology Mandatory Food and Agriculture strand will be using in their recipes and practical lessons. 

We are all looking forward to an amazing Term 2 and on behalf of the TAS/VET faculty I would like to wish our students and their families a safe, peaceful Easter and a wonderfully relaxing holiday.

Mrs Caroline McTeigue

Head Teacher

TAS/VET