TAS News

Visual Arts

A small group of Visual Arts students travelled west to Warialda with Ms Milne to visit Ceramic Break Sculpture Park. The quality of the art and art galleries, including indoor and outdoor exhibits, did not disappoint those who attended.

The Philosopher's walk was particularly thought-provoking, if not for the Philosopher's quotes and sculptures, then for the sheer fact of it being student work and a whole school approach to art making. Students were inspired by the artist’s talk in a real-life studio situation by sculptor and owner, Kerry Cannon. Impressive also was the guided tour by Barb who has a talent for art interpretation and story-telling.

We must have impressed the team as we were invited to exhibit later this year which is definitely a challenge worth accepting and important to keep the creative juices flowing.

Year 12

Congratulations Year 12 Design and Technology (D & T), you made it to the finishing line with your individual creations. D&T is a complex area of study which requires students to become designers or perhaps artists, quantity surveyors, and then builders. Some of the projects were very mathematical and others had a focus on the workstation as a practical item or a piece of handmade furniture.

Ryan Lamph’s work demonstrated a practical side of a workstation while Melpin Maulana’s could be used as either a workstation or, as can be seen in the picture, a table already set for dinner. On the other hand, Rory Bryant’s table revealed his skill in designing and utilising the woodwork lathe to create a pleasant piece of furniture. Daniel Tait took another approach to differentiating the scope of student projects by creating sensory walls for children who are seeking to improve their hand and eye co-ordination. Adam Jolly “Mangified” the Ned Kelly story into 3D printed panels for a lamp. Jacob McFarlane used his interest in computers to design a tactile representation of logic gates (the way computers make decisions).

In Industrial Technology – Metal, Sam Donnelly used his metalworking skills to create a fourth-generation calf cradle to be used by the family. Look out in the next newsletter for more about this.

Year 9 & 10

Students in this combined class have been steadily working on building a serving tray by focusing on the careful crafting of wood joints, including measuring and cutting to create a satisfactory piece of work. Their projects will be finished (hopefully) by Christmas and dinner will be carried out on their trays!

Year 8

Year 8 has moved on to its next Mandatory Technology area, which is Information Technology. Students are currently engaged in learning how to code a simple device to light up, squawk, blink, and do things that we associate with the same type of programming used in remote controls, washing machines or microwaves, and other similar types of equipment. Perhaps we will see a budding programmer who can create games for sale.

Year 7

Year 7 have rotated through their learning areas and are engaged in various activities - more on them in the next newsletter.

The Technology and Visual Arts Team