TAS Report

It has been such a busy term for the TAS/VET faculty. Year 12 are in the midst of their Major works and their Personal Interest Projects. All Year 12 students in all of our courses will be starting to prepare for their upcoming Trial Exams and we wish them the very best of luck. The students have been working diligently to have their projects at the 90% completion stage by the end of the term. There are a large variety of projects and I must congratulate those students who have been working solidly from the beginning of the process. I am confident the students that have been working continuously and abiding to course requirements and time frames will be rewarded with excellent HSC results at the end of the year.

Year 12 Hospitality and Year 11 Retail Services have been working very hard all term to complete all Cluster Tasks to satisfy the requirements of their Certificate II courses. We are very proud of the way they have tackled these enormous and time consuming tasks.  The Year 12 Hospitality classes have been running our very popular Kendall Café this term and are becoming very proficient at making a range of espresso coffees and serving light snacks to our large number of customers. The Year 11 Hospitality classes will be taking over the operation of the café later next term.

The two Year 11 Hospitality classes are getting ready for their first Work Placement in Weeks 5 and 6 next term and we are confident that they will be very successful in their placements.

Year 11 ITT have designed and made their mirrors and are in the process of researching and designing their next project, this is their small table and folio. The Year 11 Society and Culture class have just completed their second assessment task and I must congratulate the students on their outstanding achievement in this task and the support and preparation that Ms Thompson-McLeod provided the students for this task.

Miss Crystal Reynen has been working very hard with her classes the Year 12 Engineering Studies are currently looking at the topic of aeronautical engineering. They are studying how planes actually fly and the preforming calculations that actually keep the planes in the sky!  An integral component of the course is looking at the scope of the profession and what jobs are available within aeronautical engineering.

 Year 12 IPT have just submitted their major works for the year. They were required to make a multimedia system (website) on a topic of their choice. The majority of the class have completed fantastic websites that look professional.

Year 12 SDD: have just submitted their major works for the year. All students had to create a game, app or animation of their choice completely from scratch. This means that they had to code their whole projects from beginning to end. This is not an easy task and all students have had a go and the end results are looking very impressive.

Year 11 SDD: this class has been looking at the different Software Development approaches; they are looking at how different software programmes are developed. The class are working very hard and are just about to move into a new topic of Hardware and Software.

Year 11 IPT: In groups this class has just started to organise and develop a multimedia system on the ‘Aspects of school life at Henry Kendall’. This involves investigating aspects of the school, interviewing students and teachers and from the information and research gathered either creates a website or PowerPoint presentation that is acceptable for the wider community to access.   

Year 12 Food Technology have been working on the unit Food Manufacture.  In this unit the students learn about how food is processed and manufactured. Their assessment task focuses on the difference between domestic and commercial production, the students are also looking at food preservation, storage and distribution. In their practical lessons the students have reinforced the theory principles and have produced apricot jam and mango chutney which will be used with our Year 11 Hospitality classes in their sandwich unit and they have also made some beef jerky.   

 Mrs Pratt and the Year 10 Food Technology class have just completed their unit of work on Food Trends and have produced a range of amazing and equally delicious dips. The students have completed their design process from the beginning with investigating different ingredients and then making their products, taking into consideration all aspects of a food product in production such as taste, texture and aesthetic qualities as well as extensive testing. The dips have all been tasted and then evaluated by both students and staff and have been able to develop a real sense of how food manufacturers create their food products to appeal to a range of customers.

Stage 5 Food Technology classes have been thoroughly enjoying their lessons and they have been learning about Food in Australia, in this unit of work the students learn about multicultural and fusion foods.

Stage 5 Hospitality have also been really enjoying their lessons and are producing some amazing food creations. These include the unit Use Food Preparation Equipment and some of their practical lessons include learning how to make and apply batters, crumbing and learning the difficult skills of precision cutting.

 The Year 9 IST class have been designing and building working Robots using the Lego EV2 kits.  The Year 10 IST classes and Mr Carter have completed their websites and are now moving onto Option Topic 8 which is a multimedia presentation using a variety of 21st century equipment such as the 3 D printer and using Sketch Up to develop a 3 D model of their choice.

Mr Peek and his Stage 5 ITT Timber class are continuing their work on their step stools and wood turning, their work is more than impressive!

 The Stage 4 Technology Mandatory classes have been enjoying and embracing their lessons.  The Technology Mandatory Food classes have been designing pies this term. This has involved the design process from the beginning to the end product through to the evaluation stage. The units of work and the final products have been outstanding and I must thank Mrs Pratt for her innovative and creative ideas when designing the programs. Mr Peek’s classes have been very busy making some great timber products including spice racks, timber carry alls and wooden serving trays, these complement the work that the students are doing in Miss Greenwoods Paddock to Plate classes. Miss Greenwood’s Technology Mandatory Ag class have been enjoying the new Paddock To Plate program and have been very busy at the farm growing a range of herbs and vegetables to use in their food lessons, they also welcomed the baby chicks this term and have enjoyed lots of cuddles while learning and applying their numeracy skills to plotting their growth and development.

Our Year 8 STEM classes are having so much fun while learning and the classes are just buzzing! So far the students have been working with Lego EV3 kits and designing robots, making their own personalised USB cases using the 3D printer, laser cutter or fimo modelling clay. They have also been taking care of their fish and ecosystems and they are about to start to learn how to design and produce their own personal amplifiers and also start to learn how to code. I must also thank the Year 8 STEM teachers for their commitment and enthusiasm for the program.

The Year 12 TAS teachers will be offering workshops in the holidays to support the students in completing and perfecting their major projects. These are not compulsory but will greatly assist the students. Finally, a reminder to the Year 12 TAS students to arrange the time and days with their teachers.  The TAS/VET staff wish all of our students and their families a safe, relaxing and happy holiday.