Our E Pro-8 Tirohangatanga for term one consisted of five teams of four students. Each team organised themselves based on their year group. We had our two-year seven teams named Monrad Mechanics and Monrad Gears. Followed by our two-year eight teams, Jobe and 50%.

During the term, teams worked on their challenges while achieving the criteria set by the challenge each team was given. Understanding measurement and working together as a team were key to the team's success in completing the task.

Teams were based at a workstation containing gears, motors, pulleys, aluminium extrusion, weights, wheels, electronics blocks, cable, wing nuts, and bolts. Once the challenge was completed, students tested their creativity by expanding their creations.

Introducing Pottery to our Tirohangatanga had the appeal that it doesn't take a whole year to become proficient in making something that can be used and enjoyed. In term one, there were many mindful benefits to making pottery for our students. The concentration and patience required, a feeling of well-being, being lost in the moment and having that lovely brown gooey clay oozing between our fingers. 

The students I taught were always filled with excitement and wonder when working with clay. They had great fun learning to create a masterpiece by completing steps like warming, stitching, slipping and smoothing the clay and then allowing our masterpiece to air dry, ready to paint.