A Year of Tech at NIS By Emily Kemp

Tech is a mandatory part of learning at Newlands Intermediate. It promotes learning new skills with fun, hands-on experience. This report is a reflection and summary of all the Tech we have done this past year.

Sewing Tech, or Textiles, was the first tech my class did - It was a new addition to the schedule. In our first session, we learnt how to do some basic stitching, how to use the sewing machine, and came up with a design for a pillow we would be making. This would aid us for the second session, where we started making the pillow. The pillows were all circular using felt for the outside, and we had to stitch on designs also using felt. When we had made the outside of the pillow, we stuffed it, and we were done. We were welcomed to make something else, and I simply made another pillow. These sessions proved effective in helping me and other students learn how to stitch. Something I liked about Textiles is that we are able to learn both stitching and pillow-making, and then have the freedom to choose something to make on our own.

Secondly, we did Food Tech, where you learn the basics of cooking. We successfully chose and cooked up a breakfast item for our first day, and chose a recipe from our background to cook on the second. My group of three settled for meat pies and shortbread, from Australia and Scotland, to celebrate the other member's cultures. This worked out perfectly, as we made our shortbread just in time to cook over morning tea, and finish our meat pies over the course of the first and middle block. On the second sessions, we made a bread of our choice and soup, to which my group chose bread rolls and a simple tomato soup. They turned out great! Food Tech is a fun place where we were able to learn to cook and socialise at the same time.

We moved on to Art Tech in the third term. For this year, we sculpted with clay. During the first sessions, we experimented with and sketched designs such as charms, wall tiles, and plant pockets. I chose a wall tile feather and a few flower charms as extras. We also got our dry ball of clay which we turned into a flat square we were able to mould into our chosen design. After doing so, we put them in the kiln and waited weeks for them to harden in time for our next session. When we returned, we drew two colour scheme ideas for our now baked art pieces. We then needed to learn about warm and cool colours, how to blend the paints, and which undercoat to apply - black or white? If your sculpture was going to be black, you would have a black undercoat, if not, then white. The last day of art tech was when we really got on to painting them. We all finished in time and now had beautifully carved and painted sculptures. I personally love art tech because I love making art, but another great thing is the fact you can be in touch with your creative side.

Currently, we have done the first sessions of Hard Tech. Hard Tech is woodwork with some use of circuits, like for light boxes. We have a disadvantage though - only 3 days, instead of 4. We had a choice on what to make on the first day, to which I and most people chose a lightbox. I started working on my box that would hold the piece of plastic, which I finished easily. I also needed to start on my circuit to make the light work, which took a bit more effort, but we finished that in the end. In my next session, I will need to attach my box, circuit, and battery, put in the piece of plastic, and make sure everything is working. Hard Tech is a challenging but satisfactory part of Tech in which you can learn a lot, such as how a circuit works.

Overall, my experience at all of the Tech has been great. I learn new life skills in an enjoyable, fun way. This is great because sometimes students need a break from the usual boring paperwork or tests online. Tech is an important learning experience for all students.