Students in the first group of our newly revamped seven week TASTER courses are almost at the end of the programme.

The new shorter course allows all the Year 9 students to have a "TASTE" of all the options on offer before deciding later in the year what they would like to carry on with at Year 10.

Food Technology

In Food Technology our focus is on building confidence through practical, hands-on tasks. We had approximately 50% lessons being practical skills and 50% learning content, researching and presenting.

We covered basic knowledge and skills around using equipment, following recipes accurately, measuring skills, use of all foods room equipment safely and efficiently and we made several different products mostly successful, with one or two learning the value of adding the right amount of an ingredient. 

We also studied nutrients and their link to food related illness in our society and the presentations of this research were at a very high level. We enjoyed a smaller class size of just 20 students, and it was a bonus to have all our ovens updated at the same time just a couple of weeks ago.

Digital Technology

In Digital Technology our focus is building confidence with many different forms of digital technology. Students completed work in digital media, basic computing skills, game development, coding, animation, AI and design thinking. 

We finished off the rotation with a large project. Students were given the problem of sea level rise in South Dunedin and had to come up with ways to solve the problem using technology. They then had to show their ideas in a presentation which for the whole class was in the form of a Minecraft world.

Fashion and Textiles Technology

Students have had an introduction using sewing machines and over-lockers, with a focus on safety. For some of the students it has been a refresher from the previous years. We work on practical skills, design elements and researching applied design. All of the techniques used will be applied to produce a bag. The students have enjoyed the process and the finished result has been amazing so far.