Semester 2 has kicked off, and we are well into Term 3. Mrs Gaunt is onto her second batch of Year 7’s, and they are in the midst of creating their timber children’s toy projects. I have a class of Year 8s, and after some preliminary safety induction tasks earlier on, we are now practising the construction of housing joints using tenon saws and chisels on veneered MDF (medium-density fibreboard) timber. This will be the main joint feature in the utility box project that is coming up. The Year 9 class is small and has allowed some freedom in the projects that we will focus on. First, we have been practising half-lap joints on 42x19 pine timber. This will be for the rear frame of the timber clock project. We also want to begin some sheet metal folding within the program to keep the 9s stimulated and engaged throughout.

Last semester, the Year 10s wrapped up their metal skills tasks of phone stands and some completed folding BBQ plates which turned out quite nicely. This semester, some are looking to extend their metalworking skills, including folding sheet metal and timber-working skills with Japanese-inspired storage boxes. In Year 11, the metalwork stream completed some sack truck projects; the timber stream almost completed their bedside cabinets. This semester, Year 11’s only have metalwork and have focused on complex joinery with welding. The Year 12s are rushing into the production of final projects, having recently completed cutting and costing sheets in conjunction with supporting theory work.