Junior Design and Technology

Design and Technology this semester involved the Junior class learning about design and production in two areas, textiles and gardens.

TEXTILE DESIGN AND PRODUCTION:

Students were tasked with a design brief to design and produce items to decorate their rooms in Boarding. Most of the girls had not sewn before but they were very quick to pick up both hand and machine sewing skills. They started by creating a softie ‘love monster’ from felt which involved using a pattern to cut out the pieces of fabric, developing design ideas and sewing the softie together with two different hand-stitching techniques. The second project involved designing and creating 2 cushion covers. Students had to consider size, shape and fabric choice and had to include at least one embellishment on their cushion such as buttons, ribbon, or an applique designed by them. The project involved measuring and cutting fabric, preparing seams and using the sewing machine to stitch the cushions. As the photos show, there were some wonderful results.

SUSTAINABLE GARDEN DESIGN AND PRODUCTION:

Students learnt about sustainable garden design and care. The Unit started with an introduction to Bruce Pascoe’s ‘Dark Emu’ book and his evidence about Indigenous sustainable land management techniques. Students then visited the Green Space community garden in Cairns and the Cairns Botanical Gardens to see sustainable garden design and practice in action. Students were given the design brief to create a school garden using sustainable techniques. This included starting a compost system with teacher Catalina and making wicking beds (small, self-watering gardens). Students prepared garden beds by clearing out unwanted weeds, testing soil for pH balance, mixing in nutrients and checking for worms. Vegetables and herbs have been planted and a watering/weeding roster is in place. Now we are waiting to reap the benefits of fresh food from our school community garden.