By Cameron Kopp
Twelve months of hard work has been rewarded for eight Parkes High School Industrial Technology Timber students who have completed outstanding major projects for their HSC.
The projects were recently displayed on site where external HSC markers, who travel across the state, cast a critical eye over them looking at such aspects as technique, quality of finish, degree of difficulty and effectiveness of the design portfolio.
I am very proud of the effort put in by all the students who each now have a project which has been completed on time and reflects their dedication and commitment to the task.
It’s a huge year which goes incredibly quickly.
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It starts with the students choosing their own projects, carrying out research to enable them to critically think about what they might like to make.
Some students may choose a project they need, such as a bed, while others who are chasing high HSC marks might choose something which requires a high level of skill and therefore has a greater degree of difficulty.
The most important thing I advise my students is to make something they are passionate about to ensure it retains their interest.
The students have just under 12 months to design and construct the project.
They are required to research all components including the suitability of the project, what type of timber they would like, colour variants, hardware, finishes and adhesives.
Students might also need to consider style and size depending on where their project is going to be located.
I work with the students one-on-one as they construct their projects under my guidance during allocated school lessons however, this group of students has certainly put in a lot of extra effort outside of school hours.
They have taken the opportunity to come in on weekends and during school holidays to ensure they finished with a high-quality project.
They have shown great dedication with about 10 full days being completed during school holidays in addition to weekends.
The project isn’t all practical as students are required to produce a design, management and communication portfolio which outlines all their research, idea generation, prototyping and modeling, testing, selections and justification of materials and a step-by-step record of construction which involves taking photos throughout the construction process.
A critical final evaluation is required where students look at areas of their project which they felt were successful, areas they found difficult or things they might change if they completed the project again.
This year’s group of students have put in an amazing effort, and this can be seen in what I believe to be some of the best practical projects produced at Parkes High School.
Their dedication and commitment outside school hours has really benefitted their final result.
I have been especially impressed by how efficiently the students have managed their time as completing these large projects is no easy task and they have all been able to do this to a high standard.
It is very pleasing to see the projects catching the eye of younger students in the school.
My students are great role models of what can be achieved if you work hard and show commitment.
Hopefully this will encourage younger students to take up the subject and allow them to feel the pride of successfully completing a project which has a high degree of difficulty, teaching them resilience, commitment and problem solving.
Congratulations to the following students.
I am very proud of you, your projects and your commitment to the subject.
You should all be very proud too and I wish you every success for the future.
