Queen's High School: a multi-faceted approach to food, clothing and hospitality

Throughout the country, schools are taking a variety of approaches to programmes in Technology. School Relationship Manager Paul Wheeler looks at the approach taken by Queen's High School in Dunedin.

A notice tacked up on the office wall outlines the department's philosophy.

A small sign on the office wall at the Food, Material Technology Department, of Queen's High School reads

T - Together
E - Everyone
A - Achieves
M - More

In the classroom there is a sense that both the girls and the staff in the department have taken the philosophy to heart. There is an atmosphere of purpose, focus and energy as they go about their business. Talking with Karen Oben, head of the department, it is easy to see where the energy and vision comes from. She is enthusiastic about the programmes available to the senior students and her team of four that implement them. She is quick to point out that it is a team in every way with each teacher's skills and style complementary.

The senior level courses have been designed to provide girls with skills for life, regardless of their academic or career aspirations. While not all girls at Queen's High School will seek a career in the food, clothing or hospitality industries, most will end up flatting or living in a home of their own. All the students who participate in these courses benefit from skills in planning and cooking meals, hygiene, hospitality, basic design and making garments.

Adapting and evaluating

Year 11 student Shereena Glennie receives advice on construction techniques from Fabric Technology teacher, Karen Oben.

The programme is adapted every year depending on what engages the students' interest. At the end of each year, staff evaluate the course to decide what needs to be changed. Does the catering course still meet the needs of the students in a changing environment? Are there new opportunities available, such as the Salon Culinaire competition run by the Southland Institute of Technology, with different practical skills needed? The Year 12 course changed this year because the school had the opportunity to be a Beacon school. New opportunities presented themselves with level 2 achievement standards.

The timetable is a major challenge each year but the school's senior management and administration team accept such requests as a challenge. One solution has been to have glide time and a flexible timetable. The department operates from 1.00 pm to 5.00 pm on Tuesdays, and glide time includes flexibility with the use of assembly and lunch times. Girls studying Tourism and Equine Studies also work on glide time.

Modules include Food and Nutrition (Year 11), Skills for Living (Years 11, 12 and 13) and Professional Foods (Year 13 and beyond). Skills for Living includes First Aid, Food Safety and Catering. Assessment is an integral part of the course. Skills are learnt and assessed in real-life situations. The Skills for Living students were assessed as they catered for a group of 50 Australian students who arrived on a school exchange. Two weeks previously, they had catered for an after-wedding function attended by around 100 people. The girls were assessed on their skills in food storage, food hygiene, presentation, dealing with people and cleaning up. The girls spent three lessons making sweets, carrot cake and pickles for a Saturday gala. Part of the learning was to design and produce products, labels for the bottles and other important details. The school's reputation in this area is well known, and people often phone the school requesting catering assistance.

The Food and Nutrition course has been developed around the Technology curriculum and includes Home Economics and Technology (food and soft materials). The HETTANZ (Home Economics and Technology Teachers' Association of New Zealand) purple book is used as a basis for one of the courses. If a student completes the course as outlined in the book, she gets a HETTANZ certificate. The department wants all girls to leave school with a qualification, and this is one of a number of possibilities.

The Professional Foods course was available in 2003 for Bursaries students as well as any student whose interest in studying food continued after Year 12. Many of these girls obtain qualifications including international certificates or diplomas that have both practical and theoretical sections. Because one of the certificates they gain can lead to a diploma, a number of girls come back after their Year 13 course to complete their diploma (a two-year course).

Standards-based assessment

Leigh Patterson discusses her level 1 assessment with Food Technology teacher, Carol Robertson.

Assessment is part of learning and is based on unit standards, achievement standards, external assessments from Home and Life Sciences and Technology and qualifications outside the National Qualifications Framework. Throughout the year staff use an ongoing checklist approach for many standards as part of the teaching and learning experience. The checklists and photographs can be used as evidence for moderation, if required.

Teachers in the department share assessment at any one time, and sometimes a polytechnic lecturer will assess, helping to ensure there is no bias and providing a form of moderation. Verification is done through discussions with staff from other schools in a cluster group.

Some girls have part-time work, such as working as kitchen hands in halls of residence, restaurants and hotels. Halls of residence and restaurants have commercial equipment unavailable in the school environment. Assessment within their workplace is used to check against industry standards.

"Girls come in here to achieve," says Karen Oben.

The challenge for staff is to make this possible. Garments and food items are to be made to a saleable standard. This focus on excellence has inspired ex-girls to achieve international recognition in fashion and foods.

A new ways of doing things

Staff also seek opportunities to improve their own skills and qualifications. They have taken up the opportunity to be NCEA facilitators and are accredited assessors for the Wairakei Polytechnic, so are able to deliver the Wairakei Certificates in Food Hygiene which the girls can get within the school. Teachers are developing skills to enable them to assess a wider range of standards for the Hospitality Standards Institute, in recognition of changes in the field and enabling the department to remain abreast of these changes. Staff also benefit from working with owner-chef of Bellpepper Blues, Michael Coughlin, who tutors the International certificate and diploma catering course at the school.

Flexibility in course planning is not unique to the Home Economics department at Queen's High School. Other departments are seeking ways to integrate relevant, useful and interesting themes and topics. The Commerce department is exploring new ways of designing courses and assessment, and another department is considering a combination of Mathematics and Science.

Assessment is carried out, not as single one-off events, but as ongoing recognition of achievement, providing a range of results that is useful, focused, and leads to further learning in a career or tertiary institution. Assessment is not driving the Home Economics programme, but overlays the real-life situations that constitute much of the programme. It's a philosophy that is increasingly evident in other areas of the school. Combinations of achievement and unit standards from different levels are used where appropriate.

Queen's High School is making the most of the flexible nature of the NCEA environment, and is getting good results. Students' needs drive the courses offered. The school seeks ways to overcome the barriers of the timetable, and looks outside the traditional school boundaries to make strong links with the community.