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Alexandria Park Community School

Alexandria Park Community School

Community Opportunity Success

Telephone02 9698 1967

Emailalexparkcs-c.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Electives

Commerce

Commerce enables young people to develop the knowledge, understanding, skills and values that form the foundation on which they can make sound decisions about consumer, financial, legal, business and employment issues. It develops in students the ability to research information, apply problem-solving strategies and evaluate options in order to make informed and responsible decisions as individuals and as part of the community.

What will students learn about?

All students study Consumer Choice andPersonal Finance. In these topics they learn about making responsible spending, saving, borrowing and investment decisions.

Students may also study Legal and Employment Issues, in which they will develop an understanding of their legal rights and responsibilities and how laws affect individuals and regulate society. They also learn about commercial and legal aspects relating to employment issues, and their rights and responsibilities at work.

Students will also study optional topics selected from: Investing; Promoting and Selling; E-Commerce; Global Links; Towards Independence; Political Involvement; Travel; Law in Action; Our Economy; Community Participation; Running a Business; and a School-developed option.

What will students learn to do? 

Student learning in Commerce will promote critical thinking and the opportunity to participate in the community. Students learn to identify, research and evaluate options when making decisions on how to solve consumer problems and issues that confront consumers. They will develop research and communication skills, including the use of ICT, that build on the skills they have developed in their mandatory courses.

They will also develop skills in personal financial management and advocacy for rights and responsibilities in the workplace.

 

 

Food Technology

The study of Food Technology provides students with a broad knowledge and understanding of food properties, processing, preparation and their interrelationship, nutritional considerations and consumption patterns. It addresses the importance of hygiene and safe working practices and legislation in the production of food. Students will develop food-specific skills, which can then be applied in a range of contexts enabling students to produce quality food products. It also provides students with a context through which to explore the richness, pleasure and variety food adds to life and how it contributes to both vocational and general life experiences.

What will students learn about?

Students will learn about food in a variety of settings, enabling them to evaluate the relationships between food, technology, nutritional status and the quality of life. The following focus areas provide a context through which the core (Food preparation and processing, Nutrition and consumption) will be studied.

  • Food in Australia
  • Food service and catering
  • Food equity
  • Food for special needs
  • Food product development
  • Food for special occasions
  • Food selection and health
  • Food trends

What will students learn to do?

The major emphasis of the Food Technology syllabus is on students exploring food-related issues through a range of practical experiences, allowing then to make informed and appropriate choices with regard to food. Integral to this course is students developing the ability and confidence to design, produce and evaluate solutions to situations involving food. They will learn to select and use appropriate ingredients, methods and equipment safely and competently

 

 

History (Elective)

History develops in young people an interest in and enjoyment of exploring the past. A study of Elective History provides opportunities for developing a knowledge and understanding of past societies and historical periods. 

What will students learn about?

Students explore the nature of history and the methods that historians use to construct history through a range of thematic and historical studies. Students develop an understanding of how historians investigate and construct history through an examination of various types of history such as oral history, museum or archive studies, historical fiction, media, biography or film. Historical issues studied include the collection, display and reconstruction of the past, ethical issues of ownership and preservation and conservation of the past. A selection of ancient, medieval and early modern societies are studied in relation to themes such as war and peace, crime and punishment, music through history, slavery, women in history or other relevant topics.

What will students learn to do?

Students apply an understanding of history, heritage, archaeology and the methods of historical inquiry and examine the ways in which historical meanings can be constructed through a range of media. Students learn to apply the skills of investigating history including understanding and analysing sources and evidence and sequencing major historical events to show an understanding of continuity, change and causation. Students develop research and communication skills, including the use of ICTs, and examine different perspectives and interpretations to develop an understanding of a wide variety of viewpoints. Students also learn to construct a logical historical argument supported by relevant evidence and to communicate effectively about the past for different audiences.

  

 

Industrial Technology, Timber

The Timber focus area provides opportunities for students to develop knowledge, understanding and skills in relation to the timber and associated industries. Practical projects undertaken reflect the nature of the Timber focus area and provide opportunities for students to develop specific knowledge, understanding and skills related to timber-based technologies. Students interested in timber should have an interest in working with timber to produce a range of modern furniture and products. Projects produced in this course include: a clock, a small coffee table, a DVD tower, a spice rack, trophy cabinet, buffet and bedside table & drawer set.

Information and Communication Technologies

ICTs are vital tools for this course. They are used to develop, communicate and research design solutions, communicate students' design ideas and facilitate interactions with the wider community. A primary emphasis is the use of Computer Aided Design to communicate and present design concepts, as well as the full range of Microsoft software applications.

Course Structure and Post School Opportunities

Students will undertake the Industrial Technology Timber 200 hour course. Students will produce four projects in year 9 followed by two projects in year 10. Projects are student-negotiated and focus upon students creating projects which will meet the needs of consumers based on adhering to functional, aesthetical and ergonomic criteria. The production of quality projects with creative individuality is explicitly taught throughout this course.

The skills and knowledge gained through the study of Industrial Technology Timber in Stage 5 will provide students with an excellent platform to further their study in a range of HSC Stage 6 courses including Industrial Technology Timber and Furniture Industries, Engineering Studies and/or Design and Technology.

Course Requirements

  • Occupational Health and Safety regulations apply to this course
  • A mandatory materials contribution fee of $65 per year applies to this course
  • An A4 display folder for each project
  • Coloured pencils, markers and pens

Why would I do this course?

This course enables you to have fun, designing and working with timber products.


 

Industrial Technology, Multimedia

Multimedia is an elective subject studied for 200 hours across Yrs 9 & 10. Multimedia builds on the knowledge, skills and experiences developed in the Technology (Mandatory) through Yrs  7 & 8. The major emphasis in this course is on active student participation in the design development and evaluation of practical projects.

Subject Description

Core modules develop knowledge and skills in the use of materials, tools and techniques used in the development of multimedia and are further developed through the specialist areas such as :

  • Websites
  • Special effect movies and green screening
  • Still photographic images
  • 3D interactive environments
  • Brochures and photo journals
  • 3D avatars
  • Video games
  • Animation technologies

Students design, produce and evaluate a solution to a given design problem in each of these areas. Students will also learn about the industry and career opportunities in Multimedia in Australia and abroad.

Software applications used will include Adobe Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Fireworks, Lightroom and Acrobat, GameMaker, Microsoft Office and Visual Studio.

Contributions: $20 per year

  

 

Information and Software Technology

People will require highly developed levels of computing and technology literacy for their future lives. Students therefore need to be aware of the scope, limitations and implications of information and software technologies.

Individual and group tasks, performed over a range of projects, will enable this practical-based course to deliver the relevant knowledge and skills needed by students. Development of technology skills and information about career opportunities within this area are important aspects of the course.

What will students learn about?

The core content to be covered in this course is integrated into the options chosen within the school. The course has been designed with an emphasis on practical activities that allow students to sustain focus in a range of interest areas at some depth.

The option topics to be studied within this course include:

  • Digital Media
  • Networking systems
  • Authoring & Multimedia
  • Hardware & Software
  • Internet & Website
  • New & emerging technologies
  • Software Design & Programming
  • Robotics & Automated Systems
  • Artificial Intelligence, Simulation & modelling

What will students learn to do?

Students will identify a need or problem to be solved, explore a range of possible solutions and produce a full working solution. They will use a variety of technologies to create, modify and produce software products in a range of media formats.

Group and individual project-based work will assist in developing a range of skills, including research, design and problem-solving strategies over the chosen topics.  

 

 Photographic and Digital Media

Photographic and Digital Media provides opportunities for students to enjoy making and studying a range of photographic and digital media works. Photographic and Digital Media enables students to investigate new technologies, cultural identity and the evolution of photography and digital media into the 21st century.

What will students learn about?

Students learn about the pleasure and enjoyment of making different kinds of photographic and digital media works in still, interactive and moving forms. They learn to represent their ideas and interests with reference to contemporary trends and how photographers, videographers, film-makers, computer/digital and performance artists make photographic and digital media works.

Students learn about how photographic and digital media is shaped by different beliefs, values and meanings by exploring photographic and digital media artists and works from different times and places, and relationships in the artworld between the artist – artwork – world – audience. They also explore how their own lives and experiences can influence their making and critical and historical studies.

What will students learn to do?

Students learn to make photographic and digital media works using a range of materials and techniques to build a Photographic and Digital Media portfolio over time. They learn to develop their research skills, approaches to experimentation and how to make informed personal choices and judgements.

Students learn to investigate and respond to a wide range of photographic and digital media artists and works in making, critical and historical studies. Students learn to interpret and explain the function of and relationships in the artworld between the artist – artwork – world – audience to make and study photographic and digital media artworks.

  

 

Physical Activity and Sports Studies

Physical Activity and Sports Studiesaimsto enhance students' capacity to participate effectively in physical activity and sport, leading to improved quality of life.

Students engage in a wide range of physical activities in order to develop key understandings about how and why we move and how to enhance quality and enjoyment of movement.

What will students learn about?

The course includes modules selected from each of the following three areas of study:

Foundations of Physical Activity

  • Body systems and energy for physical activity
  • Physical activity for health
  • Physical fitness
  • Fundamentals of movement skill development
  • Nutrition and physical activity
  • Participating with safety

Physical Activity and Sport in Society

  • Australia's sporting identity
  • Lifestyle, leisure and recreation
  • Physical activity and sport for specific groups
  • Opportunities and pathways in physical activity and sport
  • Issues in physical activity and sport

Enhancing Participation and Performance

  • Promoting active lifestyles
  • Coaching
  • Enhancing performance – strategies and techniques
  • Technology, participation and performance
  • Event management

What will students learn to do?

Throughout the course students will develop skills that develop their ability to:

  • work collaboratively with others to enhance participation, enjoyment and performance in physical activity and sport
  • display management and planning skills to achieve personal and group goals
  • perform movement skills with increasing proficiency
  • analyse and appraise information, opinions and observations to inform physical activity and sport decisions.

 

   

Visual Arts

Visual Arts provides opportunities for students to enjoy the making and studying of art. It builds an understanding of the role of art in all forms of media, both in the contemporary and historical world, and enables students to represent their ideas and interests in artworks. Visual Arts enables students to become informed about, understand and write about their contemporary world.

What will students learn about?

Students learn about the pleasure and enjoyment of making different kinds of artworks in 2D, 3D and/or 4D forms. They learn to represent their ideas and interests with reference to contemporary trends and how artists' including painters, sculptors, architects, designers, photographers and ceramists, make artworks.

Students learn about how art is shaped by different beliefs, values and meanings by exploring artists and artworks from different times and places and relationships in the artworld between the artist – artwork – world – audience. They also explore how their own lives and experiences can influence their artmaking and critical and historical studies.

What will students learn to do?

Students learn to make artworks using a range of materials and techniques in 2D, 3D and 4D forms, including traditional and more contemporary forms, site-specific works, installations, video and digital media and other ICT forms, to build a body of work over time. They learn to develop their research skills, approaches to experimentation and how to make informed personal choices and judgements. They learn to record procedures and activities about their artmaking practice in their Visual Arts diary.

They learn to investigate and respond to a wide range of artists and artworks in artmaking, critical and historical studies. They also learn to interpret and explain the function of and relationships in the artworld between the artist – artwork – world – audience to make and study artworks.