Throughout my journey in Muir, I set out to enhance my archery skills and also explore nature through snorkelling. I have always been fond of the ocean so the snorkelling program gives me a opportunity to explore it. Orienteering, my least favourite of the three still provided me with a lot of fun and positive experiences to take with me. My goal for orienteering was too explore a deeper connection with nature, which I achieved at the Jorgensen excursion where my team and I manage to navigate around a forest. I achieved my goals in archery, getting a significantly higher score in my last week than my first. My goal for snorkelling is to be able to consistently duck dive as it gives me opportunity to see more wildlife which I successfully manage to exercise during the Rottnest Camp. I didn’t get water in my snorkel and didn’t need to constantly take of my mask, a significant improvement.
Significant events.
We did an archery sky shoot where we shot arrows into the sky. Additionally in archery I hit a small balloon in the centre which was very exciting. we went to an excursion into the bush where we found many natural gems, such as a nice stone ledge. In snorkelling, despite being very cold, we saw a baby stingray and an orange octopus which I have never seen in the wild, the reef also looked extremely different to what I expected. On the Rottnest island, I didn’t know what a quokka was so it was very cool to see so many of them around
Weather observations and conditions.
The weather in Rottnest was very windy and cold so we had to speed up our snorkel in order to stay warm, missing some fun parts of the trip. This made the wetsuit very important in order for us to enjoy the experience. Mr J also had a talk to us about our mindset, instead of focusing and complaining about the cold, changing our mindset to its “fresh” definitely made the second swim more enjoyable and less focus on the cold.
Plants and animals I saw(flora and Fauna)
We saw a wide variety of fish, even finding a huge school of fish (about a meter long!). We also saw a baby stingray and some octopus. The reef was filled with moss and algae with some tiny fish hiding amongst them. I also manage to come across a fish trying to camouflage itself in the sand by burying it. On the land there wasn’t much variety but there was an abundance of Quokkas
3 Capabilities
Resilience: The water was definitely cold and it was easier to just not do the second swim however I’m very happy that I decided to push forward as the second swim was the most
Communication: Communicating with my piers on the camp, to make the processes easier. For example setting up the tents
trust: Having trust on your buddy to always be around you, trust in your piers to do the right thing.
What did you learn about yourself?
I learnt how that I can do more things If I have a good mindset
The creative toy task offered me an opportunity to enhance and develop my Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills, achieved by managing and organising this in-depth project. Due to the complexity and detail the task required, we were guided early on to use Cloud-based software to keep our decisions and planning easy to follow and document. The software our group chose was Microsoft Planner as it was simple to use, yet extremely effective.
Together, the usually challenging phase of planning was made much easier as we could assign roles, apply dates, and use the ‘importance’ feature to make sure that we were always on task, keeping to the schedule. In addition, wanting to take advantage of the popularity of mobile devices, we developed QR code system for tracking feedback and pre-orders.
This led to a ‘form’ link which provided us opportunity to recognise trends, organise statistics and read our feedback/orders neatly and it was something we could never lose. Furthermore, we utilised Adobe Creative Cloud Express and Canva in order to market and advertise products. It was almost effortless to create simple marketing campaigns and long in-depth descriptions of our product was made appealing through the use of these software’s. Finally, Adobe Illustrator was employed to create vectors. The difference between this software and the others was that this was a required software in order to create vectors to laser cut our products.
Here is some photos of us exercising our ICT skills:
Our completed planner, simple yet effective use of technology More complicated use of ICT skills, yet it was necessary in making our puzzles as great as possible.
In addition to ICT skills, the creative toy task allowed us to exercise and enhance our Critical and Creative thinking. Since we were assigned with creating a toy from scratch, it was essential that we had to think creatively. In the beginning, we struggled. Progress was sluggish as we simply couldn’t come up with an idea that we found would be successful. After employing Mr Mayhills’ techniques we slowly started gaining an idea of an ideal product that we would agree on. The most notable techniques being a vision board, something that seems straightforward but truly gave us inspiration for our product. This along with conversations with Mr Scotti(woodwork teacher) and we had a clear idea of what our product was meant to look like. At the closing of this project, it seemed ideas were flowing whenever we had to resolve an issue, definitely the most improved skill in this whole project. One memorable example was the final design of the product and how we needed to accommodate multiple different puzzles into one finished product.
Critical thinking, the more underused skill but one we definitely needed to apply more. At the Wanju market, the climax of this project, we found very little success. Reflecting on the entire project has brought to my attention how little we actually evaluated our product how important that process should have been. Frankly, we needed to ask ourselves more “What would our target audience think about this?”. However I believe we did deserve some credit as our critical thinking skills did improve over the course of this project. One key example was evaluate Pro’s and Con’s of different materials and we had to make an inform decision. There was progress but not enough to become a successful business. Reflecting on our market, we could definitely became way more successful if we refined our Critical thinking.
The implementation of the vision board
The final skill that we exercised and developed through the process was numeracy skills. Whilst ‘numbers’ may seem like a broad, elementary skill, it was way to involved in the project to not be discussed. Numeracy was everywhere. Calculating ideal dimensions, financing our product were the 2 largest contributors. Here are some examples. This project entailed $100 per individual. Since our group has 3 people, we were presented with $300 to design and developed suitable products for our market. Dividing the limited money into different categories such as developing a prototype, marketing cost and sellable products is an example of how we used numeracy. Furthermore we had to calculate cost of making a product (achieved by diving the area of 1 product by the acrylic area, then dividing that by the cost of the acrylic) to then make a suitable profit margin (we were recommending cost price + 30%). Definitely one of the more intense use of numeracy. One final example was was solving the issue of choking hazard by comparing it to the recommended size of pieces (3cm^2) to make our product safe whilst using minimal material for a larger profit margin.
Here are some graphs and images of how we displayed numeracy skills.
Our ordering form with fully calculated dimensions for an efficient use of material Further use of graph to calculate ideal pricing for our product.
In Semester 1 of Year 10 I had the privilege to work on a creative toy task, which was a task in which my team and I had to design and create a sellable toy for kids under the ages 4-6. Whilst I still haven’t created the toys yet, this was my planning process.
Past Entrepneurship Experience
Entrepneurship is the act of the creating, launching and managing a business. Coming into this class I have experience from $20 boss and Year 7 Christmas Market. These built foundations for the many skills and abilities I wanted to exercise in this course. These skills included collaboration, communication, creativity, self management and problem solving skills.
Strengths and Passions
First Task was to evaluate my strengths and passions which will allow me to develop a clear Idea of possible products and toys I could consider to make. After some quizzes and self reflection, this is the outcome I have got.
My strengths
Passions:
Basketball
Reading
Watching videos online
Swimming(casually)
Music( drums and piano)
Whilst this gave me some development, I was still lost on what product to make so Mr Mayhills guided me to make a vision board.
By connecting my strengths and weaknesses I could develop a clear idea of which products I can strive towards as I will be good and passionate at designing those.
Design thinking process
Implementing a design thinking process was vital in order to devise a creative toy for children. We needed to first apply empathy and put ourselves in a perspective of a 4-6 year old. Doing this we can develop a persona of their wants, needs and desires. To assist with this we have developed a vision board and set-up an interview with Miss Mano(the early childhood learning teacher)
Vision Board
Vision boards are used in the business world in order to overwhelm them with ideas with the hope that one shoots up. After searching on multiple website, this was the outcome.
Interview
In order to make a product that customers will enjoy we are going to conduct an interview with early learning care teach Ms Mano in order to gain a better understanding of the toys our consumers will enjoy.
We split into different groups so we could have a large variety of questions. Here is my groups questions
What are the most played with toys in the Early Learning Centre?
What are you hoping the kids will learn via toys ?
What kinds of toys do the teacher encourage the children to play with ?
Can the children share toys effectively. If/when they do, do they enjoy it more?
What are the students favourite topics to learn
What do the kids enjoy the most in the classroom
Where do we go from here?
With plans to complete the interview soon, we should have developed a clear persona of our target audience, the next stage being designing prototypes for toys, further developing the idea we think has the greatest potential, learn our way through the woodwork room and start creating our toys.
Teamwork by definition is the combined effort of the group to achieve a
goal, but does the way we collaborate to combine our efforts matter? We notice
that teamwork has to incorporate collaboration and communication skills in
order to combine our efforts successfully and effectively. I was given the
opportunity to demonstrate and exercise my ability to work in a team by being
employed in a Japanese restaurant called Ramen Samurai. Placed in the customer
service and hygiene department, I had to adhere to strict hygiene standards in
the restaurant (especially since it was the time of Covid 19) as well as manage
high customer satisfaction. Even though a restaurant is a service designed to
satiate gastronomic needs, ultimately it is a business, and we need to serve as
many customers as possible to ensure good revenue, this came from teamwork and
collaboration.
I was able to exercise and further improve my communication skills during
several situations when the members of our department needed a clear
communication between chefs and waiters. This became apparent when we were
expected to interchange information on the time of arrival, table orders,
ordering sequence, personal orders, and table cleanliness with the chefs. This
is where true communication and teamwork came into play. Teamwork not only in
the sense of sharing information but the trust we have in each other to deliver
the correct information, information can be passed on incorrectly so teamwork
and trust we have is vital in ensuring we had a good turnover. I had
successfully played my role in delivering these messages and so did everyone
else which came from effective communication and teamwork skills. This whole
experience has taught me effective communication (due to quick information
exchange) and the trust we need in others, and I learnt about myself that
sometimes we can’t do everything by ourselves, and enlisting help can benefit
not only us but others around us.
In this project, we learnt about the principles of justice that uphold Australia’s legal system, such as the presumption of innocence, an impartial judiciary, and the right to legal representation. I studied the case of Andrew Mallard, and analysed how these principles were both upheld and violated in this case. After writing an essay on the topic, we were required to incorporate feedback and edit the essay so that it was fit for online publication. This essay is the end result of that editing process. It demonstrates my ability to take feedback, and to refine a piece of written work to produce a professional result.
Photo of Andrew Mallard when he was convicted
Born on 16th August 1962 Andrew Mallard was a lead suspect of the murder of Pamera Lawrence in 1994. After further investigation, the police pulled a ‘confession’ from him and he was arrested in late 1995. The Mallard family however believed he was genuinely innocent and seeked help from a journalist and an ex-Sargent. After an appeal in 2006 they appealed, and a re-trial was ordered. They won the trial, and he was released. In this case the principles of justice mainly were not upheld. Most notable being his Inexperienced lawyer and the unfair treatment of police due to his mental disease.
The principle of justice in this case where mainly compromised. On way in which the principles of justice was compromised was shown in an 11 hour interview that the police did with Andrew. Andrew has a diagnose Mental disease and that made him fantasize about the murder. he was giving away theories about possibilities such as the murder weapon and place of death. The police took this as a confession but Andrew believed the police were interested in his abstract theories. This ‘confession’ was the police’s main argument in court. To avoid problems like this in the future the police should find forensic evidence about Andrew’s theories before jumping to conclusions. The polices case was very rushed due to the overwhelming pressure
The principle of justice are laws that is put in place to protect individuals when dealing with our legal system. These laws include:
Equality before the law: regardless of their race, gender, income level or mental capacity all cases should be treated the same when dealing with our legal system. This include police and legal personnel.
Right to a fair hearing: Some people are disadvantaged due to background so we create laws to make sure everyone is treated equally. One being right to a legal representative in order to help low income individuals
Judiciary has to be independent: His means that the court is separated from parliament and the media. This is to ensure the outcome is based on the information in court, nowhere else.
Right to an appeal: If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of a trial, you can appeal and appeals in many cases save individuals from unlawful arrest such as Andrew Mallard.
SUPPORTED
Most aspect of the Andrew Mallard case wear compromised however the right to an appeal was supported in assisting the defendant in proving his innocence. When initially put in jail in 1995, his family was confident that he was truly innocent. Malcolm Mccusker was hired by the Mallard family in a desperate attempt to free Andrew from rotting in prison. Malcolm was previously a very respect Sergeant in the police force and proved this by finding a lab test that the police withheld from the court. The lab test contained an experiment where the suspected murder weapon was trialed on a pig’s head(which has a similar skull structure to a human). If this lab test was shown to court, then the entire prosecution case would have been compromised. With this new information the Mallard family presented this is court in 2001. Their argument heavily relied on the police being corrupt which the judge found difficult to believe and their appeal was denied. They appealed once again in 2006 and that time, their appeal was sustain and Mr Mallard was released along with a 3.25 million dollar compensation.
Andrew with his family after he was released
IMPROVEMENTS
Although the right appeal was eventually supported, this process could have been quicker if we had a less biased judge. The judge relied on the common thought that the police were corrupt and would do something illegal. This compromised the principle that the judiciary has to be independent. If this principle was sustain and the judge made his decision on the information presented in court and not his prior knowledge.
COMPROMISED
The principle of justice in this case where mainly compromised. On way in which the principles of justice was compromised was shown in an 11 hour interview that the police did with Andrew. Andrew has a diagnose Mental disease and that made him fantasize about the murder. he was giving away theories about possibilities such as the murder weapon and place of death. The police took this as a confession but Andrew believed the police were interested in his abstract theories. This ‘confession’ was the police’s main argument in court.
IMPROVEMENTS
To avoid problems like this in the future the police should find forensic evidence about Andrew’s theories before jumping to conclusions. The polices case was very rushed due to the overwhelming pressure from media which also caused them.
COMPROMISED
Another way the principles of justice were compromised was when he was assigned an inexperienced lawyer and when he requested a new lawyer, the request was denied. His lawyer was so inexperience that the facts that the prosecution had not found forensic evidence wasn’t explored at all. What’s more, the police admitted to going undercover as a drug dealer planting jewelry to Mr Mallard. The evidence was lost but many witnesses saw him with the jewelry.
IMPROVEMENTS:
The second principle of justice need to be supported as Andrew had a new and inexperienced lawyer compared to the prosecution. The request should not have been denied and the planted evidence was simply the police being corrupted.
CONCLUSION:
The principles of justice was not upheld in this case except for his extremely lengthy appea. He was treated unequally and needed to be taken more cautiously when dealing with someone with a mental disability. If the stated improvements were met, Andrew would not have spent 12 years in prison.
He was released in 2006 and enjoyed his final days on earth. He unfortunately died from a car crash in 2018.
For innovate ed this term we had a task to create a functional business. This task was named 20-dollar boss. The 20-dollar boss program was a mini representation of the market economy. We started with 20 dollars per person which we needed to use to buy resource in order to make a profit. After many lessons of debating, we decided to do customise pillows. At first, we wanted to laser cut wood and then paint over the pillow but after some calculations we decided it will be too expensive to buy paint. We then pivoted out ideas to iron on transfer paper which was a money efficient solution. Our next problem was that transfer paper required an ink jet printer which the school did not have. We then resorted to using Lewis’s house printer which meant we could not use innovate ed time to make pillows. So, we used to innovate ed time to create prototypes, sample pillows and advertising. We made pillows at home and we started to take pre-orders. The rest was basic preparation for the market. In the end we sold pillows for 11 dollars and pre orders for 15 dollars.
My role in the group was the designs advertisements to help spread the word about our group. I also helped Jaxon in the task of making a website
Solutions to our problems:
-I think we needed to pivot our idea or even change it completely
-We maybe could have hand made the pillow which might have been cheaper
Values I have learnt:
Organization:
-Effective communication. Making sure there are no misunderstandings. Website
-Collaboration
-creativity. I have learnt how to come up with ideas that are interesting
In the christmas market I had to use tomework to collaborate effectively together in order to be successful. I used empathy to find out who my target audience is and how to reach them. It was interesting to learn how to make a business successful and all the powers used to make a good amount of profit.
If you have read my About Me page you will know I have a passion for playing with random bits of technology. I started this hobby when I was 7 and my dad and I built a small table and welded things together.
