Background
Lytton High School is a decile 2 co-educational school whose students come from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds within Gisborne City. The roll of 909 is 67% Māori, 31% Pakeha and the remainder including Asian, Pasifika and international students.
Technology is compulsory at Year 9 and an option in Years 10-12. Materials Technology and Graphics are option subjects in Years 10-13.
A dramatically falling school roll in the late 1990s led to a drop in Technology classes and staff numbers in the early 2000s. The department was losing Technology students at Years 12 and 13, because too many students were failing at Year 11. They were coming into the workshop wanting to "make things" and had difficulty understanding the relevance of ongoing documentation requirements.
Head of Department Ross McDonald could see that the Graphics and Technology area was suffering, and moved from teaching Automotive to taking on all the Graphics classes. In 2005 he introduced Art and Design teacher Ana Taumaunu to Year 10 Graphics.
Ross's background was initially in the trades as an A grade mechanic before he went to Auckland Teacher's Training College. After five years teaching Metalwork at Gisborne Intermediate, he arrived at Lytton High School where, over 23 years, he has taught a wide range of subjects and is now HoD Technology.
Ana Taumaunu (pictured on the right, with two students) was a counsellor for Youth at Risk before moving into teaching. With a background in computer graphic design she majored in Art, Graphics and Year 7-10 Technology at the Gisborne secondary outpost of the Christchurch College of Education. After teaching part time at Gisborne Girls' High School, Ana shifted to Lytton High School as an art teacher. Now in her fourth year at Lytton, she teaches Year 10-12 Graphics as well as Art and Design.
