Background
Gisborne Girls' High School is a decile 4 school with 876 students; 47% Pakeha, 48% Māori and 5% other ethnicities. The students mainly come from two local Intermediates. Country school pupils will often have done their technology at one of these. Students coming into Year 9 often find that there is a big jump from what they have been doing.
The school works on a system of modules (8 - 10 weeks) for all subjects. Technology is a compulsory subject at Year 9 (2 modules) and Year 10 (1 module) with optional modules also offered.
After qualifying as a dietitian, Wendy Webb worked in the health system then spent nine years at home caring for her children. When re-entering the paid workforce she decided on a change of direction and did teacher training in Gisborne. She had studied textiles as part of her degree, continued with this as an interest and enjoyed working with both food and fabric. Two years teaching at Gisborne Girls' High School led to her appointment as Head of Department in 2003.
In 2005, the Year 12 class which had come through Years 10 and 11 Fabrics (there was no Year 9 programme when they started) had spent the first half of the year doing a conceptual design project around the theme of leisurewear. Their second project was Textiles Talk where they created some of the materials themselves for the item they were producing.
