Kelly Rice and Selena McKeown
Mosaic Table and Seat
Gisborne Girls' High School
Year 11 Materials technology,
half -year project
Teacher: Heather McIntyre
When Gisborne Girls' High School celebrated its 50th jubilee in 2006 the Year 11 Technology class was given the assignment to make something to mark the occasion. Kelly Rice wanted to create an object that would stay within the school for a long time and decided to make a mosaic table. She discussed this with her friend, Selena McKeown, who elected to make a mosaic garden seat to go with the table.
Kelly's brief and specifications for her table were that it be durable and able to withstand every type of weather condition, so that it would last for years. It had to be the right height for students and staff to be able to sit and eat their lunch at, preferably in a sunny area that could warm people as they sat but that allowed a bit of shade.
Selena's brief specified that not only should her seat be durable and long lasting, but that it should complement Kelly's table. She wanted it to attract people to sit and eat their lunch there, and planned that it would sit three.
Kelly and Selena talked to the school principal and the property manager who were very enthusiastic about the idea, helping them to choose a site for the table and seat.
When making her table Kelly had to learn new skills in working with concrete and wood, including cutting lengths of timber, bending and drilling them. After digging the hole she had to make boxing for the concrete table base, including attaching a border to the table, lay the concrete and then water blast it to expose the aggregate.
She designed the pattern for her table top and blew it up, using the overhead projector, to size it for the table. She then had to shape reinforcing steel and work out a way to suspend it above the table top concreting. Kelly painted the table then drew her design on by blowing.
When designing her seat Selena was conscious of the need for comfort, deciding that it needed a good slant on the bench and backboard to achieve this. She had to build wooden moulds in the shape of the bench ends for the concrete, as well as cutting, bending and drilling the timber bench lengths. Selena had to learn how to mix concrete and, after constructing the bench and backboard, how to bolt timber to the concrete.
Selena and Kelly used flat tiles for their mosaics which they snipped and shaped. They had to make concrete grouting before gluing in the pieces.
Kelly wanted her mosaic to have symbols on it that represented the school. She chose red, white and black which are the school colours and green to represent nature and the environment. As well as showing the dates (1956 - 2006) she incorporated a variety of symbols such as the school crest and the koru, which represents growth and the care school members have for each other.
Selena used the school colours in her mosaic. She incorporated poppies at one end of the seat (referencing the school motto 'Tall poppies bloom here'), and at the other wrote '50 Years'.
She says there was satisfaction in completing the task and a huge sense of achievement, especially knowing that the seat would always be in the school.
Kelly says she is pleased with her work as the table is durable, attractive and represents the school. She feels that not only does it offer another place to sit at lunch times but that the positioning brings brightness to the surroundings. The new experiences involved in making the table helped her gain more technological and related knowledge. She enjoyed finding out different ways of doing things that could help with the project and also learnt the importance of planning and time management with such a big project.
Selena found that the project was within her ability but that it challenged her to stretch herself and practice new skills, including making community links, such as the local tile company which gave her financial support and encouragement. "It's a big task but I completed it, and it's given me a huge sense of achievement now that it's over".
Teacher comment
"The projects were good because they had a real purpose - creating something for the jubilee. The girls had to consider the needs of other stakeholders, liaise with a number of other people - Principal, jubilee coordinator, workshop technician, tile supplier, property manager, finance manager and concrete supplier".
"They were also motivated to create their own 'hanging out' space within the school and to develop something that was going to be public and lasting. They enjoyed working on something together although we had to ensure that their technological practice was individual for assessment purposes".
