Background
Havelock North High School (HNHS) is a co-ed, decile 9, state school in Havelock North, Hastings. The school has a roll of around 1,200 students. Since it was first taught at HNHS in 2003, technology has become particularly strong at the school and enjoys the same status as English, maths and science. The HNHS Technology Department is jointly headed by Carol Rimmer and Doug Sutherland.
Doug Sutherland takes the Y12 'wood' technology class with a wood focus. Originally trained as an architectural draughtsman in Dunedin, Doug went on to train as a teacher at the Christchurch College of Education. He began teaching at HNHS in 1978. After six years at the school he left to spend five years at Waitaki Boys High School before moving back to HNHS in 1989.
All year 9 students are organised into mixed ability groups for technology. They then move through four different technology focus areas, spending one term on each area with a different teacher. Details on how the Year 9 technology course is structured and how the programme is organised to ensure progression are documented in the Case Study Developing Junior Technology Programmes.
Technology at year 12 is offered with a focus on fabric, metal or wood and also within the food and nutrition programmes.
The Year 12 'Creative interiors' unit was first delivered in 2005.
