Fortunately, our Year 8 Science students made their Camembert cheeses in late July so the cheeses have had almost 8 weeks to mature and ripen at school whilst our students have undertaken remote learning. Thank you to Fiona Allen for looking after and turning the cheese during the maturation process. As visitors to school are restricted, our cheese judges this year were Mr Mottram and Mrs Mackenzie who were both impressed with the texture and taste of the final product. Our judges first tested the aroma of the cheese, the flavor, the texture of the body of the cheese, the appearance of the cheese whilst checking for consistency and finally, the rind development. Mr Mottram introduced the judging process to the class during a Webex session with a recording of the judging criteria that described the taste and texture of the cheese and proudly announced the winners. The runner up best cheesemaker in Year 8A was Evan Young with 'Kyle' while the best Year 8A cheese, 'Rick', was produced by Nathan Ellemor and Issac Holland. The runner up Year 8B cheese, 'Albert', was produced by Bethany Best and Matilda Hayes while the overall winning cheese for Year 8B, 'Cheez', was produced by Leevi Gordon and Ashton Grieve. Mr Mottram concluded that these cheeses were amongst the best batches produced since we introduced Camembert classes at Timboon and that both 2021 Year 8 classes produced consistently quality cheeses. Congratulations to everyone concerned!

​One of the tasks for our Year 8 Science students as they learn about Curds and Whey / Camembert is an investigation into the psychology and creativity used by advertisers to promote products or entice people to buy goods. Creating advertising copy or advertisements also reinforces the scientific concepts covered this term so teams were tasked with creating a movie or advertisement to promote either milk or Camembert cheese. Remote learning made this task difficult so a second task required students to design a billboard to promote milk, Camembert cheese or the benefits of dairy products. The billboard was to be created to be read by people passing by in cars, trams or trains, so the message had to be short, clear and concise. An advertisement produced by Paige Redshaw and Heidi Jones, “Milk is your friend” was awarded first place for 8A by judge Andrea Vallance whilst Cloey Anderson and Hannah Liu produced the runner up advertisement. The most appealing billboard for 8A was created by Nikki Clover and Isaac McKenzie was awarded second prize. Matilda Hayes and Bethany Best created the winning advertisement for 8B while Connor Egan and Jack Plozza’s movie was the runner up. The winning 8A billboard was designed by Kyla Groves with Zane Vogels awarded second place. Definitely some cheesy ads in the mix!

​To celebrate Spring and to welcome Preps back into the classroom, today our Preps undertook a nature walk around the Timboon P-12 School grounds observing the seasonal changes. Back in the classroom the students drew and decorated patterned vases on cardboard and carefully pushed holes through the cardboard to mount the natural materials and flowers they sourced on their walk. Check out their vibrant vases and beautiful blooms, aren’t they clever! 

TAP’s On! is our annual student led, interactive showcase where students, supported by teachers, industry and community mentors, demonstrate their TAP curriculum learning outcomes to their peers, parents, invited educators and members of our community. Given the restrictions to school visitors including TAP classroom presenters, the cancellation of many excursions off campus so far this year and the ongoing uncertainty around lockdowns, we have made the tough decision to cancel our 2021 TAP’s On! expo. So unfortunately, ex Masterchef contestant, Tim Bone, will not be coming to Timboon as our guest presenter for TAP's On! We will endeavor to fulfill our other TAP curriculum and community focus activities such as Farm Safety, literacy with Simone Kain, Camembert judging, genetics investigations, TKR, learning ‘How things grow’, visiting alpacas, harvesting our lavender crop, junior physics, guest speakers when possible and staging events like Tough Udder. So, keep watching this space for the remainder of the year for our ever evolving TAP activities ... looking forward to TAP's On! 2022!

Despite the restrictions imposed by remote learning, we wanted to make the VCE Business Management class’ investigation of marketing as real, relevant, unforgettable and delicious (really!!) as possible! Ian and Angela Preuss, the owners of the rebranded GORGE Chocolates and the Chocolate Alpaca, were the perfect fit as they generously shared their story and plans for the future in a recorded interview for the Business Management students. Ian and Angela described their passion for alpacas, their desire to operate their business in a tourist area and the myriad of opportunities provided by agribusiness and tourism in our region. They showcased their extensive product range of chocolates, alpaca goods and local produce and provided examples of how their business utilizes the ‘7 P’s’ of marketing - Product, Price, Place, People, Promotion, Process and Physical Evidence. The Preuss’ outlined how they were able to pivot their business and draw on the options provided by the chocolates, alpacas and café in the current COVID climate. We are extremely fortunate that entrepreneurs like Ian and Angela contribute to our student’s learning and provide an understanding of business opportunities in our region.  ​

Once again, Timboon P-12 School and the TAP proudly announce the 2021 TKR Family ‘iso’ Challenge!
Our Timboon Kitchens Rule (TKR) family ‘iso’ challenge was originally designed to encourage students to cook, teach life skills, provide entertainment and a creative cooking opportunity for families during the 2020 COVID school closures. This year, as we continue to support and engage with our school families and maintain our sense of community during the current COVID restrictions, we are reinstating our TKR challenge in 2021! Due to the existing COVID situation we are unable to provide a mystery parcel of ingredients this time but families are most welcome to participate in our challenge event.
If you wish to be a part of our TKR task, your family is required to- 

• Create your favourite family meal using either potato, rice or pasta.
• You can use as many other ingredients as you like.
• Send the recipe, a photo of family members cooking and a photo of the completed dish by 17th September to the school email address with your details - timboon.p12@education.vic.gov.au
• Enjoy!!

Examples of your culinary skills will be showcased on the Timboon P-12 School Facebook page and the TAP Blog. 

​The Year 7/8 Geography elective, ‘Armchair Traveller’ is an armchair guide to destinations and locations around the world from the comfort of students’ classrooms, or currently, homes. We live in an area where there are some amazing natural features that attract celebrity status. These include the iconic Twelve Apostles and the Great Ocean Road and whilst they naturally attract locals, they are promoted to attract visitors from regional and metropolitan centres, interstate and overseas. Students were shown a clip from the 1950’s about a holiday on the Great Ocean Road produced by the Country Roads Board https://www.facebook.com/560868541/videos/1191940224638052/ and the 1940 Summertime film, 'Along the Ocean Road' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvJeDrETC5o and contrasted this with the latest advertisement promoting the 12 Apostles, ‘Treasure the land we love’  https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=659102734991121   – check out the differences! Students then investigated the impacted the impact of COVID on local businesses and the way local government was supporting them. To conclude the lesson, students had to describe their favourite spot in our local area, whether it could be the pool, the skate park, the rail trail, the beach, their garden and outline why they like this specific place. 

One of the founding tenets of the TAP is to provide applied learning opportunities and to link our curriculum to community and agriculture whenever real and relevant opportunities present themselves. Case in point re COVID Lockdown 7.0, check out  the home schooling ideas provided by TAP champion, Zoe Vogels, from The Vet Group.