Answer, the farm is a busy place and student safety is of paramount concern to all staff working here. When students, particularly younger years have to leave the group to swap or replace tools in sheds they are not visible to the teacher and this poses a WHS issue.

2.       Why/how would a new tool accessing system benefit the teaching of the class?

Answer, having a system where the required tools are all together and ready at hand will mean that students will no longer have to leave the group to replace, change or store tools. Students will therefore stay within the teachers care and vision at all times during class. Having a new system where the junior tools were stored together would also make the required tools easily accessible to wherever the class needed to be working

3.       Are the tools used by the junior years different to other tools and are they stored together?

Answer, the tools that the junior classes use are the same as used in other years and are currently all stored together. We would like the redesign to see all the junior tools stored together so they are self-contained and kept separate from the general farm tools.

4.       What are the benefits of storing the tools together?

Answer, it will be easy for the teacher and the class to account for the tools at the start and end of lessons. Tools will also be able to be more easily kept in a clean and safe condition.  

5.       Could an extra building of shed be erected near the junior area where the required tools could be stored?

Answer, there can be no extra buildings or sheds erected at the farm, this cannot be part of the solution.  Having said that it is imperative that the junior tool sets are able to be easily accounted for, secured and locked away when not in use. This process must be done by the students.

6.       Are there other benefits for the class that you are hoping to realise through the design and possible instigation of the new system? 

Answer, apart from the new system being a lot safer to use for all it is anticipated that a lot of    class time will be saved. Students may need to use a range of tools through their work and the time taken to replace tools and get new ones adds up to a considerable amount of lost class time, especially when multiplied by 24 or more students in a class group. The new system must prove to save class time.

 

 

7.       What tools and how many might be used in a typical junior class? Answer,

       Answer, there are quite a few tools required for a full class set. They are 6 square shovels, 6 plastic rakes, 6 digging forks, 6 watering cans, class set of gardening gloves, 6 sets of small hand held gardening tools, 2 bags of potting mix, 6 buckets there are also other things that will need to be added this list from time to time. We encourage students to bring a hat and water bottle to each class, so a place to store student water bottles would also be of benefit in this design.

8.       Have you any particular ideas on what sort of design solution may be required?

Answer, it would be good if there was some sort of mobile station that could be easily moved to the work location and had the required tool sets secured within it. This would help with accounting for tools at the end of class easy and would save time by having the tools readily at hand during class.

9.       Are there any other criteria that you see as important for this design task to consider?

Answer, whatever system is designed and implemented it must be fun and easy to use. The redesign must reflect the existing farm aesthetic. It must make the students want to be involved and engaged in the activities. There must also be some way that the teacher could put class notes up. The new system must be safe to use for junior students.

10.   Are there any cost limitations connected to this design task?

Answer, it is envisioned that the new system or a prototype would be made in house and trialled. The cost needs to be kept as low as practical and the use of recycled materials or materials easily procured must be considered.