Thrift shop flipping – buying a secondhand item of clothing and getting creative to reinvent it – baking Christmas cakes and cookies to hand-deliver to older residents in town, movie club, and Indian cooking and chainsaw maintenance were just some of the fun options Cromwell College juniors could take part in over two days this week. 

The wide-ranging programme of electives is designed to wrap up the school year by offering students a chance to explore new hobbies, learn practical skills, and engage with the community. 

College principal Mason Stretch said it provided the young people options to get out and give back, be creative, or be physically challenged. 

It also gave staff a chance "to share their passions”, Mason said. 

"It’s a great way for the school year to finish."

Year seven pupils Tia Gillespie and Indie Lee were in the final stages of tie dying scarves when The Central App visited on Wednesday (December 3). 

“You have to mix it for 20 minutes,” Tia said, as she used a section of wooden plank to stir a deep-blue coloured liquid covering her and Indie’s creations. 

Indie said the pair had experimented with folding the fabric into triangles secured with rubber bands. 

“When we take it out there will be patterns on it when we unravel it,” she said. 

Archer Rayner is designing a t-shirt inspired by his favourite biking brand. Image: The Central App

Across the classroom, Archer Rayner was ironing a shirt. 

His plan was to transfer a design linked to one of his favourite mountain biking labels onto the item of clothing. 

Archer had surprised himself over the course of the two-day workshop, when tasked with having to use a sewing machine to stitch his tie dyed fabric together in the process of making a wheat bag. 

“I really didn’t want to do it, but it was fun – just learning it, because I’ve never done it before,” Archer said. 

Indie Lee and Tia Gillespie with creations they have made during a two-day elective programme at Cromwell College. Image: The Central App

In another area of the tech block, year seven pupil Sasi Avirineni was painting the wooden sides of a tealight holder she’d designed. 

Her inspiration? “Taylor Swift...I like her album 1989.” 

Once complete, light from a small candle will flicker through the holes left by “1989”, carefully cut out of the wood with the help of a CNC machine. 

Sasi said it was “pretty cool” to have a go at doing something “year tens would be doing”, and it had been challenging figuring out how to get her design from the computer through to the cutting machine. 

Close by, materials tech teacher Gavin Jenkins was overseeing the building of birdhouses and toolboxes as well as a few bespoke projects inspired by some Pinterest browsing. 

A teacher at the school for 13 years, Mr Jenkins’ expertise are generally reserved for the older classes, so it was a younger crew in his workshop this week. 

He said he’d spent most of the time “scaffolding” their work. 

“It’s all about success, and they’ve got to walk out of here with a smile.” 

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