Carving out a successful new learning opportunity
Janie Finlay with Lachlan McKenzie and the new woodworking facility on Flinders Island.
November 1, 2023
After a 20-year hiatus, woodworking classes are again being offered to students on Flinders Island thanks to the determination of teacher Lachlan McKenzie.
A chance meeting between Mr McKenzie and Bass Labor MHA Janie Finlay on the island led to a conversation about their shared love for furniture making and the desperate need for new infrastructure at the school.
“My background is in furniture design and over the course of the conversation, Lachlan and I discovered that we shared a common interest in making things,” Ms Finay said.
“Lachlan took me for a look at the workshop to show me what the students were working with. The gear was really old and outdated.
“We decided then and there to work together to make sure that Flinders Island students are given the best opportunity to make things and apply their learning to their everyday life by having up-to-date equipment.”
Mr McKenzie said he had arrived on the island with his wife in February and was shocked by the sight of the technologies department.
“All of the chisels and hand planes were blunt and chipped, there was heaps of essential tools missing and we still have blunt hand saws,” he said.
“Our thicknesser arrived second hand from another school when our grounds keeper was in school, he is now 60 years old!
“I started it up and tried to plane a piece of timber and it was measuring 180 decibels, over double the safe working limit - It sounded like a plane taking off.”
Mr McKenzie was able to secure a Flinders Island Council grant and Ms Finlay helped secure a $3500 donation from Roger Davis from Davis Contracting to buy two new machines - a Carbatech thicknesser and edger joiner.
The new equipment is already being enjoyed by 45 students in classes from year 5-10.
Mr McKenzie said it was important for him to share his passion for making beautiful and functional items with the next generation.
“The reality for most people is that they learn the basic skills and develop an interest in this in school, and unfortunately these days most people don’t have sheds, tools and guidance at home,” he said.
“There is a declining trend of woodwork and technologies in schools which doesn’t make sense to me, and this has been exacerbated in remote communities that are difficult to staff, such as Flinders Island.
“The last time there was a dedicated technologies teacher was in 2003 with Mike Nicholls. There have been a few people who have run short programs but nothing with continuity.
“My wife and I plan on staying on Flinders Island for a fair while to come so this program will continue to grow and strengthen as time goes on.
“I have a bit of an ambition to get a group of students to a point with their skills where we could build a small sailing boat together. I think the ocean is such a huge part of life here and it would be an amazingly engaging and rewarding project.”