Food Preparation & Nutrition
Food and Nutrition is studied by all students in year 7 to 9. Students can choose to study the subject further in year 10 and 11, as one of their GCSE option choices.
Reason for sequencing the curriculum for every year group in the way it is, and the subject specific/pedagogical approach taken:
As part of their work with food, pupils are taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Instilling a love of cooking in pupils will also open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity. Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.
Year 7
Students are introduced to safety in the kitchen. They are also introduced to the 'Eatwell Guide', food provenance, and food commodities. The theory and practical aspects of these areas are introduced through small focused tasks, following a set recipe to develop confidence, experience, and a love for cooking.
Year 8
Students continue to work on a mix of focused practical tasks and theory activities, developing their skills and understanding of nutrients and using knowledge to plan their steps. This helps them to be more confident at home and encourages a healthy lifestyle.
Year 9
Students' understanding of planning, ingredients and techniques is developed more with focused practical and theory activities including cultural influences and the needs of others; creating a deeper understanding of preparing meals and a tolerance/understanding of cultural, religious, moral choices.
Year 10
Students develop a higher level of skills in cooking and presentation as well as a greater knowledge about: balanced diets, food choices, healthy lifestyle for themselves, different needs, lifestyles and cultures. They also explore different food production and processes as well as food science, including experiments. Food Health and safety, and developing a greater depth of knowledge about cross contamination, high risk food, storage, different food poisoning and symptoms. They will gain experience of NEA1 and 2 course work and exams.
Year 11
Students will develop food science knowledge by completing the NEA 1 course work, research analysis and experiments, within a set time scale. They will develop their practical skills and understanding of food by completing the NEA 2 course work, research, trial dishes, tests, analysis and a 3 hour practical exam. Students will revisit and revise the knowledge learnt in both KS3 and 4 about for the written mock and final GCSE exam on: balanced diets, food choices, healthy lifestyle, food production and process, food science, food health and safety, cultural and religious choices.
How we build on prior learning:
Practical work and theoretical knowledge builds on the Key Stage 2 curriculum, adding breadth of knowledge and further application of these skills to encourage students to be confident and independent. Confidence is developed by using the basic techniques and building on them by making the dishes more complex or introducing more of the different techniques into one dish.
The curriculum is accessible for all students and does not restrict based on previous knowledge and experience; instead it allows students with more experience to develop their skills and use them in new ways and those with less experience to grow in confidence with guidance from more experienced peers.
How we prepare students for the future:
Food is an obvious preparation for the future as it teaches the students that a food qualification can lead to a range of career opportunities within the food industry - such as food technologist, dietetics and sports nutrition, hotel and catering management, retailing, as well as the many careers related to food production. It will also train you in a variety of skills from decision making, to problem solving and teamwork - all of which are important life skills. Other skills include:
- How to cook, how to live healthily, be aware of what they put into their bodies, understand what could lead to health risks.
- By learning to cook from scratch they will save money and eat healthier
- They learn how to keep themselves safe from food born illnesses, cook hygienically, keep the kitchen free from bacteria.
- Learn how to read food labels and nutritional labels so they know what they are buying.
- It also give students a broader understanding of others' beliefs, cultures, needs, allergies and choices.
- It gives them an understanding of where their food comes from, how it is produced, the impact it has on the future, how sustainable the food they eat is, the air miles involved, field to fork. This gives them the opportunity to make choices in the future.
- Cooking is now recognised as a way of relaxing and has a 'feel good' factor.
- Have skills to produce good food for entertaining and everyday life.
Additional provision to support learning:
We believe that having an 'open door policy' for students to ask questions and to discuss their learning creates an effective and inclusive learning environment.
In order to allow students further time to develop their skills, we provide a cooking club for all students.
Flexible after school revision and support is offered to Key Stage 4 students to enable them to achieve highly.
