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Food Preparation and Nutrition

Subject Teacher: Mrs A. Pendrey


In Food, the curriculum is designed to equip all students with knowledge of nutrition to lead a healthy lifestyle and learn a range of food preparation skills in order to learn a life skill of cooking. The curriculum is taught throughout our 5 year learning journey and at KS3 Food Preparation and Nutrition is a component of the Technology carousel and prepares students for the AQA Food Preparation and Nutrition GCSE in KS4. 

Curriculum in Food and Nutrition

The subject content contained within our curriculum is fully compliant with the statutory content outlined in the Key Stage 3 and 4 National Curriculum and core competencies.

In Year 7 - Skills and knowledge focus on basic food preparation skills and use of the bridge hold and claw grip chopping techniques. Curriculum content includes; an introduction to the Eatwell guide learning about different nutrients, their functions and how to live a healthy lifestyle, Health and safety when preparing and making food, the importance of hygiene and food temperature when storing, preparing and cooking food, including the fridge rules, Students will learn about food provenance including food miles, local, seasonal and organic foods along with religious food rules and different medical dietary needs. They will also learn how to prepare and cook a variety of dishes incorporating theoretical understanding and knowledge and how to perform a sensory analysis on food. Dishes they cook during year 7 are fruit salad, vegetable stir-fry, sausage rolls, scones and pizza. 

In Year 8 - Students will learn how to apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating in more detail. They will delve deeper into the Eatwell guide, followed by more in depth learning of macronutrients and micronutrients focusing on energy needs through age specific life stages, protein alternatives and protein complementation as well as simple and complex carbohydrates. Students will learn about food production in bread making, food labelling and then go on to produce a nutritional label for a planned recipe, analyse the nutritional information and how to cost up the recipe. Students will prepare and cook a variety of dishes incorporating theoretical understanding and knowledge: Spaghetti bolognese, Lentil curry, shaped bread rolls and pasta bake. 

In Year 9 - Food safety and bacteria, food poisoning, different types, symptoms and prevention. High risk foods, correct storage of food and critical temperatures. Also, during year 9 in Food students will complete a mini NEA 1 in preparation for GCSE. Cooking focuses on main meals in 9 with increasingly complex dishes and more freedom of choice to adapt meals to suit individual needs. Students begin their GCSE after Easter and during this term students will complete a practice NEA 2 portfolio based on a different topic each year. 

 

GCSE Food and Nutrition

All students have the opportunity to study GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition during KS4. Students will demonstrate effective and safe high-level cooking skills by planning, preparing dishes using a variety of cooking techniques and equipment. Students will develop knowledge and understanding of the functional properties, chemical processes and nutritional content of foods. Students will understand the relationship between diet, nutrition and health, including the physiological and psychological effects of different diets and health.

Food also develops students’ planning, time management, resilience, discipline, independent learning and collaborative working skills. 

Theory topics are sequenced so that students are initially exposed to general concepts such as macronutrients, micronutrients and their functional properties. Once students have established strong foundations, they progress onto more complex topics such as their chemical properties, which brings many cross curricular links into science. Retrieval practice is used during starters and plenaries to help students embed and retain knowledge, including using a concept map to identify and explore links between topics. Students typically record key knowledge using structured materials such as analysis grids, mind maps and practice exam questions. Most of the students’ classwork is recorded in bespoke workbooks which aid schema development, retrieval and revision. 

During the GCSE course they will complete two pieces of NEA work, NEA1 is a food science investigation worth 15%, Nea 2 is a portfolio of research, planning and technical cooking skills worth 35%

Through studying GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition, students gain knowledge and skills which serve them well as cooks for the future and enable them to cook for themselves and others. Additionally, this course provides a clear progression route onto Post 16 routes including, Level 2 diploma in professional cookery course at North Lindsey college, Catering at Lincoln college and catering and hospitality at Doncaster college. Beyond this many Universities and Higher Education courses are available in food science, food nutrition, Food industry in practice, Food processing and preservation and many more. 

If opting for GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition, all students learn all of the topics covered by the specification. Students who excel in Food Preparation and Nutrition have the further opportunity to extend their knowledge and skills by using higher level skills during practical lessons, and learning more about the functional and chemical properties of more complex ingredients. 

Students are encouraged to develop employability skills by working in groups during a practical which fosters their team working skills.They learn organisational skills and communication, both written and verbal are actively encouraged. Independent learning and self-management is encouraged by the use of their ILPs for their ILTs which are completed on a fortnightly rota. Listening and sequencing skills are developed by the use of demonstrations and applying knowledge to follow and interpret a recipe.

We ensure that Year 7 effectively builds upon content delivered during Key Stage 2. At Crowle primary school their D&T subject intent states to ensure all children are given opportunities to understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook. Therefore, we start off Y7 with the most basic cooking skills including using a knife correctly and safely. We do not assume that everyone has done any food/cooking related work so find out what the students know using retrieval questioning and building from there and using those who have more knowledge and classroom experts. 

The Food and Nutrition curriculum has links with the following subject areas:

  • PE and Sport Science - Nutrition introduced in Y7 and studied in more depth in Y8, Y10 and 11 

  •  Maths - standard weights and measures, taught in Y7.  Ratio and proportion when scaling up a recipe throughout the 5-year learning journey in food.

  •  Science investigations, hypothesis, analysis, recording, charts, graphs and interpreting results again throughout all years across the 5-year year learning journey. 

  •  RE - ethics in the food and farming industry, animal rights. Religious and cultural reasons for food choice and religious dietary rules, kosher and halal.

  • Geography - aspects of climate change, food miles, local foods and seasonal foods. Also by looking at foods from around the world. 

  • MFL/ French - the French Café experience for Y7 and French food vocabulary.

We develop students’ Cultural Capital whilst studying Food and Nutrition by providing opportunities to engage in visits to local producers and local agricultural shows. A visiting speaker will visit to deliver a talk on vegetarianism and veganism to Y10 and 11. This will help our students to see aspects of the curriculum from  different perspective and will increase their knowledge and understanding. Chefs from Chartwells come in to the academy and teach a variety of skills including butchery, bread baking, and fish filleting. 

Students are encouraged to engage in wider reading relevant to Food and Nutrition using recommended reading books on the academy reading programme. A wide range of cookery books from other cultures are available from which students are encouraged to undertake research and use to assist in planning recipes for multicultural practicals.