Food and Nutrition

Key Stage 3

The new Food and Nutrition course at KS3 has been developed to enable pupils to learn where food comes from, how to cook a range of dishes safely and hygienically and how to apply their knowledge of healthy eating to foods eaten around the world.

Aims

All students will develop their knowledge and understanding of ingredients and healthy eating and show a thirst for their own independent learning about foods. Throughout the year students will develop food preparation and cooking techniques and will practice and demonstrate these in practical lessons. Learning will develop their knowledge of consumer food and drink choice, with the aim that students will be able to apply their knowledge to make informed choices in regards to what ingredients they use in dishes and foods they decide to eat.  All students will develop their creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and will build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to create recipes and make high quality products for a wide range of consumers. All students will develop their own evaluation skills and test their ideas and products and the work of others through reflection tasks.

Key Stage 4

Food Preparation and Nutrition

This new GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition is an exciting and creative course which focuses on practical cooking skills to ensure students develop a thorough understanding of nutrition, food provenance and the working characteristics of food materials. At its heart, this qualification focuses on nurturing students’ practical cookery skills to give them a strong understanding of nutrition. Food preparation skills are integrated into five core topics: Food, Nutrition and Health, Food Science, Food Safety, Food Choice and Food Provenance. In year 11 students will complete two pieces of coursework and one written exam. The first piece of coursework is a food investigation, where students’ understanding of the working characteristics of ingredients will be explored as well as the functional and chemical properties of ingredients. The second is a food preparation assessment in the form of a 3 hour practical lesson. Students will prepare, cook and present a final menu of three dishes within a single period, planning in advance how this will be achieved. Upon completion of this course, students will be qualified to go on to further study, or embark on an apprenticeship or full time career in the catering or food industries