Food Preparation and Nutrition

The Food department has two teachers, Mrs Ruth (Head of Department) and Miss Caruana, who are supported by a dedicated technician, Mrs Nattrass.

The department has two well equipped stainless steel kitchens, enabling classes of up to 22 students to cook independently.

Course description

Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill. Food and Nutrition is not just about cooking however, so students are taught theory alongside practical skills to ensure a rounded curriculum. We hope to inspire a lifelong interest in food and healthy eating, and to equip students with the skills they need to feed themselves and others throughout their life. Students learn a wide range of practical skills and develop their confidence to cook independently.

Students will learn how to plan, prepare, cook and serve food, developing a range of practical skills to enable them to cook independently using a range of commodities, techniques, and equipment. Students will cook a range of predominantly savoury dishes, including those from different culinary traditions, preparing them for independent living later in life. Students will learn and demonstrate excellent hygiene and food safety when preparing, storing, cooking and serving food.

Students will develop their sensory analysis skills to become proficient in accurately describing taste, texture and smell. Students will also research, choose and adapt their own recipes using their sensory knowledge.

Students will learn about the relationship between food, nutrition and health. They will study the function and sources of different nutrients, the benefits of a healthy balanced diet and the consequences of poor nutrition. Students will cover the up to date government guidelines for health.

Students will explore food provenance to understand the source, seasonality and characteristics of a range of ingredients. Students will explore the reasons behind the food we choose to eat. Students will consider how economic, ethical, environmental and socio-cultural factors influence food availability and choice.

Students will learn about the food science involved in cooking and will carry out practical investigations to be able to see this in action. Students will consider the functional properties of food ingredients and will learn how ingredients and processes interact to produce the food we eat.

KS3 FOOD AND NUTRITION

In year 7, students have three lessons every two weeks for half of the year, with the rest of the year spent in Design & Technology. In year 8 and 9 students have one lesson per week all year.

What will you learn about?

Please see the attached Practical Skills Curriculum Map to see how practical skills build throughout KS3 and into KS4.

YEAR 7

Healthy Eating Guidelines Focus	1 Base your meals on starchy foods, 2 Eat lots of fruit and vegetables, 4 Cut down on saturated fats and sugars, 6 Get active and try to maintain a healthy weight, 7 Drink plenty of water, 8 Don’t skip breakfast.
Health Education Focus	Energy balance and obesity Physical Activity Level (PAL) Tooth decay
Nutrition Focus	Awareness of 5 nutrients (fat, carbohydrate, protein, vitamins, minerals) Starchy carbohydrates, sugar and fibre
Food Provenance and Food Choice Focus	Food groups in the Eatwell Guide Caught, reared, and grown ingredients Fruit and vegetables Seasonality and food miles
Food Science Focus (Link to KS4)	Introduction to sensory analysis Enzymic browning Introduction to yeast reproduction and the use of micro-organisms in food production Introduction to heat transfer
Meal Planning Context	Plan and prepare a dish suitable to be sold in the school canteen, which contains ingredients from the starchy carbohydrates and fruit and vegetables sections of the Eatwell Guide.

YEAR 8

Healthy Eating Guidelines Focus	1 Base your meals on starchy foods, 2 Eat lots of fruit and vegetables, 3 Eat more fish, 4 Cut down on saturated fats and sugars, 5 Eat less salt
Health Education Focus	Growth and development
Nutrition Focus	Protein, including complementary proteins and alternative protein sources Nutritional needs through life
Food Provenance and Food Choice Focus	Meat, fish, wheat Vegetarians and Vegans Foods from different cultures Food processing chains
Food Science Focus (Link to KS4)	Protein coagulation Starch gelatinisation Use of micro-organisms in food production
Meal Planning Context	Plan, prepare and cook a traditional main meal for an athlete from a country of your own choice. It must contain the country’s traditional starchy carbohydrate (it’s staple food) and a source of protein (meat, fish or alternative).

YEAR 9

Healthy Eating Guidelines Focus	1 Base your meals on starchy foods, 2 Eat lots of fruit and vegetables, 3 Eat more fish, 4 Cut down on saturated fats and sugars, 5 Eat less salt, 6 Get active and try to maintain a healthy weight
Health Education Focus	Links between poor diet and health risks such as obesity, cancer, diabetes, coronary heart disease
Nutrition Focus	Fat Reducing fat in recipes Special dietary needs including coeliac disease, allergies and lactose intolerance
Food Provenance and Food Choice Focus	Factors affecting food choice Food waste and portion size Milk and dairy products
Food Science Focus(Link to KS4)	Shortening effect of fats Raising agents Protein denaturation Heat transfer Use of micro-organisms in food production
Meal Planning Context	Plan, prepare and cook a handheld product with reduced fat per serving, by adapting an existing recipe. Your product must include skills that you have learned this year such as pastry or bread.

How will you be assessed?

Students will be assessed via low stakes quizzes and practical assessments, and by high stakes written tests and meal planning practical assessments.

Homework/Extended Learning

Students are set practical evaluations to reflect upon their practical outcome and own personal performance in practicals. In addition, where students provide ingredients for practicals they will continue to develop their weighing and measuring skills at home when preparing their ingredients for lessons.

Students are encouraged to practice their practical skills out of lessons by helping to prepare and cook meals at home.

To be successful in this subject, students will need to be good at and enjoy:

• Learning how to cook independently
• Developing organisational and time management skills
• Developing problem solving skills and the ability to overcome challenges
• Teamwork when carrying out practical investigations
• Learning through practical activities

Additional information

We offer a Food Club which enables students in KS3 to further develop their practical skills. We help and support students to enter external cooking competitions such as Future Chef and Inspiring Culinary Generations.

GCSE FOOD PREPARATION AND NUTRITION

https://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/gcse/food-preparation-and-nutrition-j309-from-2016/

GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition is an exciting and creative course which aims to develop an interest in the creative aspect and enjoyment of food. This course enables students to make connections between theory and practice so that they are able to apply their understanding of food, nutrition and food science to practical cooking. The course further develops students practical skills so that they are confident to use high level skills in food preparation and cooking to produce complex, well presented dishes.

What will you learn about?

• Nutrition – What role do different nutrients have in the body? What is the relationship between diet and health?
• Food Provenance – Where does our food come from? How and why is our food processed?
• Food Choice – Why and how do different factors influence what we choose to eat?
• Food Science – What scientifically happens to food when it is prepared and cooked?
• Food Safety – How can we ensure that food is prepared, cooked and stored safely?
• Practical Skills and Techniques – How do we fillet a fish or joint a chicken? How can we dovetail different recipes together within one practical to best use our time?

Please see the attached Learning Journey which shows how the curriculum is taught over the two years of the course, and the Practical Skills Curriculum Map to see how the foundations of practical skills learned in KS3 are built upon during GCSE study.

How will you be assessed?

Throughout the two year GCSE course students will complete low stakes assessments which comprise of quizzes, past exam questions, and practical assessments. High stakes assessment will comprise of mock written exams and mock Non Exam Assessments, including a practical exam.

GCSE Assessment

Non Exam Assessment 1 (15%) – Food Investigation Task

10 hours, completed early in Year 11

This task assesses the scientific principles underlying the preparation and cooking of food. Students will carry out practical experiments to investigate and evaluate the working characteristics, functional and chemical properties of ingredients. The context of the task is set by the exam board.

Non Exam Assessment 2 (35%) – Food Preparation Task

20 hours including 3 hour practical exam, completed during Year 11

Students will prepare, cook and present three dishes within a single period of three hours and plan, in advance, how this will be achieved. Students will submit a written portfolio to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and understanding in relation to the planning, preparation, cooking, presentation of food and application of nutrition related to the task. The context of the task is set by the exam board.

Written Examination Paper (50%) – Food Preparation and Nutrition

90 minutes, completed at the end of Year 11

Progression Routes and Career Opportunities

Food Preparation and Nutrition fits neatly with science and PE, and the organisational skills learned at KS3 and GCSE are transferable to other subjects and job roles. Although not currently offered by Coopers, Level 3 Food Science and Nutrition can be studied at KS5 alongside other A Levels.

Degree courses are offered by a range of Universities and include:

• BSc (Hons) Food Technology
• BSc (Hons) Food Science
• BSc (Hons) Human Nutrition and Dietetics
• BSc (Hons) Food Innovation and Nutrition
• BSc (Hons) Future Food and Culinary Management
• BSc (Hons) Food Safety, Inspection and Control

The food and drink sector has a turnover of £96 billion and is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, employing almost 395,000 people directly in the UK. Food professionals work in many occupations including manufacturing, retailing, marketing, food service, universities and schools, government, research and development, quality assurance and food law enforcement. Further information on careers in the food industry can be found at http://tastycareers.org.uk/ or ask Mrs Ruth who will be happy to share her experiences of working within the food industry in New Product Development.