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.
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 Bake Off 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.
