Key Stage 3
Year 7
In Year 7, students are introduced to cooking and nutrition. The topics covered are nutrition and health, Food safety and food provenance. Students develop skills through more a range of products concentrating on basic knife skills, using the cooker and weighing and measuring. Dishes made in year 7 include: fruit salad, vegetable kebabs, flatbreads and scones. Students also have the opportunity to evaluate their favourite recipes and create their own. Students are assessed throughout on their independence, organisation, time management, food safety and cooking skills.
Year 8
In Year 8, students continue to learn about Nutrition and health and are introduced to food science, Students learn about the functions of ingredients and what happens to ingredients when they are cooked. Students continue to develop skills practised in year 7 and also start developing skills in working with meat and fish, developing flavours and cooking pasta. Dishes made in year 8 include: enchiladas, Brik (a street food from Tunisia), chicken kebabs and sausage rolls. Students also have the opportunity to develop their recipe writing and adaptation skills. Students are assessed throughout on their independence, organisation, time management, food safety and cooking skills.
Year 9
In Year 9, the emphasis is on balance: balancing nutrients, balanced diets and balanced flavours. We focus on Carbohydrates and Protein, identifying the links and crossovers between these food groups. We also learn how to cook on a budget, working out the per portion cost of dishes that enable cooks to make informed budgeting decisions. Dishes made in Year 9 include pasta marinara or arrabbiata, risotto, bread and lasagne. Students have the opportunity to invent a dish from scratch, writing the recipe. Students are assessed throughout on their independence, organisation, time management, food safety and cooking skills.
Key Stage 4
AQA GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition
Content
Food Preparation and Nutrition explores the relationship between food and nutrition; how what we choose to eat affects our bodies’ growth and development. The course has a strong emphasis on food science; how different ingredients work together, both in the cooking process and in the body.
Skills developed
- Your ability to demonstrate a wide range of cooking skills.
- Your ability to apply a high standard of hygiene.
- Increase your knowledge and understanding of food science
- Increase your knowledge and understanding of different cooking processes and techniques
- Be able to plan meals based on seasonality of produce and sustainability.
- Be able to apply knowledge of nutrition in making selections for dishes.
Assessment
Unit 1: Paper based written exam – Food Preparation and Nutrition 100 marks
Non-Examined Assessment (NEA):
NEA1 – Food Investigation 30 marks. Students, working to a specific brief, investigate an aspect of Food Science, devising a hypothesis and conducting experiments to prove or disprove this hypothesis. Students must then critically evaluate the results in a piece of controlled written assessment.
NEA2 – Practical Assessment 70 marks – Students, working to a specific brief, produce a range of dishes. Through sensory evaluation, they narrow the selection of dishes to 3 final dishes to be cooked to a three-hour practical assessment. They must prepare, cook, plate and present these dishes, dovetailing tasks as they go. They must then critically evaluate the outcome in a piece of controlled written assessment.
To find out more please get in touch with Nikki Mead on Nikki.Mead@northgosforth.co.uk