Food Technology

Food Technology is taught at Key Stage 3 as part of the carousel of different subjects within Design and Technology.

Year 7

Students are introduced to the subject with lessons in food hygiene and safety in the Food Technology room. The course follows a theme of healthy packed lunches and the practical work serves to build on skills to prepare healthy products suitable for a packed lunch. Students have a practical lesson every other week, which will fulfil the requirements of the new Licence to Cook programme. Students learn about the importance of fruit and vegetables in the diet and are introduced to basic nutrition and what constitutes a healthy diet.

Year 8

Students follow a theme of ‘Healthy eating ‘. They learn about the current guidelines for a healthy diet and how to adapt recipes to make them healthier. The new Licence to Cook programme is incorporated into the course through teaching a range of more complex practical skills and using a wide range of equipment. The students learn about food labelling, using local and seasonal produce, food safety and temperature control and how to design and make healthy food products.

Year 9

Students develop a project on ‘Edible Casings’. They develop new skills in practical work as they learn how to make a variety of food products with edible casings. They learn about the principles of making pastry, whisked sponge and bread. Using this knowledge they are able to design their own edible casing product, which they plan and make in the final assessment.

KS4 GCSE Home Economics Curriculum Summary

The aim of the Home Economics course is to provide students with knowledge and skills, which will be of value in their future lives.
The syllabus follows the OCR GCSE Home Economics (Food and Nutrition) course. This course teaches students about nutrition and health, food choice and preparation and food science through a mixture of practical and written work. Students are expected to provide their own ingredients for all practical work.

Assessment

Candidates complete 4 pieces of coursework, which represent 60% of the total marks at GCSE. The coursework comprises three short tasks, which should demonstrate practical skills and knowledge and one food study task chosen from a list of themes. There is one examination paper which accounts for the remaining 40% of the final mark at GCSE.