Food and Nutrition

Teaching Staff and Responsibilities

Miss K. Roberts: Subject leader and teacher of Key Stages 3, 4 & 5

Mrs James: Subject teacher Key Stage 3
Mr Hitchman: Subject teacher Key Stage 3

Mrs J. Berville: Food Technician

Mrs V. Schenkelberg: Food Technician

KS3 (Years 7-9)

How do we organise teaching groups at KS3?

There are 6 classes per year in key stage 3. The groups do not exceed 22 pupils.

What are our aims at KS3?

In line with the National Curriculum, we believe, as part of their work with food, pupils should be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating.  Instilling a love of cooking in pupils will also open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity.  Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables pupils to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.

How does this subject develop over KS3?

Our Food and Nutrition programme is linked to the core competences published by the Food Standards Agency in conjunction with the British Nutrition Foundation. The competences set out a progressive framework of skills and knowledge.  At Sacred Heart of Mary Girls’ School the students will learn about the following topics in each year: Food nutrition and Health, Food commodities, Food safety, Food choice, Food provenance, and the science of food.

What will my daughter learn at KS3?

Year 7

Food Nutrition and Health:

  • Why we eat food
  • The nutrients: functions and sources
  • Eatwell Guide
  • Nutritional needs of groups: focus children aged 1 – 12
  • Nutritional analysis – use of software

Food commodities:

  • Cereals: oats, rice
  • Fruit
  • Meat

Food Safety:

  • Full introduction to safe way of working in food room
  • cross-contamination
  • where do bacteria come from
  • safe storage of food
  • washing up

Food Choice:

  • sensory evaluation – tasting
  • use of sensory descriptors

Food Provenance:

  • where does our food come from
  • seasonal food

Science of Food:

  • Shortening
  • Heat transfer: conduction, convection and radiation
  • Enzymic browning
  • chemical and mechanical raising agents

Year 8

Food Nutrition and Health:

  • Macronutrients: fats and oils
  • Macronutrients: protein
  • Macronutrients: carbohydrates
  • Energy balance
  • Eatwell guide
  • Nutritional needs of groups: focus teenagers
  • Nutritional analysis – use of software

Food Commodities:

  • cereals: wheat into flour – focus bread
  • potatoes
  • Poultry

Food safety:

  • temperature control
  • multiplication of bacteria

Food choice:

  • Sensory evaluation – star profiles
  • Food labels and traffic light labelling
  • Food Provence:
  • food waste

Science of Food:

  • How different cooking methods affect food
  • Aeration
  • gelatinisation
  • Raising agents – biological
  • Raising agents – mechanical

Year 9

Food Nutrition and Health:

  • Micro-nutrients: vitamins and minerals/
  • Nutritional needs of different groups of people
  • Eatwell guide
  • Nutritional needs of groups: focus diet in pregnancy
  • Nutritional analysis – use of software

Food Commodities:

  • Cereals: wheat into flour – focus pasta
  • Milk, cheese and yoghurt
  • Fish
  • Soya, tofu, beans, nuts and seeds

Food safety:

  • temperature control
  • multiplication of bacteria
  • food poisoning

Food choice:

  • sensory evaluation – sensory tests and star profiles to include: preference testing, discrimination tests, grading tests
  • Costing food – use of computer software
  • allergens and intolerances

Food Provenance:

  • Seasonal foods – grown, reared and caught

Science of Food:

  • Denaturation
  • Coagulation
  • Caramelisation
  • raising agents

Are there any websites that will support my daughter’s learning?

KS4/GCSE (Years 10-11)

How do we organise teaching groups at KS4?

At KS4, classes are taught in option groups.  Class sizes do not exceed 18. The classes are taught by Miss Roberts.  All classes are all mixed ability.

Which GCSE specification do we prepare pupils for?

At Sacred Heart of Mary Girls’ School we study the AQA Food Preparation and Nutrition GCSE.   It 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.

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/food/gcse/food-preparation-and-nutrition-8585

What will my daughter learn at KS4?

Year 10

Year 10 will focus on covering the specified content for the exam paper:

  • Food, nutrition and health
  • Food science
  • Food safety
  • Food choice
  • Food provenance.

Year 11

Year 11 will focus on preparing and completing two non-examined assessments which comprise 50% of the total GCSE grade.

Are there any websites that will support my daughter’s learning?

Future pathways/careers

A passion for food can lead to a wide range of career opportunities, working in hotels, restaurants, or tourist venues. There is a range of career paths in agriculture, catering and hospitality, environmental health, leisure and tourism, retail sales and customer service, as well as engineering and manufacturing and food science and nutrition.

Past students have gone onto combine their Food studies with business with a view to working in Food marketing. Others have enjoyed the nutritional aspect of the course and have gone onto study nutrition, or nutrition and sport at university.