Food Preparation & Nutrition (FPN) sits within the Design Technology suite of creative subjects. The Key Stage 3 curriculum lasts for three years and covers the National Curriculum for Design Technology.
Through the experimentation, preparation and cooking of food we focus on pupils continuously developing their skills and techniques. Through the systematic study of key knowledge we focus on pupils developing their knowledge and understanding of the following key areas;
In addition to the above, which supports pupils to study FPN GCSE, it is very important to us that pupils develop the life skills required to feed themselves and others a nutritionally balanced, varied and appealing diet.
Pupils learn how to safely use a range of equipment, how to prepare ingredients from scratch and how to present their outcomes with food styling. Pupils are encouraged to consider the nutritional value of a wide range of ingredients and are encouraged to consider the impact of the food industry on our planet. The projects undertaken at KS3 are specifically designed to foster and develop a love for the subject for example through the science of food and experimentation. We regularly revisit topics deliberately and systematically in our long term planning to develop long term memory.
Pupils need to know that a good diet is required in order to grow, develop, be protected from disease and have the energy to study, learn, work and be physically active. Our topics build up over Key Stage 3 starting in Year 7 where we learn the basis of food safety, hygiene and good nutrition, in Year 8 we learn the outcomes of poor food safety and hygiene and the importance of specific aspects of nutrition and in Year 9 we learn how and why we make the food choices that we do.
In line with the Design & Technology National Curriculum pupils are given the opportunity to prepare and create mainly savoury dishes. We also study the science behind our cooking through food experiments designed to show pupils how understanding the functional and chemical reactions of ingredients is critical to the success of our dishes.
The curriculum at KS4 is designed to build on the key knowledge of FPN within the KS3 curriculum, whilst also focusing on the applied study of skills and techniques. The curriculum is sequenced to allow students to study the depth and breadth of each food commodity. Previous topics are revisited through starter activities and homework. The rigour of skills and techniques is gradually built over time until practical lessons are challenging students to work to high skill levels. Science experiments continue to be utilised in order to study the functional and chemical properties of ingredients.
At KS3 in FPN we assess through formative assessment using regular verbal questioning and feedback on both key knowledge and practical activities, short starter questioning and answering, short quizzes and specific questioning within our resources on the key threshold concepts to check understanding. Homework in Y7 consolidates learning in the classroom, homework in Y8 revisits key concepts from Y7, homework in Y9 revisits key concepts from Y8 and homework in Y10 revisits key concepts from Y9 and consolidates learning in Y10. Key knowledge is revisited in demonstration lessons through ‘Active Learners’ worksheets and the majority of this content reinforces key knowledge, again with the aim of checking understanding.At KS4 we assess through formative assessment using regular verbal questioning and feedback on both key knowledge and practical activities. Starter tasks are aimed to revisit and assess previous topics and at the end of each topic a range of quiz, test and exam questioning is utilised. Techniques to be used on exam questions are modelled and then students are requested to independently tackle exam questions, these are used to check knowledge and understanding. Each practical activity is assessed either informally or formally and relevant feedback is immediately offered.