The Food and Catering department aims to teach students about:
- Practical Cooking Skills
- Diet and Nutrition
- Food Safety and Hygiene
- Food Science
- Food Provenance and Choice
As part of their work with food, students are taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. A love of cooking in students 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 students to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.
Curriculum
Key Stage 3
Students currently have three hours of food and catering per fortnight in Years 7 & 8 for one 12 week period. In Year 9 all students study food for 2 hours per fortnight for the entire year. Students are also encouraged to attend one of the extra-curricular clubs which the department offers; Let’s Get Cooking Club or Celebration Cake Club. We encourage students to enrich their knowledge of food by continuing to cook at home.
In Key Stage 3 students have a mixture of practical and theory lessons to enable them to learn skills and knowledge that they will use in adulthood. Lesson content has been set up to match the national curriculum for Design Technology and ensures all learners can:
- understand and apply the principles of nutrition and health
- cook a repertoire of predominantly savoury dishes so that they are able to feed themselves and others a healthy and varied diet
- become competent in a range of cooking techniques [for example, selecting and preparing ingredients; using utensils and electrical equipment; applying heat in different ways; using awareness of taste, texture and smell to decide how to season dishes and combine ingredients; adapting and using their own recipes]
- understand the source, seasonality and characteristics of a broad range of ingredients.
For further details please see the Design and Technology programme of study.
Curriculum Offer
During Year 7 students learn about food safety and hygiene, diet and nutrition. In Year 8 they build upon their nutrition knowledge and start to look at the function of ingredients. The Year 9 course aims to prepare students for GCSE study, it teaches them the required practical skills as well as theoretical knowledge on food functions, nutritional knowledge as well as some of the ethical decisions around food. All modules are delivered through a mixture of theory and practical but with the emphasis to develop student’s practical skills.
For further information on the programme of study please see attached document.
| What will I learn in KS3? | |||
| Year 7 | Basic food hygiene, safety and nutrition | ||
| Year 8 | Applying nutrition to my life | ||
| Year 9 | Module 1 | Module 2 | Module 3 |
| Building practical skills for GCSE | Food Science | Why do I eat? Where does my food come from? | |
Right to Write:
Due to restrictions on curriculum time right to write will only take place for year 9 students. This is currently scheduled for the summer term. In Year 7 & 8 students complete longer structured responses when they evaluate their practical assessment.
Homework
A proportion of homework in Key Stage 3 is for students to organise their ingredients and containers for their next practical lesson. Ingredients are recorded in the student’s planners two weeks in advance.
In addition to ingredients preparation, students will be set a mixture of theory based tasks:
- Year 7 & 8 – 2 tasks per year
- Year 9 – 5 tasks per year
Homework tasks will be a mixture of research, short question responses, spelling and longer response questions. All homework tasks are available to download from the student shared area. Homework tasks will either be teacher assessed, self-assessed or peer assessed.
Useful Websites
Key Stage 4
GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition
Students who started at Jo Richardson in 2013 or after will have the opportunity to study a brand new GCSE called Food Preparation and Nutrition. For further details on the course content, click here.
Exam Board: AQA (subject to accreditation by OFQUAL)
This GCSE will equip students with the knowledge, understanding, skills and encouragement they need to cook. At the heart of the qualification it focuses on practical cooking skills as well as giving students a strong understanding of nutrition as well as an understanding of the characteristics of food. The units studied throughout Year 10 and 11 will be:
- Food, nutrition and health
- Food science
- Food safety
- Food choice
- Food provenance
Assessment
GCSE food preparation and nutrition will be assessed as follows:
| % of GCSE | Assessment | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 50% | Examination | One examination worth 100 marks. Students will have 1 hour and 45 minutes to complete. The exam has two sections;· Section A – Multiple Choice (20 marks)· Section B – Longer structured questions (80 marks)The exam is sat at the end of the course. |
| 15% | Non Exam Assessment – Task 1 | Food Investigation – Students will be set a question to investigate the understanding of working characteristics and chemical properties of ingredients. Students will need to complete a 1500 – 2000 word report and submit with photographic evidence of their investigation. Tasks are set by the exam board and released 1st September of examination year. |
| 35% | Non Exam Assessment – Task 2 | Food Preparation Assessment – Students will prepare, cook and present a final menu of three dishes within a single period of no more than three hours, planning in advance how this will be achieved. Tasks are set by the exam board and released 1st November of examination year. |
*GCSE Catering – Last Award 2017*
Students who started Jo Richardson in 2012 or before had the option to study GCSE Catering using the WJEC exam board.
“The specification is designed to give candidates an opportunity to extend and apply their skills and knowledge of the catering industry within a variety of contexts. It will concentrate on the main areas of food production and food service as an introduction to the catering industry. The specification provides progression opportunities both directly into employment and to further learning opportunities within employment, or to further study.” (WJEC 2009)
The GCSE Catering Course is assessed as follows:
| % of GCSE | Assessment | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 20% | Practical Assessment 1 | Completed at the end of year 10. Task is set by exam board. |
| 40% | Practical Assessment 2 | Completed during year 11. Task is set by exam board |
| 40% | Exam | Written examination. 75 minutes in duration. One paper from grade A*- G. Completed at the end of year 11. |
In Year 10 students will study:
- The industry – food and drink.
- Health, safety and hygiene.
- Food preparation, cooking and presentation.
- Nutrition
- Costing and portion control.
In Year 11 students will study:
- The industry – food and drink (building on knowledge of year 10)
- Job roles, employment opportunities and relevant training.
- Specialist equipment.
- Communication and record keeping.
- Environmental considerations.
For further details please see the specification from WJEC.
Homework:
A proportion of homework in Key Stage 4 is for students to organise their ingredients and containers for their next practical lesson. Ingredients are recorded in the student’s planners two weeks in advance.
In addition to ingredients preparation, students will be set a mixture of theory based tasks, normally one every two weeks. Homework tasks will be a mixture of research, short question responses and longer response questions. In the build up to assessments, homework tasks, will be used to help students prepare i.e. revision for a test. All homework tasks are available to download from the student shared area. Homework tasks will either be teacher assessed, self-assessed or peer assessed.
Useful Websites:
Students can use the following websites to support them during the course:
Enrichment
Let’s Get Cooking Club is a national network of cooking clubs. JRCS is pleased to be one of these. The Let’s Get Cooking Club is funded through the schools Out of School Hours Learning provision (OSHL) so we are able to provide ingredients for all students attending.
Club Details:
- Starting in October – Every Thursday, 3.15 – 4.45pm.
- Location: FC4
- If you want more details then please see Mr Hargreaves for a letter (FC4).
Celebration Cake Club:
In the winter term Mr Hargreaves and Mrs Moffat run a celebration cake club. The club happens every Thursday after school from October – December. The club was a great success and all students made a celebration cake. See the photo gallery for pictures!
Key Stage 4 Intervention:
Intervention is run by Mr Kirkbride to support students through their GCSE. Intervention for Year 11 is every Friday, week 1, 3.30 – 5.00pm.
Catering Events:
The Food and Catering department often takes part and gives the students opportunities to produce food for various different catering events. This year we have provided refreshments for the opening of the Maths block and the winter music concert.
Marking Policy
- Practical work at both key stage 3 & 4 will be marked by the classroom teacher and verbal comments given to students to help them improve.
- At key stage three after each practical students will self or peer assess to identify areas of strength and how to improve further.
- Students in each year group will complete practical assessments where they have to plan, prepare, make and evaluate a dish independently. This work is fully assessed and used as a guide to student’s end of term levels.
- See the marking guide for further details.