Before stepping into teaching 12 years ago, Mrs Couzens had a varied background in the hospitality industry. This has enabled her to share relevant experience, as well as passing on her knowledge in Food Science and Nutrition. Outside of the classroom she can often be found in her kitchen, polishing her own practical skills baking and cooking. The rest of her free time is spent in the great outdoors walking her dog Pixie, and coaching her teenage daughter on her pony, Kizzy.
The key focus of KS3 is to develop an understanding of nutrition, the key macro and micronutrient groups and the food sources in which they can be found. Investigating provenance of food, farming, seasonality, preservation of food, healthy eating, diet related diseases, recipe adaptations and food science. The students will develop their knowledge of international foods and their origins, understanding what impacts the food culture of countries all over the world.
Throughout the curriculum the students will be developing practical skills with knife control, heat transfer, doughs, whisking, rolling, shaping, using high risk and traditional ingredients and cooking methods.
Key Stage 3:
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Key Stage 4:
Demonstrate effective and safe cooking skills by planning, preparing, and cooking using a variety of food commodities, cooking techniques and equipment. To develop knowledge and understanding of the functional properties and chemical processes as well as the nutritional content of food and drinks. To understand the relationship between diet, nutrition, and health, including the physiological and psychological effects of poor diet and health. To further an understanding of the economic, environmental, ethical, and socio-cultural influences on food availability, production processes and diet and health choices. To demonstrate knowledge and understanding of functional and nutritional properties, sensory qualities and microbiological food safety considerations when preparing, processing, storing, cooking, and serving food. To understand and explore a range of ingredients and processes from different culinary traditions (traditional British and international), to inspire new ideas or modify existing recipes.
Section A: Nutrition
Section B: Food provenance and food choice.
Section C: Cooking and food preparation.
Section D: Skills requirements: preparation and cooking techniques
NEA1 Food Investigation task (15%)
The scientific principles underlying the preparation and cooking of food. Learners are required through practical experimentation to investigate and evaluate an understanding of the working characteristics, functional and chemical properties of ingredients and use the findings of that investigation to achieve a particular result with respect to the preparation and cooking of food.
NEA 2 Food Preparation task (35%)
Assesses the planning, preparation, cooking and presentation of food. Learners are required to prepare, cook and present three dishes within a single period of no more than three hours and plan, in advance, how this will be achieved.
Written exam (50%)
Learners will be expected to answer questions based on content studied across sections A, B, C and D
Extra-curricular:
Visit from the Navy with practical workshop
Fun Chinese Food Ambassadors present a lesson with practical cook along
Bread Ahead doughnut making workshop with walking food tour of London
Future Chef a national cookery competition
