Food Science & Nutrition
Provision and sharing of food is a fundamental human need both physically and for mental well-being. The subject Food supports improvement in the health of students and their families, influencing their eating habits through increasing their knowledge and awareness of food issues, including what constitutes a healthy diet and hygienic food preparation, cooking, and storage methods.
Food aims to develop students’ sense of independence and confidence when providing food for themselves and others. The subject seeks to inspire students to continue to extend their knowledge and skill in food-based learning into their wider lives outside the classroom.
Our Food curriculum is fundamentally based on key principles from the Eatwell Guide and 8 Tips for a Healthy Diet. These messages are interleaved in food lessons at all stages. We emphasise public health messages, such as guidance to eat a minimum of five portions of fruit/vegetables every day, and to reduce sugar in the diet, and the reasons underpinning such messages.
We aim to encourage a sense of joy in the sharing of food with family and friends, so important for personal, family and community wellbeing and coherence.
St Bart’s students learn in 3 fully equipped food classrooms and build their cultural capital in numerous ways; sitting down and eating together in lessons; considering religious beliefs and celebrations through food; and by looking at food from other cultures. Lessons are enhanced through clubs, such as our KS3 Baking Club.
In Years 7 and 8, students are on a termly subject rotation with 3D Design and Textile Design and therefore experience 2 units of Food with a 2 hour lesson a week for a term in each of Years 7 and 8. Students then choose whether to follow Food as a Year 9 option.
Year 7 Curriculum
- Safety, hygiene and organisational routines. Establishing common procedures
- Knife safety, selection and skills
- Safe use of hob, grill & oven with an introduction to heat transference and hob control integrated with associated practical cookery
- Safe food storage in the larder and fridge; ‘use by’ and ‘ best before’ dates.
- Eatwell guide
- Focus on Minimum 5 a Day fruit & vegetables and reasons why; and Eat a Rainbow.
- 8 Tips for a healthy diet: Students pledge to implement one Top Tip for a month and then give a talk to the class about how they did this and how successfully.
- Avoiding food waste (economy & sustainability).
Year 8 Curriculum
- Revisiting Eatwell Guide and healthy eating guidance including 8 Tips
- Focus on energy balance to help to prevent obesity; and the role of carbohydrates as the lowest energy macro-nutrient in relation to the Eatwell guide. Energy density in foods.The importance of dietary fibre for gut health.
- Introduction to food groups.
- Macro-nutrients: Proteins, fats, carbohydrates
- Focusing on teenagers’ dietary needs
- The importance of hydration
- Modifying meals to make them healthier
- Revisiting safety and hygiene within common procedures, including ‘Clear and Clean as you go’
- Revisiting hob and oven control
- How to be economical when shopping and preparing food, avoiding food waste and shopping skills
Year 9 Curriculum
Autumn Term:
- Revisiting work from Year 7 & 8
- Applying healthy eating guidance to people with different nutritional and lifestyle needs
- Focus on foods from different cultures (curry, bread pizza and stir fry)
- Revisiting macro-nutrients and energy balance
- Micro-nutrients vitamins and minerals
- Reducing sodium in the diet
- Increasing fibre, soluble and insoluble, for gut health
- Reducing refined sugar and prevention of type 2 diabetes
- Food science of bread making; pizza & focaccia
Spring Term
- Functions of ingredients in cake making (nutritional, food science & organoleptic)
- Importance of reducing sugar in the diet
- All-in-one cupcake competition.
- Food science work on raising agents
Summer Term
- Shortcrust pastry
- Vegetarian family meals
- Flaky pastry
- Fats; fat variations for shortcrust pastry, plasticity of fats, shortening gluten.
- Whisking method
- Ginger oat crunchy biscuits; melting method, food science of biscuits, accuracy in measuring and baking.
- Meatballs & spaghetti. Procedures to avoid cross-contamination and economy family meals
- Practical assessment to plan and make a two course meal
