“Kitchens are hard environments and they form incredibly strong characters.”
– Gordon Ramsay
Powerful Knowledge in Food & Nutrition
Food & Nutrition is a broad and vast discipline that interacts with the worlds of science, technology, culture and health. Food & Nutrition education within the Laurus Trust intends to equip students from all backgrounds and circumstances with the knowledge and skills they require to make healthy food choices, safely and hygienically.
Students will develop their understanding of nutrition and their food preparation skills. They will learn how to apply their knowledge to make informed choices and develop a repertoire of culinary skills needed to optimise their future nutrition and health. The KS3 curriculum is purposefully sequenced so that students primarily master core concepts of healthy eating and optimum nutrition. Once students have understood that food is eaten not only for enjoyment, cultural and social occasions, but to provide the body with nutrients needed for energy, growth and repair, they have opened the door to being able to manipulate dishes for different dietary purposes and consumers.
Our curriculum appreciates that all students bring their own varied and valuable experiences of food. Students are given the opportunity to explore their own and others’ experiences, culture, religion and understanding of food. The curriculum builds on pre-existing knowledge and aims to enrich the learning of all students, widening their understanding beyond their own circumstance. This is one aspect of powerful knowledge within our Food & Nutrition curriculum.
Curriculum Features
Skills
- Adapt and follow a recipe, time management.
- Select and use appropriate tools and equipment safely when preparing and cooking food, including use of hand-held electric equipment.
- Apply good food safety principles when buying, storing, preparing and cooking food.
- Accurately weigh and measure.
- Use of the cooker, safe application of heat through use of a broad range of preparation techniques and methods when cooking.
- Purposefully evaluate products and suitably adjust based on feedback and testing.
Knowledge
- The nutritional value of different foods, including classification of food into categories based on their nutritional value.
- Understanding of food as an essential source of energy (kJ), as well as other factors affecting food choice such as health, religion, allergies.
- Know the effect of application of heat to food, including parts of a cooker, cooking methods and heat transfer.
- Know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed. Plus, sustainability.
- Core principles of food hygiene, including spoilage and preservation.
- Principles of food science.
Co-curricular Enrichment
The Food & Nutrition Curriculum is complemented by several Elective opportunities within our specialist classroom. Students will have the opportunity to embark on a range of culinary challenges, involving baking, creating their own dishes and team-based cooking competitions.