In Lower School, we encourage girls to make informed decisions about the foods they choose to eat and aim to give them the necessary skills to prepare and cook successful dishes. During Year 7, we teach the importance of health and safety while building confidence and independence in the Food Room. There is a strong emphasis on current nutritional advice with girls making sweet and savoury dishes that incorporate ingredients based on the Eatwell plate guidelines and the ‘5 A Day’ campaign. In Year 8, we continue to build skills introducing recipes such as shortcrust pastry, bread and cakes. We explore the functions of ingredients and carry out investigative work that allows the girls to adapt recipes and make independent choices regarding ingredients and equipment. By the end of the year, girls also have a useful repertoire of family meals, such as pasta dishes and risotto. The Year 9 scheme gives girls even greater ownership of their work. Weekly lessons allow for focused theoretical work on nutrition and wider issues connected to the subject such as sustainability, food provenance and ethical issues concerning food production. Skills such as meat and fish preparation, filled and shaped pasta and more complex cake and pastry-making techniques are introduced. Each girl will produce a personalised e-book documenting her recipes, along with tips, photos, video clips and weblinks. Girls finish the Lower School Food and Nutrition course with a passion for cooking and an understanding of how food (whether ready-made or cooked from scratch) affects the health and wellbeing of both themselves and others.

The Food Preparation and Nutrition GCSE is a creative and exciting course. At its heart, this qualification focuses on nurturing students’ practical cookery skills to give them a strong understanding of nutrition, food provenance and the working characteristics of food materials.

Five core topics are studied:

Food, nutrition and health – This section requires an understanding of nutrients, the relationship between diet and health, current nutritional guidelines and an ability to carry out nutritional analysis.

Food science – The functional and chemical properties of ingredients are studied through a combination of practical and theoretical activities.

Food safety – Students gain an understanding of the principles of food safety, food spoilage and contamination

Food choice – Factors affecting choice of food such as age, health, lifestyle, ethical and religious beliefs are explored. Students are encouraged to keep up to date with current trends and issues related to the subject.

Food provenance – Students are encouraged to develop an understanding of the environmental impact and sustainability of food and technological advances in food production.

How it’s assessed:

Written exam: 1 hour 45 minutes

• 100 marks
• 50% of GCSE

Non-exam assessment (NEA) – Both task topics are set by the examination board and completed during Year 11.

Task 1: Food investigation (30 marks)

Students’ demonstrate an understanding of the working characteristics, functional and chemical properties of ingredients. Practical investigations are a compulsory element of this NEA task.

Task 2: Food preparation assessment (70 marks)

Students’ knowledge, skills and understanding in relation to the planning, preparation, cooking, presentation of food and application of nutrition related to the chosen task. 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.

Seasonal after school–clubs are offered to lower school girls each term. These have included making and decorating Christmas biscuits, making hot cross buns at Easter, and finding out about Chinese New Year whilst making spring rolls. A Sixth Form ‘Cooking for University’ club is offered to Year 12 students and this is a great opportunity to learn some healthy, tasty and economical dishes. Cooking as a skill for Bronze Level Duke of Edinburgh is also offered as an after-school club for Year10 girls. The department sometimes hosts themed lunchtime sessions in conjunction with other departments. During Languages week, Year 7 and 8 have enjoyed ‘building a bruschetta’ while learning some Italian and Wartime rationing investigated through cooking some WW2 recipes has also been popular. The House ‘Cook Off’ is an annual event. Each house battles it out to see who can create a winning dish that will be served to the whole school during the summer term.