Food and Cooking Skills

At KS4 we deliver the BTEC Home Cooking Skills course; this can be taught at level 1 or level 2: BTEC Food and Cooking Skills Specification

Statement of Intent

Intention

Implementation

Impact

The food lessons are intended to equip our young people with the skills and knowledge about food, nutrition and cooking so that they can make healthy informed choices about the food they buy and consume.

Students study a range of topics from the nutrients in food and what it does for the body to shopping on a budget and meal planning.

Even if they are not thinking of a career in the food industry, the skills and confidence that we aim to install in our students will help them become strong, healthy, independent adults. Cooking can be a chance for our students to explore their creative side. Students have the opportunity to explore a wide range of different cooking techniques from creating a quick curry, cooking cheesy chips for friends or making and decorating cakes. They have the chance to develop their practical skills and often find that it helps them to relax and manage anxiety and stress.

The lessons are mainly practical and theory work is drip fed through questioning, games and short paper activities. Students study a wide range of topics such as healthy eating, meal planning, cake making, bread and bakery products, health and safety, food presentation and popular main commodities such as eggs, flour, meats, dairy products, and different cooking methods.

If they choose to study food as one of their options then they will do the level 1 or 2 BTEC home cooking skills course. However, if they don’t choose food as one of there options there is still the chance to show off their skills on Friday afternoons wellbeing / accredited activities sessions.

Students complete a practical baseline assessment when they first come to Tor. This highlights any gaps in learning and skills they need to develop. Then during their time at Tor, they are able to practice and develop their skills and progress is tracked with data catchments at the end of every term. The data is used to inform planning so any gaps in their learning can be addressed.