Food and Nutrition

Header image for Food and Nutrition

Mission Statement

The Food department here at Tudor Grange Academy Solihull all share a very clear vision when it comes to the delivery of the subject.  In our view, studying food preparation and nutrition will enable students to gain knowledge, understanding and skills required to cook and apply the principles of food science, nutrition and healthy eating. The qualification will help stimulate students to make informed decisions about food choice and nutritional aspects allowing them to acquire knowledge and understanding required in order to be able to feed themselves and others affordably and nutritiously, now and later in life. Research shows that eating habits and healthy behaviours are connected to academic achievement.  The connections between theory and practical lessons will enable students to apply their understanding of food science and nutrition in a practical learning environment.  In this way, we hope that students will be equipped with the skills that will enable them to critically analyse key ingredients in healthy and nutritious recipes.  Essentially, we aim to develop students’ creativity when preparing and cooking food and instil a genuine desire for the subject, which encompasses beyond the limitations of their education and into adult life.

Our aim is that pupils will leave our school with the skills to look after themselves, and their households as adults.  They will be able to plan healthy menus and cook delicious food in a safe and hygienic manner.  Just as importantly, they will be able to solve practical problems in a systematic and creative way, with an eye on design and good taste. Food & Nutrition aim to develop independence in pupils, as they go on their own personal journey with their products and dishes, guided by the teacher.  This means that pupils need to have great resilience and grit, feeling able to make mistakes, learn from them and respond to feedback to become better.  They will learn to be intrinsically motivated so that they don’t give up should they face an issue in their projects. Every child will have the opportunity to solve problems in a practical way.  They will have the chance to design dishes in the kitchen, using a variety of traditional and modern techniques.  They will also have the chance to look at existing products in great detail and analyse them so that they can take inspiration from them for their own work. Food & Nutrition involves investigative thinking, where pupils must research, plan, develop and test their ideas before making their final products.  They first need to analyse a problem, they will then go on a journey designing and developing a product in an iterative way, which will mean that great resilience is needed as things often don’t go right the first time.  The subject needs pupils to think in a very lateral way to reach an end goal, as there is often not one right answer to a problem, pupils can show great creativity in this subject.

Overview of Year 7, 8 & 9 (Healthy Living)

Students will attend theory and practical lessons throughout KS3.  This will allow students to gain knowledge and skills related to a healthy lifestyle.  Theory lessons in year 7 comprise of transition to secondary school, personal and social development and healthy eating initiatives covering emotional wellbeing, seasonality, food provenance and the Eatwell Guide. Practical lessons in year 7 teach students the fundamentals of food hygiene, kitchen safety and basic nutritional recipes that follow the national curriculum. During year 8 there will be a focus on providing students with more challenging and technical dishes that again follow the National Curriculum. Theory lessons in year 9 will cover important relevant areas of study such as macro/micronutrients, individual dietary requirements, food labelling and specialist diets. These lessons will be complemented with themed practical lessons demonstrating the link between the knowledge of nutrition, implementing the content into recipes with adaptations.

Year 7 practical recipes

Year 7 Learning Journey – Autumn 1

Year 7 Learning Journey – Autumn 2

Year 7 Learning Journey – Spring

Year 7 Learning Journey – Summer

  • Omelette
  • Fruit salad
  • Pizza
  • Scones
  • Fruit crumble
  • Spaghetti carbonara
  • Chicken curry
  • Chilli con carne
  • Fajitas

Year 8 practical recipes

Year 8 Learning Journey – Autumn 1

Year 8 Learning Journey – Autumn 2

Year 8 Learning Journey – Spring

Year 8 Learning Journey – Summer

  • Rock cakes
  • Victoria sponge
  • Dough balls
  • Vegan brownies
  • Fajitas
  • Mac & cheese
  • Sweet & sour chicken
  • Nachos
  • Stir fry

Year 9 practical recipes

Year 9 Learning Journey – Autumn 1

Year 9 Learning Journey – Autumn 2

Year 9 Learning Journey – Spring

Year 9 Learning Journey – Summer

  • Chicken goujons
  • Poached egg & fanned avocado
  • Chocolate eclairs
  • Fresh pasta & homemade tomato sauce
  • Homemade pizza
  • Eton mess

Parents can find more information on the specific topics covered in each unit by looking at the learning overviews that are stuck into students’ books at the start of each half term.

Overview of Year 10 (Food & Nutrition)

Year 10 Learning Journey – Autumn 1

Year 10 Learning Journey – Autumn 2

Year 10 Learning Journey – Spring

Year 10 Learning Journey – Summer

Food & Nutrition in year 10 follows a scheme of work that aims to effectively bridge the gap between year 9 and GCSE levels of study, and to develop the skills that students will require to tackle GCSE content while exposing them to fundamentally important subject knowledge in relation to nutrition.  During years 7,8 & 9, students are provided with accessible and fundamental recipes to build their kitchen confidence. These lessons are related to the theory side of the study which consider government dietary initiatives such as the Eatwell Guide and Change for Life.

Throughout these lessons, students are exposed to the importance of key ingredients and how the dishes can be modified to cater for specialist dietary requirements.  Year 10 continues to explore these themes through the principles of nutrition and factors affecting food choice.  Students will also study the changing nature of technological developments in the world of food and the growth of modern scientific advancements such as genetically modified foods, molecular gastronomy and functional foods.  Food provenance, food poverty and the influence of different cultures are also explored.

The scheme of work will also cover food commodities.  Each half term the learning will be based on a particular food group. Students will have the opportunity to discover the variety of food types, how the food is processed, nutritional values and how these foods are used in the diet. Topics covered include:

  • Principles of Nutrition
  • Diet and Good Health
  • Science of Cooking Food
  • Food Provenance
  • Technological Developments
  • Factors Affecting Food Choice
  • Fruit and Vegetables
  • Milk, Cheese and Yoghurt
  • Cereals
  • Meat, Poultry, Fish and Eggs
  • Butter, Oil, Margarine, Sugar and Syrup
  • Beans, Nuts, Seeds, Soya, Tofu and Myco-protein

Parents can find more information on the specific topics covered in each unit by looking at the learning overviews that are stuck into students’ books at the start of each half term.

Overview of Year 11 (Food & Nutrition)

Year 11 Learning Journey – Autumn 1

Year 11 Learning Journey – Autumn 2

Year 11 Learning Journey – Spring

During year 11 students will commence their coursework units, which consist of an experiment-based assessment and a food preparation assessment. The GCSE qualification is comprised of 3 assessment elements:

Assessment 1: Exam: 1 hour 45 minutes at the end of year 11, 50% of the final grade.

Assessment 2: The Food Investigation Assessment, 15% of the final grade. A scientific food investigation which will assess the learner’s knowledge, skills and understanding in relation to scientific principles underlying the preparation and cooking of food.

Assessment 3: The Food Preparation Assessment, 35% of the final grade. Prepare, cook and present a menu which assesses the learner’s knowledge, skills and understanding in relation to the planning, preparation, cooking and presentation of food.

We follow the Eduqas specification at GCSE.  A comprehensive overview of the GCSE course curriculum can be accessed here: https://www.eduqas.co.uk/qualifications/food-preparation-and-nutrition-gcse/#tab_overview

Extra-Curricular Opportunities

The food department aims to provide a variety of extra-curricular opportunities to students.  This has included in the past visits from public speakers such as nutritional therapists, dieticians and chef demonstrations.  Educational trips consist of visiting University College Birmingham for their chef/baker/waiter academies.  There is also a visit to The BBC Good Food Show in November.  Cooking club on Thursdays is very popular for students to improve their kitchen confidence or gastronomic flair. There are numerous competitions within the department such as TGAS MasterChef, Junior Great British Bake Off and UCB Young Chef of the Year

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