Year 8 Food Preparation & Nutrition

Food Preparation is an exciting subject which covers a wide range of skills and knowledge.

In Year 8, students can expect to extend the variety of practical skills and underpinning knowledge that they gained in Year 7 and will cover areas such as nutrition, adapting and developing recipes, functions of ingredients, food provenance and seasonality of food.

How will my child be assessed and how will I know how well they are doing in Food Preparation & Nutrition in Year 8?

At the end of the Food rotation (approx. 6/7 weeks), students will be assessed against the knowledge, skills and understanding they have gained during the module.

What homework will my child be expected to do in Year 8 in Food Preparation & Nutrition?

Homework is set every fortnight in Food.
When students are taking Food they are expected to provide the necessary ingredients for the products they make. In most cases students will be provided with an ingredients list at least 4 days before the practical lesson

How can I support my child to do well in Food Preparation & Nutrition during Year 8?

Students should be encouraged to use a wide range of sources when conducting research tasks. These tasks may involve accessing the internet (this can be done in school or at the local library), watching cooking programmes on TV, conducting questionnaires, looking at books and magazines.
Whenever possible, students should be encouraged to practise cooking at home so that they can improve on what they have learnt in school.

What equipment may my child need in addition to the standard school equipment?

Aprons are provided for students.
Students must bring a named container suitable to carry their cooked product home safely.
Students must attend all lessons with pencil, ruler, rubber, sharpener and colouring pencils.
Students with long hair will need to have their hair tied back during practical lessons.
For Health and Safety reasons, it is essential that students wear black leather shoes for all Food lessons.

By the end of the year, what would an 'expert' be able to do in Food Preparation & Nutrition?

Apply their knowledge and understanding of ingredients to develop their own recipes and combine ingredients, taking into account their functions.
Prepare and make a product with minimal supervision, and confidently use a variety of different cooking techniques and equipment.
Demonstrate combining ingredients along with a variety of preparation and cooking techniques, in order to produce a product with a degree of accuracy.
Apply their knowledge and understanding of food safety and hygiene.
Show a good understanding of how balanced nutrition leads to a healthy diet.
Demonstrate adequate understanding of source, seasonality and characteristics of ingredients.
Carry out appropriate testing and evaluation of their product for the stage they are working towards.

My child is struggling during the course, what additional help is available to help them keep up?

If your child is struggling in Food Preparation, please ask them to be pro-active during the lesson and speak to the teacher directly for support. We also run after school clubs that can benefit any student that wants additional help.

Updated August 2023