Curriculum Intent

The Design Technology/Food curriculum at St Thomas’s Centre will promote:

Personal Development – to develop healthy individuals

• Understand and apply the principles of nutrition and health
• Understand how nutritional needs vary with age and health conditions
• Understand the source, seasonality and characteristics of a broad range of ingredients
• Demonstrate a repertoire of predominantly savoury dishes, as part of a healthy and varied affordable diet

Instilling a love of cooking that leads to self-sufficiency and independence

Caring Attitudes – To make a positive contribution to the community

• Understand the economic, environmental, ethical, religious and socio-cultural influences on food availability, production processes and diet and health choices
• Understand how food contributes to various religious and spiritual events and celebrations
• Explore a range of ingredients and processes from different culinary traditions

Instilling a love of cooking that enable students to feed themselves and others

Academic Achievement - To make, at least, the expected academic progress

• Ensuring that students achieve their expectations in a creative and innovative way
• Demonstrate knowledge of functional chemical and nutritional properties, the sensory qualities and the microbiological considerations leading to food preparation
• Critique, evaluate and test food and the food of others

Apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating in learning between subjects and beyond the classroom as understanding of nutrition and food ultimately fuels better academic success across the curriculum

Key Stage 3 overview

Cooking and nutrition: As part of their work with food, students will be taught how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating.  Instilling a love of cooking will also open a door to one of the great expressions of human creativity.  Learning how to cook is a crucial life skill that enables students to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.  Students will be taught to:

• understand and apply the principles of nutrition and health 
• cook a repertoire of predominantly savoury dishes so that they are able to feed themselves and others a healthy and varied diet 
• become competent in a range of cooking techniques [for example, selecting and preparing ingredients; using utensils and electrical equipment; applying heat in different ways; using awareness of taste, texture and smell to decide how to season dishes and combine ingredients; adapting and using their own recipes] 

understand the source, seasonality and characteristics of a broad range of ingredients