Food and Nutrition Curriculum
Below are our Food and Nutrition frameworks:
Aim & Vision
Is to give our pupils vital life skills that enable them to feed themselves and others affordably and nutritiously, now and later in life.
Encourage the development of high skills and resilience in a safe environment, allowing students to demonstrate commitment and act on feedback.
Empower pupils to enable them to follow a recipe and substitute ingredients and cooking methods as appropriate, demonstrating an understanding of food choices e.g. veganism, allergies and healthy eating.
Develop understanding that will allow pupils to become discriminating consumers of food products, enabling them to participate in society in an active and informed manner.
Engage with pupils to encourage them to understand the environmental factors which affect food growing, production, distribution on both a local and global scale.
Allow pupils to explore a number of multicultural perspectives concerning food. Pupils will enhance their understanding, appreciation and acceptance of people from a variety of cultural backgrounds through the preparation of food from different countries and religious beliefs, with Kosher and Halal and other dishes prepared. Whilst developing an awareness and acceptance of diversity within our community.
Intent
The aims of the Food and Nutrition programmes of study, are designed to meet the needs of all of our learners, by offering a multi-tiered curriculum, that is broad and balanced.
Each level of learning will build independence, confidence and self-esteem, whilst giving a sense of achievement to every learner and prepare pupils for independent living.
All teaching supports learning and understanding in what a healthy and nutritious diet is and why it is important. We encourage pupils to try new foods and recipes that will create a comprehensive skill set to build upon throughout life.
The variety of learning routes we offer are based upon what each child needs from a holistic, life skill and positive sense of self perspective. Alongside this, we also offer a formal learning route that can lead to a qualification, a choice of college courses and future career options within the hospitality sector.
All of this is cocooned within a fun and relaxed learning environment, where students are encouraged to be themselves and change and adapt recipes to their own taste.
The department supports and follows a Growth Mindset approach.
Implementation
The Food and Nutrition Curriculum at The Mendip School is completely personalised for all pupils and uses a range of approaches and teaching styles with lots of explanation, modelling, scaffolding and practice. There are differentiated frameworks and the school/department adapts its approaches to the curriculum for pupils with different needs.
Holistic approach –
An opportunity for exploration and discovery with food. A chance to taste test, experiment with food textures and tastes, meet sensory needs and to have fun and enjoy being in the kitchen environment. To have a sense of achievement whilst learning a variety of skills from using kitchen equipment, understanding why it’s important to be clean and linking it to food safety and kitchen hygiene.
Identify and explore moral food practices, environmental factors such as food miles, sustainability, Fairtrade foods and dietary needs.
Formal approach –
To build on the holistic framework and follow the National Curriculum within KS3 and then pupils are able to access a qualification route via the school’s KS4 options. This will also support and progress the school’s holistic learning frameworks for all pupils that choose this route.
The learning framework and guidance for the Primary cohort will be a tiered differentiated offer including; healthy eating, appropriate levelled practical cooking, understanding of how to use equipment properly, health and safety in the kitchen and how that links into an individualised programme of learning, according to need.
All of this funnels into food preparation, cooking and of course, eating!
Impact –
That learners develop detailed knowledge and skills across the whole curriculum.
Pupils to show progression in their learning and understanding through formative and summative assessment including practical and written evidence logged onto Evidence for Learning.
Pupils will be able to reflect on their finished products by evaluating their work and adapting recipes.
The curriculum will offer practical and aspirational life choices, which will assist pupils and their families in preparing for adult life.
To know what a healthy, well balanced diet is, linking it to the Eatwell guide.
To build on individual social skills and enjoy the process of sharing time with others when cooking.
To experience the enjoyment and pleasure that preparing, cooking and eating food can bring.
To create independence in adult life with budgeting, shopping, preparing and cooking food.
Food and Nutrition class room prepped for a primary practical lesson, making mini fruit cakes.
Food and Nutrition class ready for a secondary group to work independently following a pictorial method of making.
