Aims and purposes of Food Technology

To:

· Learn how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating.

· Acquire an enjoyment of cooking and use it as a means of self-expression.

· Be creative and imaginative in producing dishes.

· Explore food and cooking from other cultures and countries.

· Learn about seasonality and responsible, ethical food production and consumption.

· Be able to feed themselves and others affordably and well, now and in later life.

Content

Students should:

· understand and apply the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes;

· understand where food comes from;

· prepare and cook a variety of predominantly savoury dishes using a range of cooking techniques;

· understand seasonality, and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed;

· understand the characteristics of a broad range of ingredients;

· 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 recipes.]

Language and communication

Students should:

• think creatively about cooking and enjoy developing their ideas;

• ask and answer questions about ingredients and techniques and how these help them to develop their ideas, including recording ideas;

• develop language skills through talking about their work and presenting their own ideas using sustained and systematic writing of different kinds;

• use technical vocabulary and conventions, and draw diagrams and charts to communicate ideas;

• read non-fiction and extract information from sources such as reference books or internet resources;

• discuss and compare their own and others' work and explain their own views.

Values and attitudes

Students should:

• develop respect for their own and others' work and learn how to offer and receive constructive feedback and praise;

• work with others, listening to and respecting each other's ideas and learning to value different strengths and interests within the group;

• develop a respect for the ingredients and resources that they use in their work and learn to evaluate critically their own and others' use of these;

• develop a respect for the environment and living things and for their own health and safety.

Building on students’ earlier experiences

These experiences are likely to have included:

• asking questions about why things happen;

• exploring colour, texture, shape and form;

• investigating a variety of objects, materials and ingredients;

• learning about themselves and living things;

• looking closely at similarities and differences, patterns and change;

• talking about their observations and sometimes recording them;

• being imaginative and creative and making connections between one area of learning and another.

Health and safety

Teaching risk concepts to students will help them make their own decisions about risk so that they can:

• recognise the existence of hazards, risks and uncertainty in a range of contexts;

• assess their own ability, and the ability of others, to deal with different situations;

• assess the consequences when dealing with hazards presented to themselves and others;

• seek advice from appropriate sources to minimise and manage risk;

• understand that rules and regulations follow from risk assessment and help define individual and collective responsibility.

Features of progression

Planning to help children get better at Food Technology involves:

• extending the breadth of content by providing opportunities for students to:

• respond to personal, social and environmental iss

• participate in an increasing range of practical experiences;

• engage with cooking in a variety of styles and traditions.

• increasing students’ depth of knowledge and understanding of:

• visual and tactile elements of ingredients and food;

• the role and function of food and cooking in different times and cultures.

• improving the quality of students’ response and outcomes through the development of:

• practical and technical skills;

• the ability to reflect on, adapt and improve their work and make independent choices and decisions about its purpose and meaning;

• the ability to critically evaluate the work of themselves and others and to apply their learning in the context of their own ideas, methods and approaches.