Learning

Food and Nutrition in our Academy will equip our pupils with the knowledge, understanding and skills required to cook and apply the principles of food science, nutrition and healthy eating. Pupils learn the study of food science and how food changes and why. Food safety underpins the subject, which ensures our Bluecoat Wollaton pupils know how to cook and prepare food safely.  Bluecoat Wollaton pupils are taught about the curriculum links to RS; with food beliefs and choices, with links to History on changes to eating patterns and food availability.  Geography with topics such as sustainability and provenance, or global food culture links Science; food chemistry and properties, microbiology and nutrition, food technology and future food. Our pupils are taught the chemical structure of ingredients so that they have a real understanding of what each ingredients function is in a recipe. They are then able to identify why a recipe has not worked and make changes whilst being able to comprehensively explain why.

Pupils develop essential life skills such as the ability to prepare and cook dishes from a range of countries and cultures, developing curiosity about the world around them. They learn about the importance of nutrient-dense foods and the effect an unbalanced diet can have upon health. Pupils carry out tasks hygienically and learn about the correct storage of different commodities, alongside the legislation followed in the food industry.

Pupils become eco-friendly cooks ensuring their practices are sustainable and have an understanding of how menus are constantly changing, to ensure the needs of all customers are met – for example customers with special dietary needs or choices. They also consider how to plan menus to adhere to a design brief and budget, making them more considerate consumers in the process.

Our curriculum encourages all pupils to cook and enable them to make informed decisions about a wide range of further learning opportunities and career pathways as well as develop vital life skills that enable them to feed themselves, and others, affordably and nutritiously, now and later in life.

AQA GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition (8585)

This qualification is linear. Linear means that students will sit their exam and submit their non-exam assessment at the end of the course.

Paper 1: Food preparation and nutrition

What’s assessed: Theoretical knowledge of food preparation and nutrition from Sections 1 to 5.

How it’s assessed:

  • Written exam: 1 hour 45 minutes
  • 100 marks
  • 50% of GCSE
  • Multiple choice questions (20 marks)
  • Five questions each with a number of sub questions (80 marks)

Non-exam assessment (NEA)

What’s assessed: 

Task 1: Food investigation (30 marks)
Students’ understanding of the working characteristics, functional and chemical properties of ingredients. Practical investigations are a compulsory element of this NEA task.

Task 2: Food preparation assessment (70 marks)
Students’ knowledge, skills and understanding in relation to the planning, preparation, cooking, presentation of food and application of nutrition related to the chosen task. Students will prepare, cook and present a final menu of three dishes within a single period of no more than three hours, planning in advance how this will be achieved.

How it’s assessed:

  • Task 1: Written or electronic report (1,500–2,000 words) including photographic evidence of the practical investigation.
  • Task 2: Written or electronic portfolio including photographic evidence. Photographic evidence of the three final dishes must be included.

Contact Us

Bluecoat Wollaton Academy
Sutton Passeys Crescent
Wollaton Park
Nottingham
NG8 1EA

E-mail: office@bluecoatwollaton.co.uk
Tel: 0115 900 72 10

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