“Food is something we all have in common; it shapes our lives personally, socially, culturally, and economically.”

KS4 Specification

OCR GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition.

National Curriculum

Gladesmore Community School prides ourselves on delivering the breadth and ambition of the National Curriculum.

Curriculum Intent

Food is something we all have in common; it shapes our lives personally, socially, culturally, and economically. The Food Technology department believes that it is important that every student is equipped with the understanding and tools needed to make healthier food choices, and to be able to plan affordable meals for both themselves and others later on in life. 

The adaptability of our subject reflects our diverse local community which is based in an inner-city deprived area.  Our curriculum allows us to embrace various cultures, religions and moral influences, by learning about traditional and international cuisines. We also provide the necessary financial assistance to ensure all students are enabled to participate. 

The Food Technology curriculum has been written in line with our school’s curriculum policy to instil a love of learning in students and to prepare them with the skills and knowledge they will require in the next phase of their education. We provide a relevant and contemporary curriculum which develops students' understanding of how to cook and apply the principles of nutrition and healthy eating. Our subject allows us to adapt various teaching styles to engage all learners' critical and analytical skills, including those in the foundation group. We aim to ignite our students’ curiosity about food — where it comes from, how our body utilises it and the working characteristics of ingredients — coupled with teaching students a range of essential practical cooking skills and techniques. Such skills can also open the door to a host of other important learning experiences, including creative expression; the development of a progressive mindset about food and nutrition; the exploration of all our senses and the use of maths and science concepts in a practical way.   

We fully address the requirements of the National Curriculum by ensuring students are taught the principles of predominantly savoury dishes. It enables students to be challenged to have a more conscious approach in their selection and cooking of food that is healthy; encouraging critical thinking about seasonality and our environmental impact on food, as well as the various lifestyle choices and socio-economic factors surrounding our food choices. Students are given additional opportunities to expand their creative and practical skills in cooking sweeter dishes through enrichment opportunities such as our weekly cooking club and additional tuition.  

Our Food Technology curriculum has been designed to build on a Key Stage 2 framework of knowledge about the basics of food and nutrition. At Gladesmore, this is further developed in Key Stage 3 through the learning of theory, the application of high skilled recipes and the use of specialist equipment. Our teaching of more demanding skills and techniques ensures our students become confident cooks who are fully prepared to take GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition successfully at KS4 as an option. We encourage similar success at Key Stage 5 and beyond through our lesson incorporation of the various career sectors and routes which can be taken in the food industry, by exploring, for example, a day in the life of a nutritionist.  

Fundamentally, as a department, we ensure that the learning of Food Technology enables our students to have a secure understanding of the importance and impacts of all our food choices — and the foundations for a healthy diet and lifestyle in the future.

Curriculum Summary