Food Technology

Association of Master Chefs of Great Britain

(Not to be confused with Masterchef BBC TV Series)

We have been very fortunate to have Grant Hawthorne in school for the past two weeks taking interactive master classes with the Year 9 pupils. Grant is one of 230 Master Chefs who form the association. Their aim is to bring their art and expertise to schools and young people to give them an insight into the profession and what it has to offer. He is very keen to form links with St Catherine's and to visit us on a regular basis throughout the year. He will be one of our 'Auction' bids at the next fund raising event we have in 2013.

The girls have learnt how to fillet fish, use professional equipment, bone game and best of all taste a number of new dishes including very tasty black pudding! We are looking forward to his next visit.

Janet Saddler
Head of Food Technology

Year 5 Healthy Eating Project.

Pupils used Moraid as their model. The idea of the project is to consider Healthy Options rather than Junk Foods.

The lesson was spent discussing Healthy Eating and the production of a slogan to encourage pupils to Eat Healthy. The slogan they came up with was Eat Smart for a Healthy heart.

Healthy Eating

BRITISH FOOD FORTNIGHT

As part of the Year 9 curriculum we are studying British Regional Foods in Food Technology. There is an initiative to encourage the use of seasonal, local foods and we are very fortunate to be able to use the Master Chefs of Great Britain forum.

Grant Hawthorne from The Waterside Restaurant Bray is coming in on 13th and 14th of this month to give a master class demonstration to the girls. He has offered to do a series of demonstrations throughout the year and I hope to include all senior girls and possibly an event for parents.

Mrs Saddler
Head of Food Technology

Food Technology - Introduction

This subject is studied by all pupils at St. Catherine’s and follows the guidelines for Key Stage 3 of the National Curriculum.

Pupils are taught basic cookery techniques in a variety of topics ranging from “Healthy Snack Foods” to “Food Around the World”.

Pupils are encouraged to eat a healthy diet and be aware of basic nutrition for a healthy lifestyle.

The subject is taught in Year 10 and Year 11 only as an option for GCSE.

GCSE Results 2011

GCSE Results for 2011 were extremely pleasing with a 100% pass rate A* - B.

Forthcoming Events in Food Technology

We are planning a ‘Ready Steady Cook’ event in the Autumn Term. Each House will select their most accomplished cooks from Yr7 – 13 to produce a 2 course meal during a 1hour lunch time session.

Get your hats on girls and start gathering your ideas together!

OCR GCSE in Design and Technology (Food Technology)

GCSE Full Course

From September 2009, the GCSE is made up of four mandatory units which are the two corresponding GCSE (Short Course) units, forming 50% of the overall full course assessment and two further units, one of which is internally assessed and forms 30% of the overall assessment and the other is externally assessed and forms 20% of overall assessment.

There are four units available for Design and Technology: Food Technology. They are:
Unit A521: Introduction to designing and making
Unit A522: Sustainable design
Unit A523 Making quality products
Unit A524: Technical aspects of designing and making

GCSE candidates must take all four units (in any order) whilst short course candidates only take units A521 and A522 (in any order).

Examination Assessment

2 Written Papers 1hr 15 minutes each paper (external assessment)
2 Product Portfolios (Internal Assessment) 1 in Year 10; 1 in Year 11

Staff
Mrs. Saddler

Year 7

The topic delivered to pupils is entitled “Healthy Eating”. During the rotation they will learn, through practical based tasks, the general rules of basic hygiene, safety and nutrition.

Through the practical tasks they will learn how to use basic kitchen equipment, cookers, microwave and conventional (gas and electric) and presentation skills both theoretical and practical.

By the end of the unit pupils will be able to produce a three course meal with the skills learnt and be able to develop ideas with a view to producing food products independently.

Year 8

“Food on the Move” is the project delivered to pupils in Year 8. During the rotation pupils work in pairs to produce a savoury and sweet product that can be taken on a picnic. The product must be nutritious and healthy, the aim of this unit is to encourage pupils to be more discerning about the foods they eat and learn to make informed choices about a healthy diet.

Year 9

“Food Around the World” is delivered to pupils in Year 9. The object of the unit is to introduce pupils to different cultures and a variety of taste that they may not have experienced in the past. By the end of the unit pupils will be able to produce a two course meal, in pairs, from a given country. They must research the country , religion, tourism, foods and any other information they feel informative regarding the project.

All pupils will produce a folder of work, reporting and evaluating on a weekly basis. The portfolio gives pupils a reference base from each year to build on, it also gives an insight into the discipline required should they wish to progress on to GCSE in Food Technology.