Food

Design and Technology

Secondary

Lifestyle guru Carole Caplin teaches a KS3 food technology class

In an emotional and inspiring exercise, lifestyle guru Carole Caplin teaches a class of Key Stage 3 food technology pupils at the King John School in Benfleet, Essex. Carole's challenge is to teach a lesson about nutrition and the choices and consequences of eating and exercise habits. She discusses healthy ingredients for snack foods and attempts to illustrate an alternative physical exercise programme. The difficulty of communicating with teenagers is vividly illustrated as Carole tries every trick in the book to get her pupils to pay attention. At times, her teaching challenge is an uphill struggle, but she's finally rewarded with a lively and engaged class. There is superb commentary from teacher trainer Carole Woodhouse and a frank discussion about the techniques involved in successful teaching. How did Carole fare? Before "I think the thing that I'm most nervous about in teaching the kids today is either boring them to death or just not getting a response from them" "I am really nervous now. The worst thing I can do is fall flat on my face" After "That was a very humbling experience. I was the one that was having the lesson, not them" "With adults you've got life experience - with kids you've got a fresh piece of paper"

Carole Caplin

Dedicated staff overcome limited facilities at Parliament Hill

Despite limited facilities for teaching practical cooking, Parliament Hill School for Girls in north London have one key ingredient to success - their staff. Head of department James Sharp is a dedicated food technologist, as are his two deputy heads. This rubs off on the students as they become creative and ambitious, tackling a wide range of dishes. James emphasises the importance of retaining the design and technology aspect whilst stressing the importance of culinary skills. Parliament Hill are also spreading their enthusiasm for food technology by supporting neighbouring William Ellis Boys School, where a cooking club is held twice a week for their Year 10 and 11 boys.

Food Technology - Cooking - Learning to Cook at Parliament Hill

Getting results by putting enjoyment at the heart of cooking

Food technology teacher Chris Willingale encourages her students to experiment and enjoy cooking in order to get more from the subject. A Year 9 class prepares dishes based on staple foods with the students describing their dishes as they cook them. Later while eating their culinary creations they discuss the tastes and textures. In Year 7, the pupils take the opportunity to try out different flavours and choose healthy options with pizzas, and Year 11 students display their completed GCSE assignments. At an after school cooking club students, parents, carers, and staff cook together, furthering demonstrating that passion and commitment is key to success.

Food Technology - Cooking - Learning to Cook at Shenfield High

Three outside-classroom KS3/KS4 lesson ideas on food technology

This design and technology (D&T) lesson-planning resource presents three inspirational food technology lesson ideas, using learning outside of the classroom to instil in Key Stage 3/4 students a passion for food. During a visit to their local organic farm to see cows and sheep, secondary students are shown where their meat comes from. A trip to the butchers follows. In the second lesson idea, school inclusion manager James Spriggs shows how working on an allotment gives students the chance to plant crops and learn about growing their own produce. Finally, a school cook uses a pass-it-on approach to cooking, teaching students how to make a paella and asking them to share what they've learned with their families.

From Farm to Fork

A chef learns what it's like to cook against the school clock

Chef Michael Coaker visits Rosedale College, west London, and is challenged to complete a dish in a single 55 minute Year 9 food technology lesson. The head of food technology, Denise Buttigieg, takes a Year 9 class while Michael assists and prepares lemon curd and meringue for their lemon curd tartlets. It's a rush but they just about complete their product. Michael, who is working with the school as part of the Chefs Adopt a School project, takes over for the next Year 9 class. He pairs the students to do both the pastry and filling for a spinach and ricotta pasty. Again the pace is frantic and as the clock ticks down. It's a great experience for the students, as well as for Denise and Michael, and shows that even with the best facilities and a chef on hand, cooking in 55 minutes is a challenge.

KS3 Food Technology: 55 Minutes

Chef Michael Coaker creates a lesson for SEN pupils

Chef Michael Coaker creates a food technology lesson for pupils at a special educational needs school, using fruit and vegetables from the school's garden. He works with food technology teacher Pauline Salta at Belvue School, west London, to create a dish for the pupils to cook and share with friends. Michael decides on a vegetable curry prepared with herbs and spices, and uses the berries picked that morning to make fruit smoothies.

KS3 Food Technology: Belvue Garden Curry

Chef Michael Coaker cooks with Year 8s using school-grown produce

Chef Michael Coaker visits a Year 8 class at St Peter's Middle School in Windsor, to create dishes made using fruit and vegetables grown in the school gardens. Along with teacher Mary Beckford, the students cook chicken dishes, their home-grown vegetables and other produce from their garden. The roast is flavoured with chopped garlic, rosemary and sweetened with organic honey. But the most popular recipe is Eaton Mess, made with locally grown fruits. The students invite the rest of their class to share the meal they have cooked and they eagerly tuck in.

KS3 Food Technology: St Peter's Summer Roast

Group work in food technology, graphics and structures

This programme focuses on the use of group work in the classroom. It examines this technique as a useful means of encouraging creativity, sharing ideas and collaboration. Group Work in D&T 1 is based on the experiences of four teachers from Queens Park Community School in north London, a typical inner-city comprehensive. The examples of group work we see in this programme include: <ul> <li>Head of textiles, Sarah Philips working with small groups to design for disability, evaluating needs and existing products</li> <li>Jayne Downs using "snowballing" in Year 7 food, arranging children into ever-expanding groups to evaluate fruit drinks</li> <li>Head of department Aubrey Muchamore, beginning work on an A6 paper dispenser with groups evaluating existing work</li> <li>Srdjan Vasic using groups with Year 9 to build a load-bearing bridge from plastic straws and masking tape</li> </ul>

KS3/4 Design and Technology - Group Work in Design and Technology 1

Teachers discuss how group work can challenge expectations

In the previous programme, four D&amp;T teachers at Queens Park Community School in north London adopted a range of group work strategies. In this programme they watch a video of their day and discuss its implications. Key Stage 3 strategy consultant Gareth Stevens, from Harrow LEA, shares his observations and encourages them to see group work techniques as having a relevance in all sorts of lessons. They agree on the usefulness of the exercise and express surprise at how readily their pupils took to working in groups. They debate some interesting challenges including: <ul> <li>The role of the teacher</li> <li>When to intervene and when to leave pupils alone</li> <li>How best to organise the groups</li> </ul> A common observation is that group work suits particular children well, especially those who are often not engaged in more traditional activities. All four teachers reflect on the interplay between more and less able pupils and how their expectations are sometimes dramatically challenged.

KS3/4 Design and Technology - Group Work in Design and Technology 2

Students work with professional chefs to develop cooking skills

Professional chefs in the school restaurant at The Folkestone Academy in Kent work with students to help them develop culinary skills. Sita Himbury, a cooking instructor at the school, helps students experiment with different flavours by using locally produced ingredients. The KS3 students make dishes such as Thai green curry and follow variety of stir fry recipes, to develop their culinary skills. Keen students are given the opportunity to work in the school's restaurant with the Year 12 and 13 catering students, to get a taste of life in a hectic kitchen. Andy Ferguson, the head of food and catering believes many students find their food technology lessons inspiring, with the lessons helping them gain team building skills which they can use in the future.

Professional Development for Quality Teaching

Subjects

> Secondary Design and Technology

> Food