Head of Department:  Ms S Greenwood

Year 9

This is a foundation year for the hospitality and catering GCSE. During this year pupils are encouraged to develop an awareness of a range of catering establishments and the types of food produced for them. We also enter national competitions. Students in year 9 enter the red tractor make it with mince challenge and the rotary young chef challenge.

The internal finals are held on open evening for the year 6 students to see.

In the first term they all spend 5 weeks consolidating their mince cooking skills from year 8 and learning how to formally enter a national competition on line. Each student has to produce an entry for the Make it with Mince Red Tractor competition. They have to design produce cost and present their entry. The best two from each group go on to the school cook offs on open evening in the autumn term. The entries are judged by GCSE catering students and staff.. The best 4 are entered as the school entry. I am delighted to say that last year Mickey Wigmore got through to the regional final and cooked for James Martin at the Leiths Coookery school in London. He came a very respectable 4th out of 8.

Following on from the competitions pupils concentrate on developing a range of pastry making skills including short crust and choux as well as learning how to use Puff  and Filo pastry in imaginative ways. The second half of the term is spent looking at celebration products using pastry and other ingredients to produce commercial standard dishes. Students are assessed on their technical skills and the suitability of the product produced. They are able to choose the occasion and the target client group.

In the second term pupils develop an awareness of healthy eating and vegetarianism. They are encouraged to look at alternative proteins and their role in a modern diet. They look at the types and reasons for vegetarianism to develop an awareness of the customers needs. They complete a learning land mark on the safe and correct use of knives which links well into the use of a range of knives to cut the variety of vegetables and fruits used. In the second part of the term

We complete a café and convenience foods task.

Convenience foods are very much a part of our lives and pupils learn what they are and how healthy they are or not! And how they can be used in situations where time ,space and equipment may be limited. They are asked to design a themed café and appropriate menus for that café which show good use of convenience foods. They then have to plan cost produce and serve a 2 course meal as their practical assessment. Finally they evaluate the task and present their folder. For GCSE  grading.

In the final term students are encouraged to look at the commercial benefits of producing confectionery for sale. They complete a term long project aiming to find the most commercially viable confectionery product . This involves them doing market research, testing and developing biscuits and cakes, whilst looking at portioning and costs shelf life and acceptability to the customer. Pupils are expected to produce a detailed report on the project and the final costs packaging and promotion. The product which is most profitable and presented to a high standard will get a prize.

Catering year 10 WJEC Hospitality and Catering single award

 This is a two year course which consists of two practical assignments totaling 60% of the overall mark and one written paper taken at the end of year 11 for 1 hour 15minutes and accounts for 40% of the overall mark.

 The course is designed to give pupils a wide range of skills which can be applied to a variety of catering situations ranging from mobile catering to restaurants.

 In the first term student revise and refine their pastry making skills adapting recipes and developing new decorative techniques. They start to build a bank of recipes in their own file on the nutrition program which will enable them to cost and evaluate the nutritional content of all dishes chosen. This remains with the student until the end of Year11.

At this stage of the course I try to encourage pupils to enter national competitions. We enter the Rotary young chef where Rotary support our students and The Future chef where pupils are encouraged to develop ideas independently and professionally. I am proud to say that we had great success in both of these this year.  Megan Thurston achieving a place in the regional final of the rotary competition and Emily Senior coming runner up by just one mark in the regional final of the Future chef.

In the second half of the term students are given the brief to produce a 4 course Christmas meal for 6 people with a budget of £ 5.50 per head. This involves them working with an allocated group of peers they may not usually choose to work with. This helps them develop a respect for others needs and abilities. The groups study meal planning and costs before they select the dishes they wish to test for starters, mains, desserts and petit fours. Once they have selected the menu they have to work as a team to plan how to prepare cook and serve it in 1 hour. This involves them selecting a team leader who is responsible for co coordinating the group and the budget. Pupils will then cook serve and eat the meal which should be presented on a decorated table with crackers and other Christmas items. When they have finished they complete an evaluation and submit a folder of evidence to be assessed. They are also graded and assessed to GCSE criteria for the practical work.

In the second term pupils focus on special diets and alternative proteins with an emphasis on creating interesting vegetarian dishes for catering establishments. This leads onto work on vegetables and fruits.

Pupils will start planning for their 15 hour assignment. This will take place under controlled conditions and is the first of their timed assessed tasks and is worth 20% of their overall mark. The task is set by the exam board and pupils are encouraged to research and develop their own ideas in the assignment. It will involve them planning and completing a practical in 90 minutes where 4 dishes will need to be produced for two people.  They will complete this under exam conditions at a stipulated time. They will then do a detailed evaluation. This is then typed up and presented as a report for assessment.

In the final term students work on practical skills which will show a progression for the basic skills in year 9. They will be encouraged to use other cultures for inspiration and various cooking methods and ingredients. There will be a focus on the staple foods from different cultures and how they can add interest to catering menus. They will also enter the Brockenhurst College Craft Guild of Chefs competition sponsored by Crown Moran Hotels

During the end of this term pupils will prepare and take an end of year 10 internally assessed examination followed by a work experience fortnight which can be catering related.

Year 11

The focus for work in year 11 is knowledge and skills based giving the pupils opportunities to develop their understanding of nutrition and food safety through research and individual and group presentations. The aim is to develop the pupils research and communication skills whilst focusing on detailed information around food safety and nutrition. They will produce individual hand outs and presentations to the group to show their achievements. The nutrition work will also include producing two or more dishes rich in a specific nutrient to show to the rest of the group. They will use the nutritional program to test the content and explain the results to their peers. This will lead into another practical session which is assessed to the Exam board criteria based on healthy eating and this too will involve the nutritional analysis of the dish and costs

Following on from this pupils will look at cooking methods and how healthy they are. They will look and use deep fat fryers, grills and slow cookers. They will have to plan cook and serve 3 dishes in a double lesson. They will need to plan and prepare well for this. They again will be assessed on the GCSE criteria. 

After this practical session they will do a detailed evaluation of how it went in preparation for their final assignment. Developing this process further They will have input on portioning costs and skills to help them make decisions for their final assignment.

Following half term they will start their final practical assignment which is a controlled assessment taking 30 hours in total as is worth 40% of the overall mark. The topic is set by the exam board and all work has to be logged as in year 10. The final practical will take place after Christmas in a designated week. They will have 2 hours to cook a range of dishes showing high levels of skill and planning. The dishes are expected to be served at the correct temperature, be well planned and dove tailed, to be analyzed according to cost and nutritional content as well as being of salable quality. The written element of the assignment assignment has to be presented to a high standard with references made to sources and appendixes for additional raw data.

On completion of this task pupils will follow a detailed revision program of lessons and past exam papers to prepare for their final exam. A written paper taking 1 ¼ hours worth 40% of the overall mark.