Catering
Welcome to the Catering Department.
The Departments belief……Eat for Life!
Food Technology /Catering/Hospitality are subjects that are for life: all of us need food to sustain us and eating food, particularly dining out, is seen as an enjoyable experience. These subjects are important as it helps students gain an understanding of the constituents of food and the dietary needs of individuals; through practical application the students develop the qualities of sensitivity, creativity and aesthetic appreciation as well as having an interest in, and enjoyment of, food preparation, presentation and service fostered.
The Food Technology/Catering/Hospitality department presents a stimulating and meaningful learning experience for students, both in class and through homework tasks. It aims to provide them with opportunities to develop their practical skills and carry out research from a variety of sources whilst also reflecting on their learning. The courses incorporate ICT and other transferable key skills, essential for equipping students for life long learning.
Curriculum
The department is made up of a recently refurbished, state of the art, dedicated teaching room. In addition to excellent facilities for practical work, including a specialist catering area, the room is also equipped with 21 fully networked computers.
Key Stage 3
Food is part of Design Technology, a core subject at KS3 with pupils having 4 hours of lessons per fortnight – in years 7 and 8 pupils will study food as part of a cyclical programme which also includes other areas of design technology. The programme focuses on developing skills – particularly an awareness of health and safety and practical skills. In year 9 pupils may complete an extended design based task through the medium of food. Through Food Technology pupils develop many key skills, including literacy, numeracy, ICT, and also creativity, problem solving, teamwork, independent research and empathy.
Key Stage 4
Catering is a well established GCSE course, results are consistently good with students often achieving or exceeding their target grades. The course develops an awareness of the structure of the catering industry and an introduction to career opportunities and further study within it. Practical work is an integral and essential element of the course, at the end of year 10 and in the Spring term of year 11 students are required to carry out a practical assessment which is submitted to the WJEC as part of their final GCSE grading. As part of the course students may be given the opportunity to participate in a week long “Teen Cuisine” course at Deeside College.
Hospitality is an exciting new BTEC course that is being introduced in September 2010. GCSEs are not be the only education route that leads to university or a successful career, this course offers applied learning related to work. Students study real-life, work-based case studies and complete projects and assessments, which contribute to them achieving the qualification. The main focus will be on contemporary world food - the aim of this unit is to enable learners to gain knowledge of the equipment, food items, methods and styles used to prepare and cook selected contemporary world dishes and the skills required to prepare, cook, present and review them. As part of the course students may also be given the opportunity to participate in a week long “Teen Cuisine” course at Deeside College
Key Stage 5
Health and Social Care is offered to students at GCE level. At AS level three units of work are covered and, to complete the full A level, a further three units are studied. One unit is examination based in each year and the others are all assessed assignments. Part of the AS also requires students to spend a week of work experience in a related setting – many students have undertaken this in residential homes or in nurseries where the focus has been on them assessing, developing and evaluating their communication skills. The course develops essential key skills and often challenges pupils by putting them in positions “outside of their comfort zones” – for example planning and delivering a health promotion to Year 8 pupils as part of an assessed assignment. Students who have followed the course at SRG have gone on to higher education courses related to nursing, speech therapy, social work, teaching, nursery assistants etc.