Yr9 Choosing options- Food & Nutrition GCSE AQA???

[kimlek]

My yr9 DD is choosing options. She's wondering what the Food & Nutrition GCSE will be like. It's with AQA and will be 50% internally assessed coursework & 50% end of year exam. ALL her other subjects are academic and linear. She should have an art/tech and enjoys cooking. Are any of your DSs/DDs currently doing this course? Or recently done it? How are they finding it? Is the coursework all at school or at home? Any info much appreciated!! Huge thanks in advance!

Yes - DD1 will be taking it next summer, so I don't know whether it will be different as she's in the last group to get A-G's.

She loves it, it's a nice break from all the academic stuff in the other subjects - although there is a lot of theory, it's not all practical. She did her first assessed practical last year and got an A*.

The coursework has mostly been done at school, but she has done a lot if practice for the practicals at home (no wonder I'm fat!)

Just be prepared for the cost - I'd say it's cost he at least £10 a week on ingredients plus more when she's practising at home.

The new GCSE Food Prep & Nutrition is awarded on the new 1-9 scale.

All the 50% non examined assessment which is coursework is done in school and will be strictly controlled.

It is different to Food Tech which finishes with this years Y11.

There is a lot more scientific nutritional content.

Specification and exemplar paper on the AQA website.

My daughter is going this GCSE and is Y10. I am also a Food teacher.

Although people label food non academic the new course certainly is academic. I always say don't choose it just to cook as the academic elements are rigorous.

Agree about cost though. It's not cheap unless the teacher makes sure they use reasonably priced recipes and buys in extras such as herbs and spices to save parents spending loads when only a teaspoon of something is needed.

My Y10 son is doing this and is thoroughly enjoying it. There are only four of them in the group and the teacher is apparently kind and motherly :)

So far they have made a Yule log, bolognese sauce and then a lasagna the following week, sausage rolls, white sauce, Thai green curry, fish cakes to name but a few. Very acceptable family meals!

Thank you everyone! This is very helpful - she's more science orientated than arstitic but is quite creative and enjoys 'experimenting' with (ruining) recipes!
teletone Is the coursework submitted/done at the end of the 2 years or during the course at specific stages please?
teletone, alisoncoggs, bustle How many other subjects are your DCs doing along with this Food one please? Are the rest all v academic?
Again, thank you!

Yes, all his other subjects are academic with more on the science side. He had to choose either design, art or food tech I think in his option block - very small secondary. He got quite a bit of grief from other pupils about choosing food tech as not seen as a cool subject but he is really pleased he wasn't swayed.
have to say, other than making a few meals at home from time to time, he hasn't practised... I think I might have to get him to do something this weekend. They're making puff pastry today apparently and the teacher is providing all ingredients. I think I spend about £15 per month on food, but it's not too bad as it's quite often enough for an evening meal for a family of four.

Thanks - alison can I ask how many he's doing altogether please?

He's doing 9 in total. his other non-core subjects are computer science, french, and geography - which he is finding surprisingly tough and boring.

Ah thank you! Her school is encouraging 10, which seems a lot imo when they are all linear and supposedly more rigorous with the new 1-9 grades! Albeit they can choose to do 9 if they've dyslexia etc or they do something major extracurricular. She doesn't but... she'd really like the timetabled study periods of doing 9 rather than 10. Food would be her 10th. Sounds like a good course though and allows for a bit of creativity! Oh I don't know. 9 or 10? Food or study? decisions decisions!!

My Dd is doing 9 in total, and yes the rest are all academic. She's also very into science and is hoping to do triple science at sixth form. And yes Alison she also says geography is boring and not what she expected!

My Dd is doing 10 other GCSES.

As for when they submit controlled assessment (CA) It is all in Y11.

AQA don't release the task titles until the September and November of the academic year the work is submitted.

So students would acquire the knowledge in Y10 then complete CA in Y11 then have preparation and revision time in the second part of Y11.

That's all really helpful - thank you so much everybody! Mine is also considering geography - Shane if it's boring! I think her geography is igcse (if that makes a difference?) with Cambridge (CIE). Hoping that's less boring (??)

Put simply (in DS' words) in Food and Nutrition, you "cook something, get someone to taste it and write about it". I hope there's much more to it.

For me, the added value of Food Tech is that my son is actually learning skills that will be of practical use for the rest of his life. I can't remember much of my GCSE syllabus at al 25 years later, but I hope he will remember how to chop an onion and store food at the right temperature. I know many will say that these are things that you learn along the way, but DS certainly wasn't showing much interest in cooking at all before, beyond the occasional toastie. I think it will set him up in good stead for uni and make him a good husband!

My DS did this course and loved it. He's very academic (got 10 top grades in the 2020 CAGs) so I was unsure when he said he wanted to do it, but we respected his choice and didn't regret it. It's not easy - they learn some complex cooking skills, which need to be practiced at home, and in their main assessment they have to make 3 sophisticated dishes in a certain amount of time, including cleanup (think master chef) as well as preparing a written project. There's some science in it too, e.g. comparing different raising agents. I really feel the course has set him up for life, and will have no qualms about sending him off to university knowing that he can not only cook basics, but also make pastry, bread, gut fish, do fancy toppings, and understand how to work out the nutrition info for the things he makes.

@Middelingland

My DS did this course and loved it. He's very academic (got 10 top grades in the 2020 CAGs) so I was unsure when he said he wanted to do it, but we respected his choice and didn't regret it. It's not easy - they learn some complex cooking skills, which need to be practiced at home, and in their main assessment they have to make 3 sophisticated dishes in a certain amount of time, including cleanup (think master chef) as well as preparing a written project. There's some science in it too, e.g. comparing different raising agents. I really feel the course has set him up for life, and will have no qualms about sending him off to university knowing that he can not only cook basics, but also make pastry, bread, gut fish, do fancy toppings, and understand how to work out the nutrition info for the things he makes.

The thread is 4 years old - the op's daughter will have taken her exams already!