Food Technology 2011
At St. Edmund's students from Stage 5, Years 9 and 10 participate in weekly Food Technology lessons. These lessons aim to engage and challenge each student to learn new skills and develop knowledge that will contribute to their on-going learning and independence.
Topics covered throughout the year include hygiene and safe practices in the selection, handling and storage of food, nutritional value of food items, gathering information from a variety of sources, participation in making food items, following recipes and exploring foods from other cultures.
Food Technology each week involves the preparation of food items and cooking, an activity all students love, especially due to the 'hands-on' approach to learning. Students are able to follow the procedure using their individual recipe books, complete with visuals to ensure all students are actively involved in this process. Students are encouraged to take their recipe books home on the weekend to practice with their family. The goal is for students to be able to develop confidence in the kitchen, either independently or with minimal supervision. These skills may assist students in the future as they seek to find employment in the hospitality industry.
The other two periods of Food Technology involve literacy and technology activities. These lessons relate to the students recipes and also to the theory component of food tech. In Terms 3 and 4, students study a different country each week, cooking specific foods related to that country and researching the country using the internet and library books.
Some "Celebrity Chefs' (parents, friends, teachers) will be visiting the students helping them cook special foods from other cultures. Food being cooked includes recipes from Greece, Thailand, India, South America and Japan.