Cooking in the curriculum
Actions in the School Food Plan
The Action:
Put cooking into the curriculum: make cooking and food an entitlement in Key Stages 1 to 3
Practical cookery and food education is now compulsory in the new national curriculum for pupils up to the end of key stage 3 (age 14).
In September 2014, cooking and food education became compulsory in the national curriculum for pupils up to the end of key stage 3. The new curriculum lays out the importance of ‘instilling a love of cooking’ in pupils from a young age. Taking the lead from the new cooking curriculum, the Department for Education launched a new ‘Food Preparation and Nutrition GCSE’ for teaching from 2016.
A wealth of teaching resources and support are now available for schools to start delivering great cooking and food education. There are a number of organisations creating continuing professional development (CPD) resources for food teachers. These resources can be accessed from the links at the side. TES have also created a dedicated food education hub to support teachers.
To see what’s worked well in other schools, visit the What Works Well website which brings together the best examples and ideas across food education – from growing fruit and veg to cooking skills to learning about food sourcing and production.
