Home Economics & Child Development Department

Introduction

Cooking Well doesn’t mean cooking fancy.

– Julia Child

At Key Stage 4 we deliver GCSE Food & Nutrition and GCSE Child Development. For specifications please click on the following link: http://ccea.org.uk/home_economics/

GCSE Food & Nutrition

The CCEA GCSE Home Economics: Food and Nutrition specification encourages students to develop knowledge and understanding of the science behind food. 

The Food and Nutrition specification includes topics such as food provenance, food processing and production, macronutrients and micronutrients, government nutritional guidelines, and food safety. Students develop practical skills in food preparation, cooking and presentation.

Students will learn about the nutritional content of foods and how to meet the specific nutritional and dietary needs of different groups of people. To do this, they modify recipes and plan, prepare and cook meals and dishes that reflect current government nutritional guidelines. They also study how to be an effective consumer in food choices, food safety and managing resources.

This qualification builds on the knowledge, understanding and skills developed through the Science and Technology and Learning for Life and Work Areas of Learning.

This specification is a linear qualification: students take all the assessment at the end of the course.

The specification has two units:

• Unit 1: Food and Nutrition
• Unit 2: Practical Food and Nutrition.

GCSE Child Development

The CCEA GCSE Home Economics: Child Development specification is a broad, coherent course on the development of babies and small children (0–5 years). 

It encourages students to develop knowledge, understanding and skills, including practical skills, by focusing on these key areas:

• pregnancy, childbirth and caring for a newborn baby;
• the responsibilities involved in parenting and other family roles; and
• the social, physical, intellectual, communication and emotional development of small children, including their dietary, health and educational needs.

Students develop subject-specific skills such as evaluating feeding options for a baby. They also learn about relevant scientific and technological developments. This course prepares students for further study in child health or education, or the world of work.

This qualification builds on the knowledge, understanding and skills developed through the Science and Technology and Learning for Life and Work Areas of Learning.

There are two written exams, each worth 30% of the overall mark, and one controlled assessment task, worth 40%.

This specification is unitised, so it’s possible to take part of the assessment at the end of the first year of study.

The specification has three units:

• Unit 1: Parenthood, Pregnancy and the Newborn Baby
• Unit 2: The Development of the Child (0-5 Years)
• Unit 3: Investigation Task.

Many of our pupils choose to study Health & Social Care at Post 16 Level.

 There is no sincerer love than the love of good food.

George Bernard Shaw

Cooking is like painting or writing a song. Just as there are only so many notes or colours, there are only so many flavours – it’s how you combine them that sets you apart.

Wolfgang Puck