Given the task to read and review new GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition student revision guide books has been very interesting and enlightening. Each book has bought with it different strengths and each has come from a different angle in an effort to offer the student something that will best support them through the new GCSE. The key is that every schools is different, every teacher is different, every class is different and ultimately every student is different and therefore by each revision guide tailoring to a slightly different need they have succeeded in their aims to help and support and guide students through their  GCSE revision.

 

In my reviews, I have tried hard to give a balanced view of each revision guide book, being critical where I thought necessary and praising where I felt it was due. To compare and contrast has been more of a challenge and so to demonstrate an objective and fair review at the end I opted for a graphical comparison. I listed all the things I have come to expect of a revision guide in the way of helpful content and checked if each book had these. I then listed all of the attributes of a good revision guide and graded each book on each of these attributes (with five stars being the best). Finally, I looked at the all-important value for money comparison. What I strongly urge you all to do is read the whole review in its entirety and please do not to jump to see which is the cheapest or has the highest rating. The reason for this comes back to what I said at the beginning, every student is different, and you know your students far better than me and you will know what tone they will respond to, and what type of learning resources will be best for them.

 

Is food undervalued in your school? Time to change your headteacher's view of the subject!

 

We know that this summer term is always busy preparing for exams and with the additonal work created by the first run through of the new GCSE and vocational courses, so you may not thank us for suggested a task that will add 20 minutes to your busy workload.  But in future it may turn out to be the few minutes that saved your subject from cutback and funding loss.

1. Simply take a copy of your scheme of work and highlight brightly all the lessons and content that are about healthy eating and nutrition. 

2. Send it to your headteacher (*and governors) with a note reminding them of the new OFSTED well-being criteria, and suggesting that they might like a copy for their records for when OFSTED ask about the teaching of healthy eating so that your school can get 'outstanding' for this judgement.  

 

Find out more on the School Food Plan website

• The Inhouse Manager team input your scheme of works, recipes, and estimated uptake numbers into the system – the software is managed by your Account Manager for you
• You will then receive confirmation of the fixed price per pupil per lesson to provide ingredients for the period covered by your scheme of works
• Each week, you simply confirm the number of pupils who will be cooking the next week by entering these into the software (full training and support provided)
• Ingredients are delivered by Brakes / Bidvest etc. on pre-agreed days
• You then receive a weekly invoice charging for the number of pupils entered onto the system at the agreed fixed price
• No hidden costs – the software is free of any subscription or licence fees
• Your finance team can also access the system to access any financial information required

“Using Inhouse Manager provides a good affordable, reliable service.  It took no time at all to send our recipes to Inhouse Manager to set up deliveries.  We just place the order with Inhouse Manager, stating the day the students are cooking, and the ingredients are delivered to us.

All the ingredients we have had have been of a high quality.

Inhouse Manager spends time making sure we have the products we need, in the amounts needed. Any problems and they are there to help and advise.

They regularly keep in contact with the school, visiting, e-mail or phone, to address any problems or provide updates.

We have found them to be an asset in providing our students cooking ingredients.”

 

“We have been using the Inhouse Manger service for just over a term and have been surprised at how easy it has become to order our ingredients for lessons.  This new ordering system has saved time in relation to ordering and also reduced the paperwork I have to do for finance”.

 

Ross has presented at some of our best events and comes highly recommended!  He understands our work as a D&T teacher and Food teacher, and has some brilliant ideas. 

 

"We will explore the most up-to-date ideas from research and practice to re-boot your thinking so you can return to school, equipped with strategies to use immediately in your own classroom. We will also give you the tools to deliver the training yourself to share with your own colleagues."

 

It is only £59, and on Saturday 8th July in London.

IGD’s Free Food Science Summer Schools which will take place in June and July this year.

The summer schools are for year 12 students who are studying science. They showcase the important role of science in the food industry and the number of exciting careers available.

The courses are residential, hosted by four fantastic universities, and include activities ranging from developing products to visiting factories.

For more information visit igd.com/summerschools