Welcome to Smithdon High School’s Food Technology department. We are pleased to be able to offer such a high-quality opportunity to teach you this very important life skill, which is not just fun and active but is used daily throughout life.

Food is a vital part of our daily lives and is essential for life. As our students become adults and have busy lives, it is easy to choose food which has been ready prepared. However, it is more nutritious – and often cheaper – to cook simple, delicious food.

Students develop their knowledge and understanding of nutrition, healthy eating, food preparation, hygiene, cooking techniques, and sensory characteristics. Through this we provide our students with vital life skills that enable them to feed themselves and others affordably and nutritiously, both now and later in life.

Through our learning about food and cooking, we:

• Encourage the development of high-level skills and resilience in a safe environment, allowing students to demonstrate commitment and act on feedback to improve their outcomes.
• Empower students to be able to follow a recipe and substitute ingredients and cooking methods as appropriate, demonstrating an understanding of food choices, such as veganism, allergies, and healthy eating.
• Support students to develop an understanding that allows them to become discriminating consumers of food products and enables them to participate in society in an active and informed manner.
• Engage with students to encourage them to understand the environmental factors which affect the inequalities in food distribution on a global scale and give them an understanding of the need to minimise ‘food waste’ – starting with their own practice. 
• Allow students to explore a number of multicultural perspectives concerning food. Students can enhance their understanding, appreciation and acceptance of people from a variety of cultural backgrounds through the preparation of food from different countries and religious beliefs, with Kosher, Halal and other dishes prepared. 
• Inspire our students to develop an awareness and acceptance of diversity within our community.

Staff

This academic year has seen the introduction of Mrs Dibble to the Technology team. She is a very motivational teacher who has worked solidly with the Trust throughout 2019/2020 and aspires to instil a love of cooking and the theory behind food production in all her pupils.

Mrs Dibble looks forward to seeing and being part of your many wonderful creations, and her regular motto is: Let’s get cooking…!