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Key Stage 1

Food teaching at KS1

At Key Stage 1, the main focus of food work within design & technology is:
  • developing products to meet simple specifications, eg. a sandwich for a healthy lunchbox
  • making products using hand tools and equipment, eg. using knives, mixing bowls
  • working safely and hygienically in an organised way, eg. following a simple pictorial plan
  • tasting and evaluating familiar foods, egs. fruits and vegetables
  • developing technical vocabulary in order to describe food, egs. words to describe its flavour, aroma, texture and appearance
Children should develop knowledge and understanding of:
Food as a material
  • classifying foods according to their sensory properties, egs. crisp, sweet, juicy
  • recognising the differences and similarities between foods, eg. types of vegetables
  • knowing what foods can be used to make particular products, eg. that cereals can be used to make breakfast cereals
  • understanding that foods may need to be treated (or processed) in certain ways before they are eaten, egs. washing, peeling, cooking
  • adapting and modifying food products, eg. reducing the fat in a recipe by using skimmed milk
  • defining the component parts of products, eg. the different ingredients that go into muesli
Safe use of tools and equipment
  • recognising and naming basic tools and equipment and knowing what they can be used for, eg. mixing bowl for mixing or combining ingredients
  • using basic tools and equipment in a range of ways, egs. spoons for measuring, beating, stirring and mixing 
Hygienic practices
  • understanding the need for good personal hygiene when handling food, egs. washing hands before touching food; keeping equipment and utensils clean 
Sensory evaluation
  • tasting foods and being able to describe likes and dislikes, egs. too sweet or not soft enough;
  • developing a sensory vocabulary, egs. words like sweet, chewy, salty, crunchy
Adapted from 'Characteristics of Good Practice in Food Technology', OFSTED, 1996, HMSO, London

By the end of Key Stage 1 it is expected that most children will be able to:
  • use a range of materials to design and make simple food products
  • select materials, tools and techniques and explain their choices
  • measure, assemble, join and combine materials in a variety of ways using basic tools safely
  • investigate and evaluate simple products, commenting on the main features