Grow it, Cook it
Our Ethos
The Grow It, Cook It provision provides a relaxed, supportive environment in which we build positive relationships, promote healthy, ecological choices and equip our students with essential life skills. We are there to support and encourage our students’ personal, practical and academic development, taking every opportunity to make learning active, fun and relevant.
Our aims are:
- To maximise small class sizes and high staffing ratio to focus on individual progress and meeting needs.
- To widen students’ experience and understanding of the world around them through a range of stimulating activities.
- To help students appreciate all aspects of food, from growing to production to consumption, its uses and flavours, and its importance to health and cultures.
- To develop practical abilities, oracy, literacy and numeracy and social skills.
- To include regular ICT use and TTRS training in order to build confidence and familiarity with the keyboard and main software packages that could help during exams and in future employment.
- To secure every student an ASDAN Certificate in Gardening, an ASDAN Certificate of Personal Effectiveness qualification and the WJEC Vocational award in Hospitality and Catering.
Our curriculum
10 lessons every fortnight offer a range of practical activities allowing students to develop the knowledge and skills linked to vocations in gardening, catering and hospitality.
Year 9 (3 hours of gardening/3 hours of cooking/4 hours of theory)
A foundation year to introduce the benefits of growing and cooking your own food, along with key ideas around food groups, nutrition, its use in different cultures, and health and safety.
Year 10 (3 hours of gardening/2 hours of cooking/5 hours of theory and cooking prep)
Builds on the learning and skills developed in Year 9 across growing, cooking and food theory, encouraging increased confidence and independence in all areas.
Includes at least one session of an online touch-typing course (TTRS), also accessible from home.
The first year of the WJEC vocational course in Hospitality and Catering, covering the industry, its businesses and its customers, and introduces coursework and exam requirements.
Year 11 (2 hours of gardening/3 hours of cooking/ 5 hours of theory)
Secures previous learning through reinforcement and revision activities.
Prepares students for end of course assessments in ASDAN courses and WJEC Level 1/2