Professional Focus Paper
Course: Health and Food Technology
1.
Level: National 5
Who is this paper for and what is its purpose?
This paper is for teachers and other staff who provide learning, teaching and support as learners work towards
Health and Food Technology National 5.
Curriculum for Excellence is a unique opportunity to raise achievement and to ensure that all learners are better
prepared than they have been in the past for learning, life and work. This is because the new curriculum gives real
scope to build learning 3–18 in a joined-up, seamless way. As a result, progression in learning can be much
stronger with a clear focus on attributes and capabilities, skills (including higher-order thinking skills), and
knowledge and understanding. These are delivered through the experiences and outcomes of the 3–15 Broad
General Education (BGE) and, at the senior phase, through programmes that build directly on the BGE leading to
qualifications. Because of a strengthened focus on the nature and quality of learning experiences, self-motivation is
likely to be increased and learners consequently more engaged and enthused. To ensure continuity and
progression, qualifications at the senior phase have been designed to embrace this unambiguous focus on highquality learning.
Curriculum for Excellence has the flexibility to meet the needs of all learners in their local circumstances, enabling
each to achieve their very best. For example, some centres may take the opportunity to offer qualifications over two
years which might involve learners bypassing qualifications at a given level, whereas others may enable learners to
work towards qualifications within one year. In both cases, the advice in this paper is relevant to the learning and
teaching approaches that learners will encounter. This paper, then, is intended to stimulate professional reflection
and dialogue about learning. It highlights important features of learning which are enhanced or different from
previous arrangements at this SCQF level.
How will you plan for progression in learning and teaching, building on the Broad General Education?
2.
What’s new and what are the implications for learning and teaching?
Health and Food Technology National 5 consists of three Units.
 Food for Health
 Food Product Development
 Contemporary Food Issues
To achieve Health and Food Technology National 5, learners must pass all of the Units, as well as the Course
assessment.
HEALTH AND FOOD TECHNOLOGY
What are the key aspects of Health and Food Technology National 5?
The Health and Food Technology course reflects Curriculum for Excellence values, purposes and principles and
gives learners good opportunities to build further on the attributes and capabilities of the four capacities. It builds on
the principles and practice paper and the relevant experiences and outcomes for the technologies and health and
wellbeing curriculum areas.
Integrated approaches to skills development
The new Health and Food Technology National 5 course builds on the skills developed in the BGE. Learning
experiences will enable the learners to acquire skills, knowledge and understanding of food and health, food
product development and contemporary food issues. In this course, and its component Units, there will be an
emphasis on developing knowledge and transferrable skills. These include:
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developing knowledge and understanding of the relationships between health, food and nutrition
developing knowledge and understanding of the functional properties of food
making informed food and consumer choices
developing the skills to apply knowledge in practical contexts
developing organisational and technological skills to make food products
developing and applying safe and hygienic practices in practical food preparation.
Wider range of evidence of learning
There is a focus on assessment as an integral part of learning and teaching. It should be on-going and in dialogue
with learners. There is scope for using a wider range of approaches to evidence learning and this should facilitate
greater personalisation and choice in learners’ experiences and allow staff to use the method that best suits the
needs of the task and the learner. Portfolios, verbal or written feedback, written reports, presentations,
observational checklists and photographic or video evidence are all valid examples of ways in which evidence
could be generated to meet the necessary outcomes and standards.
Hierarchy of Units
The hierarchical nature of the Health and Food Technology course and respective Units, allows for the delivery of
National 4 and National 5 with groups at a variety of different stages. The degree of choice within the Units further
allows for new areas of study for those who are able to progress from one level to another, while ensuring that
learners are not required to repeat content from one level to the next. Programmes should be planned to
encourage learners to aim for the highest level of achievement. The content of the courses and the skills developed
in the hierarchy of Units, enables staff to plan courses to cater for bi-level delivery, and the use of a wide range of
learning and teaching approaches will ensure the course can vary from year to year as learners progress through
the levels. Learners at National 5 will be expected to apply their knowledge in a range of contexts and evaluation
skills will be developed further at this level. Careful planning will be required for any movement between National 4
and National 5 so that learners complete all the necessary outcomes and assessment standards.
Added value
Learners will be required to provide evidence of added value through the successful completion of an assignment
and a question paper. Each will provide evidence of learning from different aspects of the course. The question
paper will be completed under normal exam conditions. The assignment will be set by SQA and completed under
some supervision and control. Both the paper and the assignment will be externally marked by SQA. Together they
will add challenge and application to the course as the learner will be expected to integrate, extend and apply the
skills, knowledge and understanding they have learned throughout the course.
HEALTH AND FOOD TECHNOLOGY
What are the key features of learning in Health and Food Technology National 5?
Active learning
Staff will want to ensure that learners have opportunities to engage and challenge their own thinking and to develop
the higher-order thinking skills required in order to do so. Learning and teaching approaches, including problemsolving activities, will give learners a range of opportunities to develop the essential skills of analysis, creativity and
evaluation. Learners will be expected to demonstrate these problem-solving techniques as they develop food
products throughout the course and for the final course assignment. A variety of topics in the Contemporary Food
Issues Unit lend themselves to active learning approaches. Issues such as organic foods, genetic modification or
food miles can be taught through activities that encourage learners to explore, analyse and evaluate evidence to
help them become more responsible citizens. Group work could be used as a means of investigating a wide range
of different dietary conditions with each group developing a dish to demonstrate an understanding of the dietary
requirements of each condition.
How will you help learners develop logical and creative thinking skills?
Learning independently
To develop independent thinking skills and learning, staff will want to reduce the focus on staff-led activities and
place greater emphasis on learners’ experiences within which choices are made, by the learner, based on their
expertise and skill level. Staff will want to embrace learning and teaching approaches that encourage learners to
develop skills in a wide variety of investigative techniques, including the use of technology. For example, learners
could be asked to investigate the dietary needs of different individuals, present their findings to the group and
prepare a dish that meets the needs of the individual. Learners could then analyse the dish using appropriate
software to see how well they have met the needs of their specified individual.
What types of investigative techniques might you introduce to develop learners’ research skills?
Responsibility for learning
Practical tasks should encourage learners to take personal control of their own learning and opportunities for
learners to reflect on and discuss their own progress should be routinely built into all planned learning experiences.
In order to help learners to take responsibility for their own learning, staff will want to ensure that learning intentions
and success criteria are explicit and that learning and teaching approaches promote the development of learners’
skills in self- and peer-group evaluation. These techniques could be developed readily with practical activities but
also when group or individual presentations take place or when peer reviewing written tasks. Staff will want to
ensure learners take responsibility for their own learning by actively encouraging them to monitor their own
progress and to set their own targets making effective use of feedback and dialogue. For example, when preparing
for the assignment, learners should know which areas they find most challenging and plan ways to develop these
areas, with support from staff.
How will you ensure that learners are making informed decisions about where they are in their learning and what
they need to do to progress?
Collaborative learning
Learning and teaching approaches should encourage and develop collaborative working. Effective collaboration
makes the learning process visible and encourages deeper, more reflective learning. Staff will want to encourage
enterprising approaches to learning experiences that may also offer opportunities for learners to be challenged
HEALTH AND FOOD TECHNOLOGY
across the four contexts for learning. In order to be successful, a group of learners would want to demonstrate how
each member’s particular area of skill and expertise could best be utilised to meet the needs of the group and the
task. Learners could work together to investigate the functional properties of food and create a range of dishes to
exemplify each one. Problem-solving tasks, such as investigating contemporary food issues, offer excellent
opportunities for learners to work in partnership and to learn from each other. For example, group debates could
take place to discuss the issues surrounding topics such as genetic modification, food miles, Fair Trade. Class
blogs could be used to record information on topics such as teenage eating habits and this information could then
be used to allow groups to prepare dishes to help improve food choices.
How will you ensure that all learners take on roles and responsibilities, appropriate to their level of skill and abilities,
in group tasks?
Applying learning and skills development
Learning experiences should enable learners to develop and apply the practical and technological skills, knowledge
and understanding necessary for them to make informed food and consumer choices. Practical activities offer
opportunities to apply the theoretical knowledge of nutrition, dietary advice, dietary diseases and the functional
properties of foods. Such approaches also allow learners the opportunity for personalisation and choice. There
should be regular opportunities for learners to develop higher-order thinking skills. Skills such as analysis,
evaluation and creativity can all be developed through a wide range of problem-solving activities. Also, aspects of
literacy, numeracy and employability skills can be similarly developed. The use of written and oral work, for
example, during class debates or when presenting research findings to the class will help develop learners’ literacy
skills. All practical activities will develop numeracy skills in areas such weighing and measuring, estimation and
adaptation of recipes. Partnerships with colleges, food companies and health professional can all help learners see
the link between the classroom and the world of work. Staff will want to ensure that learners are open to new ideas
and can develop the ability to think creatively by ensuring problem solving activities are challenging and support the
development of flexible thinking.
How will you give learners the opportunity to apply their skills across all learning experiences?
HEALTH AND FOOD TECHNOLOGY
3.
Qualification information
The SQA website provides you with the following documents:
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Assessment Overview
Course Specification
Unit Specification
Support Notes
Course Assessment Specification
Unit Assessment Support Packages
Full information on arrangements for this qualification is available at the SQA website:
Health and Food Technology National 5: http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/45738.html
4.
What other materials are available on the Education Scotland website which staff
could use?
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/curriculumareas/healthandwellbeing/principl
esandpractice/index.asp
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/curriculumareas/technologies/principlesandp
ractice/index.asp
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/nq/h/nqresource_tcm4719407.asp?strReferringChannel=education
scotland&strReferringPageID=tcm:4-615801-64 – contemporary food issues
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/f/foodidl.asp?strReferringChannel=educationscotland&strReferring
PageID=tcm:4-615801-64 – Food for Thought poster and leaflet
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/nq/h/nqresource_tcm4719407.asp?strReferringChannel=education
scotland&strReferringPageID=tcm:4-615801-64 – advice and guidance on learning and teaching approaches for
contemporary food Issues at National 4/5
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/e/genericresource_tcm4207710.asp?strReferringChannel=educatio
nscotland&strReferringPageID=tcm:4-615801-64 – excellent link to wide variety of information on healthy eating,
budgeting, eating disorders and food safety
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/video/s/video_tcm4580626.asp – product development
Support materials have been produced over the last year to support Curriculum for Excellence and further support
materials and events are planned. This downloadable list is updated quarterly with the most up-to-date details
available from the page below.
Published and planned support for Curriculum for Excellence:
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/publishedandplannedsupport
T +44 (0)141 282 5000 E enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk W www.educationscotland.gov.uk
Education Scotland, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA
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