Food and nutrition (KS1 – KS2)
Cooking and nutrition is the strand of design and technology children remember longest, because they get to make and eat what they’ve learned about. From where food comes from in Year 1 to cooking savoury dishes and understanding seasonality by Year 6, here’s what the curriculum expects and where to find lessons and resources to teach it.
What children learn about food and nutrition at KS1 and KS2
What the national curriculum expects
Cooking and nutrition is its own strand within the design and technology curriculum. At KS1, pupils should use the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes, and understand where food comes from. At KS2, pupils should understand and apply the principles of a healthy and varied diet, prepare and cook a variety of predominantly savoury dishes using a range of cooking techniques, and understand seasonality and know where and how a variety of ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed.
Key knowledge and concepts
Within this topic, children build knowledge across food, health and practical cooking skills:
Where food comes from
How ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed
Food groups
The main groups, and what each one does for the body
The Eatwell Guide
Using it to build a healthy and varied diet
A balanced diet
What healthy eating looks like in practice
Kitchen tools and techniques
Choosing and using the right equipment safely
Cooking methods
Different ways to cook, and what suits which ingredient
Hygiene and safety
Working safely and cleanly with food
Seasonality
Why some foods are available at certain times of year
Where this topic sits within KS1 and KS2
Cooking and nutrition runs across every year group from Year 1 to Year 6 as part of design and technology, building from simple preparation and where food comes from towards cooking savoury dishes and understanding seasonality.
How to access this topic
Food and nutrition doesn’t sit on its own in the curriculum. The Cornerstones design and technology curriculum is fully sequenced from EYFS through Year 1 to Year 6, so you can see what comes before, what follows and how the whole picture fits together. We’ve done the thinking, so your planning time goes into teaching, not sequencing.
Full curriculum
Subject curriculum
Quick Teach Individual lessons and resources for supplementing what you already teach.
Ready to bring the wider curriculum to life?
See how the full Cornerstones Design and Technology Curriculum sequences topics like this one across every year group.