Ratcliffian 2016 (LOWRES)

FOOD TECHNOLOGY
FutureChef 2016 contestants
Emily Sellicks
GEOGRAPHY
Yasmina celebrating her success
Yasmina Lock final stage FutureChef 2016
Olivia Gilchrist Christmas food competition
Geography
The Geography Department celebrated a very strong set of A2 and AS results
last summer with 100% of students at ‘A’ Level achieving A*-C grades and a
record 79% of students at grade B or better.
Yasmina Lock Christmas food competition
Lottie Warburton Christmas food competition
Cooking Club
FOOD TECHNOLOGY
The year started on a positive note, with excellent examination
results at all levels. At A2, the pass rate was 100%, with 67%
of students gaining A and B grade.
At AS level, the pass rate was 100%, placing Ratcliffe College
in the top 10% of schools teaching Food Technology in the
country. At GCSE, there was an 82% A to C pass rate, with
63% achieving A and B grades.
This academic year has flown by; with shorter lessons and
having all students in KS3 for the whole of the year, it has
been an exciting and busy time. The highlight of the year
was Yasmina Lock (Year 8) reaching the final of the national
FutureChef Competition that took place in London in March.
Yasmina was one of over 8000 students to reach this stage,
a remarkable achievement at such a young age. Her dishes
were pan-seared fillet of salmon with lemon beurre blanc
sauce, pomme puree with sundried tomatoes, buttered stem
broccoli and sauted oyster mushrooms with chorizo, followed
by almond crunch with a raspberry and vanilla cream in a
dark chocolate sphere and hot caramel sauce. She achieved
some excellent feedback.
The annual Christmas food competition took place at the
beginning of December. We are always amazed by the
high skill and sheer professionalism of the students; the
products they make would not be out of place on The Great
British Bake Off. Each year group had their own individual
competition and received points for their house and
recognition in a Headmaster’s assembly.
A batch of scones was the product chosen in the Ratcliffe
Bake Off this year, and Isabella Mulvihill was the winner.
Each student was given a recipe, identical ingredients and
an hour to complete their product.
Next year, we will introduce the new GCSE syllabus for
Food Preparation and Nutrition so we are looking forward
to and excited about a new chapter in our ever-changing
subject name.
Mrs K Burton
Head of Food Technology
The AS results were very encouraging with strong value
added and all department targets met. GCSE results were
also very strong with two thirds of students achieving a B
grade or better.
The Year 12 students have made an effective start to their A2
course. Study of the Urban Environments topic was supported
by a series of short field visits for the first time this year. Within
lesson time, students visited various locations in Leicester with
a different focus for each visit. For example, they visited the
Space Centre complex and the ‘Cultural Quarter’, centred
around the Curve Theatre, to focus on urban regeneration.
These field visits provided a valuable contextual layer to their
urban studies, and the department hopes to build on such
local field visits in future years. Year 13 students continued to
develop their fieldwork portfolio for the F764 Geographical
Investigation unit with a visit to Sileby to investigate the
extent it fitted the profile of a metropolitan village. They also
conducted on-site investigations and independent studies,
including comparing the climate at Ratcliffe College to that of
the heart of Leicester. Mr Dziemianko has worked tirelessly in
supporting the students develop their appreciation of how to
gather and process data.
Year 10 attained encouraging results in their end of year
examination and we look forward to working with them next
year as they focus on completion of their GCSE course. The
Year 10 students have completed their Controlled Assessment
task, worth 25% of their final GCSE grade, and are the first
cohort to finish this element of the course before the end of
the summer term. The task is based on data collected by
the students; to this end the Year 10 cohort visited Leicester
shortly after Easter to investigate to what extent the Central
Business District (CBD) of the city fitted with theory and models
proposed by the Royal Geographical Society.
Despite challenging weather conditions at the start of the
day, students approached data collection with enthusiasm,
completing land use maps for a large proportion of the CBD,
along with building height transects, pedestrian counts and
shopping quality surveys. Backed up with further secondary
research, the students have worked diligently in following up
the fieldwork with data presentation and analysis.
Years 7-9 have enjoyed studying a greater breadth of topics this
year as part of the Key Stage 3 syllabus. Reforms have and will
continue to be implemented to help prepare students for the
new GCSE specification, and the topics covered in Years 7-9
now reflect a wider range of human, physical, environmental
and place-based learning, in addition to focusing on the
development of geographical skills. On-going assessments and
lessons focused on the development of higher order thinking
skills are aimed at creating well-rounded geographers. The
Department has run drop-in clinics at lunchtimes where staff are
available to discuss all matters geographical with students, or
support them with work being done in lessons. There were some
new topics for students in Years 8 and 9, with Year 8 students
learning about the geography of India and world issues such as
food security and climate change. A particular highlight for the
Year 8 students was watching the extremely thought-provoking
film, The Age of Stupid. They reflected on how it made them feel
about our material, throwaway society and how the implications
of this will be felt by future generations. Year 9 students studied
a new environmental-themed unit, which included the study of
different ecosystems and climates. There have also been some
excellent projects completed by students across Years 7-9;
particular mention must go to the Year 7 students for their Local
Area projects and Year 8 for their Travel a Country projects.
Mr M Lambert
Head of Geography
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