Kitchen Programme · Staff Guide
The Level-2 route · progression ladder · budget bands · kit · safety · safeguarding
The Level-2 route, on one page
Who it is for. A small number of pupils, directed by staff after initial assessment, working at the Level 2 evidence standard — Describe / Explain / Compare / Assess / Evaluate, not the Entry 3 State / List / Identify. Everyone else's view is unchanged: the E3 cohort and the L1 group keep their lanes. In the live LAUNCH PEQ decks the Level 2 route appears as hidden panels revealed by the ⓘ Guidance toggle for the pupils staff direct there; in this kitchen year it is the L2 lane of the year map.
- Barred combinations (spec §6.5): each pupil banks each of the six skills at ONE level only — the credit from the highest-level unit counts. The witness sheet's Level tick (E3 · L1 · L2) is the record.
- Sizes (spec p4/p10): L2 Award 4 cr all-at-level (32 GLH) · L2 Extended Award 9 cr, min 6 at L2 (68 GLH) · L2 Certificate 15 cr, min 12 at L2, max 3 below (106 GLH). At L2 the thinking unit is Critical thinking (CrThSk2), not ThSk.
- Key L2 demands: Communication = TWO plans over two DIFFERENT ways (presentation ≥4 min · discussion ≥10 min · text ≥500 words) · Decision making = short/medium/long-term situations, ≥3 tools COMPARED · plans at L1/L2 carry review points on five of six units (never on Communication, never at E3) · five of six units carry the 10-hour plan-use window (never Communication) · Critical thinking = credibility/accuracy/bias across ≥2 sources, primary vs secondary.
- Wording: every surface says working towards. No deck or sheet claims a pupil is registered or will certificate — registration, unit and level attribution are the coordinator's decisions (spec §14 p20).
Kitchen progression ladder
| Rung | Skills | Typical dishes | Year-map weeks |
|---|
| 1 · Knife | Grip, bridge and claw cuts, board hygiene | Fruit platters, salads, sandwiches | W1–6 |
| 2 · Heat | Pan control, boiling, toasting, oven safety | Eggs three ways, pasta base, bakes | W7–16 |
| 3 · Multi-component | Timing two elements to land together | Sauce + pasta, plated mains | W17–25 |
| 4 · Timed service | Service under the clock, plating, front-of-house | Christmas service, showcase, summer service | W13–14 · W26–38 |
Budget framework bands
| Band | Per head | Used for |
|---|
| A — practice | low | Weekly cook cycles, single-component dishes |
| B — project | medium | The menu & budget project (Aut2): costing against a set band is the decision-making evidence |
| C — service | agreed per event | Christmas service · showcase · summer service |
Bands are set by the school office each term; the pupils' work is choosing, costing and justifying within the band — the numbers themselves are a school decision, not part of this page.
Kit list
- Colour-coded boards + bench mats · knife set (school-held, signed in/out) · peelers, graters, measuring sets
- Pans, baking trays, mixing bowls · oven gloves, aprons, blue plasters, first-aid point
- Timers (one per team) · plate stock for service · cleaning caddies per bench
- Print stock: plan templates, evidence sheets, plan-hours grids, witness sheets (this folder)
Staff safety page
Supervised bench, always. Every practical runs as a supervised bench: a trained member of staff at the bench for any knife or heat work, ratios per the school's own policy. The kitchen risk assessment is named school-side — it is the school's document, owned and reviewed by the school, and this programme runs inside it; nothing on these pages replaces it. Allergen and dietary-requirement checks are the school's standing process and happen before any menu is cooked. Food content across the programme is cooking skill, budget, teamwork and enjoyment — no diet, calorie, weight or body framing on any pupil surface.
Safeguarding — Decision making (spec p57, and pp27/41 at E3/L1). When pupils identify decision-making situations, steer them to situations that do not negatively impact their wellbeing. If a pupil identifies a situation raising a potential safeguarding concern, it is managed through the school's safeguarding processes — and this is communicated to the pupils as part of the session, before the activity runs. This box is read aloud, in pupil-appropriate words, when the decision plans open (year-map W9).
Safeguarding — Wellbeing in learning (spec p66, and pp35/50 at E3/L1). When pupils plan ways to improve their own wellbeing while learning, they may disclose issues that negatively impact their wellbeing. Any disclosure raising a potential safeguarding concern is managed through the school's safeguarding processes — and this is communicated to the pupils as part of the session, before the discussion opens. This box is read aloud, in pupil-appropriate words, when the wellbeing plans open (year-map W27).
Accreditation facts for staff (spec v1.2). Entry 3 sizes (the primary route for this cohort): Award 4 credits (all at level) · Extended Award 9 (min 6 at level) · Certificate 14 (min 11 at level). All six E3 units = exactly 14 credits, every one at level, so a full year homes an E3 Certificate outright with no adjacent-credit accounting at all. Level 1 sizes (the stretch route, for the 2–4 pupils working above Entry 3): Award 4 · Extended Award 9 · Certificate 14 (max 3 adjacent-level credits — in practice only one adjacent unit can ever count); all six L1 units = 15 credits. SMART is introduced but NOT assessed at Entry 3 team working — the SMART minimum sits only at TmWkSk1, so no task may gate the E3 unit on producing SMART targets. Partial achievement still certificates at unit level. The 10-hour plan-use window applies to every skill except Communication. RPL reaches back three years and can include ASDAN Short Course achievement. Assessment records need assessor and learner signatures; IQA before EQA; the first-year EQA sampling visit must be booked during this first delivery year (coordinator action). Unit and level attribution is the centre coordinator’s decision — nothing is promised to a learner.
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