The Practical Food Teacher
Nicky Rehner is a chef turned primary teacher, now secondary Food Technology and Hospitality educator. Nicky combines industry experience with education to share practical, curriculum-aligned ideas to inspire teachers and help develop capable, creative students.
Nicky has made available units of work that she has developed and implemented in her classroom and school kitchen. Also available are unit snapshots, which can be built on for implementation.
Nicky has a Facebook page titled The Practical Food Teacher, available here, which also includes her contact details.
Full units of work
Food fantasia
Students build an ongoing portfolio while developing practical kitchen skills through guided demonstrations, design challenges and practical lessons.
Feed yourself for a week
A mini challenge that helps students develop skills they will use long after they leave school. Students learn to plan a simple meal, shop within a budget, understand food labels, incorporate nutrition principles, prepare food safely, and reduce food waste.
Food for fitness
During this unit students move through the phases of identifying the target audience, nutrition research, market research, product design and planning, recipe development, prototype testing, final production and evaluation.
Master chef mystery box
In this unit students use their food knowledge, creativity and practical skills to turn a mystery selection of ingredients into a food product.
Purpose of ingredients - design challenge
Instead of asking students to simply make a recipe, students investigate and explain the purpose of every ingredient. This turns practical cooking into a design challenge focused on flavour, texture, colour, nutrition, structure and target audience.
Unit snapshots
DIY pizza
This unit engages students by using a highly familiar and relevant food product as the foundation for introducing food technology concepts and skills. Students apply the design process to create a pizza for a specific audience while exploring nutrition, food safety, ingredient functions, sustainability and presentation.
Designing a picnic lunch
This unit engages students through an authentic, real-world food design challenge that connects to their everyday lives. Students adopt the role of “Picnic Pros”, designing and creating a balanced picnic lunch while considering nutrition, sustainability, food safety and audience needs.
Planet plate
This is a practical portfolio unit where students investigate unusual ingredients, experiment with flavour combinations, create designed food solutions and evaluate their process.
Food truck fiesta
In this unit students engage in a real-world food design project where they become young food entrepreneurs.
Event menu design
This unit provides students with an authentic introduction to the hospitality industry by combining practical cookery skills with real-world service experiences.
Murder mystery dinner experience
In this practical, creative unit students design, plan, produce and evaluate a complete themed dining experience.