Module 01 · 3 weeks · KS3 / KS4

Deconstructing the UPF Trap.

Making the ‘Fakeaway’ - high-street favourites rebuilt from real ingredients.

Most of our students live inside food environments where ultra-processed food is not a choice - it is the default. It is what is in the cupboards, what arrives via the takeaway app at the end of the parent’s shift, what comes free with the energy drink, what is two-for-one at the corner shop on the walk home. Telling a teenager to “eat better” inside that environment is, frankly, useless.

Module 1 takes the opposite approach. We start where the student actually lives, with the foods they already love, and we deconstruct them - then rebuild them, from scratch, in the kitchen, under £2.50 per portion. The point is not to shame ultra-processed food. The point is to demystify it.

The Suffolk Sensory Kitchen directors cooking from scratch with students in the branded sensory kitchen.

Why this module exists

The Suffolk reality, in three figures.

~57%

of total dietary energy intake for UK adolescents comes from ultra-processed food, per published National Diet and Nutrition Survey analyses.

1 in 3

UK children aged 10–11 are estimated to be living with overweight or obesity at the end of primary school (NCMP, latest published year).

2.5×

the rate of food insecurity reported by households with disabled children compared with households without (Food Foundation surveys).

Headline figures rounded for clarity. Full citations and the source year for every quoted statistic are held in our commissioning evidence pack.

What we cover

The four ‘Fakeaways’ that anchor the module.

Every week of the module is anchored by a single high-street favourite, deconstructed and rebuilt. The four reflect the actual ordering data of the demographic we serve.

Week 1 - The Chicken Burger

We compare a fast-food fillet burger with a home-breaded chicken thigh. We discuss the role of phosphates, emulsifiers and glaze. Students leave able to make and bring home four burgers for under £4.50.

Week 2 - Pizza

We make a slow-fermented dough, a tinned-tomato sauce that takes seven minutes and tastes better than anything from a jar, and we compare the back-of-pack ingredient lists of a supermarket pepperoni pizza and our finished tray.

Week 3 - Kebab

Lamb shoulder, chopped salad, flatbreads we make on a hot pan. We discuss why the high-street kebab carries a different nutritional load than the home version - and what that means for the body on the walk home from town.

Week 4 - Fried Chicken

A buttermilk brine, a seasoned flour dredge, an oven finish. We talk about salt, smoke point, and the legal definition of ‘chicken’ versus ‘chicken-style meat preparation’ that students will recognise from delivery apps.

The science we hide inside it

Stealth learning, named here for honesty.

Learning outcomes

What every student can credibly say at the end of Module 1.

  1. I can identify an ultra-processed food on any back-of-pack label.
  2. I can name three reasons UPFs dominate the food environment, none of which blame the family.
  3. I can debone, brine and bread a chicken thigh.
  4. I can make a slow-fermented pizza dough by hand.
  5. I can make a flatbread on a hot pan, from flour, water, salt and oil only.
  6. I can read a recipe, scale it for four people and write a shopping list under a £10 budget.
  7. I can explain the Maillard reaction to a Year 7.
  8. I can use a sharp knife, a hob and an oven safely, unsupervised, with adult presence in the room.

Assessment & evidence

No high-stakes testing. Lots of evidence.

We do not run formal assessments inside the placement window - that is not what a regulated nervous system needs. We do collect substantial portfolio evidence, useful for EHCP reviews, GCSE non-examined assessment moderation and step-up to KS4 vocational pathways.