To insist on sending gluten free flour for DS's food tech lesson

Great so the teacher has to pay for the child! How is that fair?

But OP hasn’t mentioned that…..she WANTS him to participate in the lesson, only with gluten free flour.

Only if ds ate it. Id expect any teacher to be able to remind some children they can’t eat the experiment, or all children they can’t eat the science experiment or whatever instruction is specifically relevant. That seems a pretty low level teaching skill to be honest.

Hopefully your son ismf thinking of training as a chef when he is older if the criteria is to only make whar he can eat.

The Intent of the lesson has been explained to you, do as asked.

It isn’t hard to let him make the adjustment necessary to make gluten free scones, I’ve knocked some up this evening with Asda free from self raising flour.
if a cookery lesson is excluding a pupil from learning to bake then the teacher and syllabus is clearly losing its way.
no wonder children are being deskllled, and cooking is seen as difficult

I don't say the point was to produce something inedible.

Just that the edibility is beside the point for this particular lesson.

How do you adjust a lesson about gluten to avoid exposing a child to gluten?

That is more akin to the school being told that your wheelchair using nephew must be allowed to play in an able-bodied football team.

teacher can think outside the box and say ok he could compare some different gf flour and see if any are stretchier than others, ie Caputo pizza flour, Doves flour and rice flour.

Whole point of the lesson is the effect of gluten. If your worried he is missing out on treat then send him in with some pre packaged goodies for after

I would send him with gf.

Oooh ‘ark at you, you edgelord.

Yes, you tell the teacher how they should run their lesson, and then come back here and tell us how that went fir you

Is the and result of the lesson that everyone else will study the result and bung the bread/scone in the bin? Or will they likely all take it home to eat it? Because if it’s the latter then of course your DS should be able to make something he can also eat. Doesn’t mean he can’t observe and record the results others are getting.

And as for other PPs saying if he’s that allergic he shouldn’t be in the class and should sit it out. Pfft. Sounds a bit like my wheelchair using nephew being told if there’s a lesson that‘s up some stairs he should just choose a different subject to study rather than expecting any adjustments…

I wasn't a food teacher - but worked alongside them. This sounds more like an experiment, a trial rather than producing something to take home and eat for tea.

As a teacher I'd have expected to have provided the various flours myself/school bought - including gluten free. (Then I get the correct results)

I'd also be very careful offering samples to eat knowing that there is at least one gluten intolerant pupils in the class.

However many schools are so skint that this is the only way they can do some of the practical?

Just as a matter of interest, has he been tested for Coeliac Disease?

Coeliac is not the only issue. And getting diagnosed with it, even if you have it, can be a battle on the NHS. If OP knows her son has an intolerance, whether he’s been diagnosed with anything or not, they’re wise to avoid gluten.

My DD, home from uni has been battling a nasty outbreak of what a private Dermatologist thinks is dermatitis herpetiformis since she’s been back in early December and all over Christmas/New Year. We can’t afford the additional Dermatology testing to determine it or the referral to private Gastroentorology atm and so far the NHS will only do allergen blood tests with no guarantee that they will follow up with the biopsy afterwards. NCGS doesn’t have a test other than exclusion but the effects are very real for those have it. So DD has been voluntarily gluten free for more than six months, without diagnosis, which has helped most of her symptoms immeasurably apart from the skin problem which could have been an accidental exposure despite being careful.

If it’s about the effects of gluten in food, then a GF comparator would probably be useful.

This is one of these situations where contacting the school and trying to speak to someone would help.

I'll be imagining the burning in my mouth, pain and the stench of death from being in the next room during home baking attempts that led to DP going gluten free as well, then.

I mean, if you’re going to google at least go beyond the first result. 🙄

Op said they’re making bread and scones. No reason why most standard recipes wouldn’t work, generally you do have to add gluten free baking powder and xantham gum though.

How can you possibly see the effect of gluten without an example of bread made without gluten.

The dough feels and reacts totally differently, and the cooked product is different as well.

Obviously a gluten free alternative would be a good part of the lesson. Although, he probably still wouldn't be able to eat it, given that it would be made in a classroom with regular flour flying about, so quite a high risk of cross contamination.

They wouldn’t knead and stretch cake mix, of course. Gluten has a different role in cakes, keeps them moist and stops crumbling. The kneading and stretchiness would be for bread dough.

So maybe a demo cake would be OK as not so much to notice/experience during the baking.

This is an inclusion issue and the teacher ought to adapt the lesson

I would have thought it would be a really interesting comparison to make some gluten free bread and look at alternative ingredients. It seems a shame if food prep isn't always accommodating of allergies.

But surely it’s better to feel the stretchiness as than just see it?

Well Dd has coeliac disease so I wouldn’t be sending in normal flour regardless of the point of the lesson or what the teacher said. If she touched flour/dough and then inadvertently touched her lip with a speck of flour on her finger she’d be ill. She doesn’t need to eat it. Plus people with coeliac disease can sometimes react to contamination through the skin, some need to make sure they have gluten free shampoo, etc or they come out in a rash.