Nightmare lunch box type ban at school

[lunchme]

DS is 7 and attends a special school.

They have a new pupil coming in and the new list of banned foods are things containing -

Peanuts
Cashews
Sesame
Milk
Wheat
Barley
Almond
Pork

They announced this on our class up this afternoon and no further instruction! But they insist on DS having packed lunch and not school dinners since he likes lunches better because he's seen other kids having crisps etc

My DS has an allergy of sesame and his other classmate was peanuts. The other allergies are all from one child

This isn't to slag off a poor child. I just wish they'd give more notice than a Thursday afternoon

Don’t try doing this by email.
I’d look for an in person meeting because this is a problem that needs trashing out to find a reasonable solution.

Years ago I worked in a special school with a 1:1 ratio which went to 1:2 at lunchtimes, and still we had staff so incompetent that they’d hand out the wrong lunchboxes despite things clearly being labelled and sit gluten free children at the wrong table despite there being a clearly displayed seating plan.

They’ve taken the path of least resistance but it’s just not tenable in this particular situation.

It’s not - it’s a preference.

@underneaththeash Unless you are the child’s parents then how would you know?

This is not proportionate or reasonable.

There can be no way that this child and family don't ever go anywhere where food is served, where adults are drinking a cup of tea, where tourists are enjoying an ice cream etc .

The school can respond in several different ways, but particularly in ensuring that children only eat their own food and that there is no sharing or swapping, and that all tables, hands and faces are wiped clean at the end of a meal or snack. If any of the allergies are airborne then it is reasonable to ask that no one has them but behind that, other children not be having weird intakes of unbalanced and untempting food groups to accommodate.

Are they asking everyone not to have cereal with milk before they come in? What about a spilt yoghurt on a jumper? Staff aren't going to go all day without a coffee are they?

If the allergies are genuine and severe then the child needs a very clear plan in place to ensure their safety whole not unduly restricting and impacting on others. This needs professionals such as the school nurse and allergy team to be involved.

I'd love to see someone attempt to get my autistic child to eat gluten free bread!

Wait, so your child's needs are more important than the other child? Nope, doesn't work that way.

don't be daft. Each of the children has needs and requirements and one shouldn't be considered "more important" than the other. I'd want a meeting with the school and the parents so that the exact requirements are open and discussed. Because if i had a child that would only eat cheese sandwiches? they would either not be going to school or i'd be asking the school to make their lunch.

FWIW my DD was in a class with a severely allergic child. The only real ban was peanuts or anything containing peanuts. They handled the rest with lots of careful planning and an open dialogue with the children, their parents and the allergic child and their family.

I guess the school won't be able to share another child's info, so if a polite enquiry about whether they've shared the right list isn't successful, then I think you'll have to approach it from the pov of your child. It won't be possible for you to meet your child's needs based on that list, so how will they make adjustments to suit both children?

Special schools are surely expert at balancing competing needs.

It’ll be a mistake, surely? They’ve sent out the full list of allergens, not the foods to be avoided. If the child genuinely has airborne anaphylactic allergies to all those foods, the school couldn’t be expected to keep them safe.

Brocoli, loads of brocoli

If they are allergic to just pork then that would be that pork-cat allergy rather than a mammalian meat allergy? Wouldn't that then mean that cat hair on other children could cause a reaction too?

If your child would be okay with a fairly dense brown bread you could try this - very easy to make, and once it has cooled it can be sliced quite thinly.

www.flahavans.ie/recipe/mary-flahavans-porridge-bread/

any brand of porridge oats works, bread soda=baking soda (not baking powder).

Still a nightmarish list to have to work around.

Would that be ok though? It has egg and yogurt?

Also, I would eat it, but my children wouldn't have even considered it at that age.

I feel like the child is considered at risk of eating this food, or getting cross contaminated if sitting at a table with others, rather than all being airborne allergies.

My grandson had a friend with many food allergies and he still came to parties with supervision and his own food. He was very good at keeping himself safe, and I expect this is often learned early on, but considering the school maybe this child is struggling with that, or maybe downright refusing to comply?

There must be some alternative to restricting everyone- life is not going to restrict all those things. You definitely need to talk to the school urgently.

If you have to comply in the interim then Maybe a gf wrap with chicken? Or salad? I wouldn’t want to be buying much free from at all though and definitely ongoing, it’s not even good for you really - and be warned vegan is often implied as free from but often contains gluten to help the meat like texture/taste.

Good luck!

Rice isn;' a good choice for a lunch box as bacteria that causes a nasty food poison can breed on room temperature rice.

You can get pastas made from just chickpea, corn, lentil, edamame etc not wheat - some free from dairy pesto on top? or some veg.

the list does make it difficult for other parents especially those with children who have only certain foods and brands they will eat. Sometimes it feels like top Trumps about whose needs come first. perhaps the child should eat seperate from others with a TA ( sad though that might be if the have so many allergies).

I wonder if the staff room will ban milk and all those other things too? Will the canteen? The staff will have a nightmare policing everyone's lunchboxes.

It's a lot to ask of other parents with such short notice.

If it's a special school, they may have children who attempt to pinch food from other's lunchboxes. This can be hard to manage even with 1:1 support for all children who do this, as staff won't be able to restrain them. I've worked with quite a few autistic kids who are single-minded about grabbing at food they like the look of. For the most part staff will be able to limit it happening but it's never 100% and some kids can stuff a huge portion of food into their mouth in seconds!

Has dairy in it.

I have allergies, so do other members of my family.
That list is draconian for most, it is not a reasonable list.

That can't be right.

"But they insist on DS having packed lunch and not school dinners since he likes lunches better because he's seen other kids having crisps etc"

I think this element of the problem is going to disappear fairly quickly once the salad, vegan yoghurt alternatives (and sorry but pmsl the porridge bread) all start to be all anyones having.

School have got this wrong or will need to think of a different way to handle it. They won't be the first school to have to. Poor wee kid though with all those allergies.

How do you know? 🤔

Contrary to what you both seem to think, some people are allergic to pork. It is relatively rare but it is on the rise and is usually related to a cat allergy.

wow.. if that was my kids special school, they'd have just excluded my son who has an eating disorder (arfid) from being able to eat anything during the day, everything he eats has wheat in it.. sandwiches, crisps, biscuits...etc.

I appreciate the child clearly has some issues, but that is an untenable banned items list.

I worked with a woman who developed an allergy to pork and was violently sick whenever she ate it, but I'm pretty sure she could sit next to someone else eating it.

I think that list is just ridiculous, and why should all the kids suffer because of one. Surely it it up to that child's parents to work around this.

Many children will have cats at home, is that likely to cause a problem? I can't keep cat hair off myself, let alone a child!

Yes it is an allergy and can be related to an allergy of cats.
If that was the case would the school ask you to get rid of pet cats too incase some cat hair gets on their clothes?

Cold chips and chicken for lunch?! Sorry OP, this sounds tough.