School telling us to remove nut trees from community orchard

[Calling]

We are in a local voluntary group and local people planted an orchard in the grounds of a school, for the school.

Now, the school has written to say that we have to remove the nut trees because one pupil has a bad nut allergy.

There are fruit and nut trees, that the local people planted some years ago and we have put a lot of work into weeding and watering. The yield was actually for the kids and we are volunteering with the school with and nature sessions outside.

Before anyone says we are potential child killers, we do understand the importance of safety. There is a management plan in place, but the school has been asked by a parent to remove our trees.
I do feel disheartened - nobody in the school said no to nut trees originally.

So what about my child? Their first allergies started showing up very mildly around aged 2 yo, they are 9yo and are allergic to at least 7 common food products, 4 environmental and a few others. Each allergy has grown, once sitting in a garden munching strawberries was a thrill, now it’s life threatening and strawberries arnt even the worse!

Not one of my child allergies existent during nursery years, but by the time she reached year 4 her list of pre consumed products that could now kill her had grown exponentially!

Dairy is absolutely not an important part of a diet at all, many people live perfectly healthy lives being vegan, or dairy intolerant, lactose intolerant etc.

Don’t you find it strange that EVERY SINGLE allergy death has halved EXCEPT cows milk? Perhaps because no one takes it seriously?

A few people on here have mentioned Benedict’s law in regards to allergies in schools. How many of them know that law was passed after Benedict died in school from COW’S MILK!

Imagine how his parents must feel seeing his death repeatedly used to justify banning nuts in school while the exact same people ignore the very real risk milk poses.

A QUARTER of deaths due to anaphylaxis are cow’s milk, more children are allergic to cow’s milk. Cow’s milk is proven over and over to be more deadly yet nothing happens. That’s before we consider how cruel the dairy industry is anyway. At least no animals suffer to grow nuts hey!

And that’s before we consider the fact that nut trees are not a risk to those with nut allergies unless the children are carrying around nutcrackers with them and opening them up, but why let common sense get in the way of the ignorant rants on here.

By this logic any child with a nut allergy should never ever run freely through any British woodland or park (there’ll always be a nut tree somewhere!). I know you’ve put a lot of effort in op but I’d just take a chainsaw and fell all the trees and share out for firewood. School clearly don’t appreciate what you do. Volunteer for a wildlife trust instead. Sorry 😔.

So what does your child's school do?

Don't assume the school is wrong, but don't assume tree removal is required either. Ask the school what assessment led to the decision, whether the particular trees produce an allergen relevant to this pupil, and whether less destructive controls were considered. If removal is supported by the child's individual medical/risk assessment, that's significant. If the only basis is that a parent requested removal because the child has a “nut allergy”, I'd ask the school to reconsider the decision against the current DfE guidance.
Importantly for the orchard, the DfE does not prescribe a blanket nut-free environment. Its latest practical guidance, published 14 September 2026, says schools may discourage particular foods, but recommends an “allergy aware” / “nut-aware” environment rather than a “nut-free” policy. The emphasis is on actively assessing the allergen risk, minimising exposure and being prepared for emergencies.

I’ve already stated that, they have an allergy action plan for each individual child. At times they clump them together, I e they have an activity, meal that effects multiple children they thing of something different to do. I’ve actually had the school contact me and say the ptfa want to do a fundraiser but the activities will actively exclude your child and others are you ok with this? My respu99% of the time is YES! Otherwise I think of something my child can get involved in that’s safe.

Given that this has only just arisen, it seems likely that the child is 4.

Nut allergies can be fatal. I certainly wouldn't want to risk being responsible for that.

Why not look into the possibility of either transplanting the nut trees or growing new ones elsewhere from cuttings or seeds?

Tell the school that you have done a risk assessment and come to the conclusion that volunteers cannot safely take responsibility for moving the trees. The probability of somebody being injured in the process is easily equivalent to that of a child being killed by a hazelnut.

School will probably push back on the parents once they actually have to find money in the budget to meet their demands. Or the parents may be willing to fund the removal themselves. Either way, I wouldn't be planting replacements. I'd look for a project that valued my time and effort appropriately.

Yes and vegans/lactose/dairy free people use dairy substitutes/alternatives. They don't just skip that food group altogether. It's still being incorporated as an essential part of their diet. People would end up ill if they didn't access diary or dairy substitutes/alternatives, no one will end up unwell because they don't eat nuts.

I understand why you feel angry and why you feel cows milk/dairy allergies aren't taken as seriously. I take all allergies seriously no matter what they are, but banning dairy vs nuts is not comparable. It's not reasonable for hundreds of parents to have to buy dairy alternatives and change a significant number of their foods to avoid dairy being brought into school. Banning dairy has a much larger impact on the school community as a whole vs banning nuts.

I haven't used Benedict's law to justify banning nuts.

I've already been over why nut trees can still be risky.

I don't blame the school for deciding the trees need to go, but as a volunteer I wouldn't be the one removing them- that's a big job and should be done by a gardener or tree surgeon to make sure the trees have the best chance of survival. I'd also speak to the school about finding potential new homes for the trees so that doesn't fall to you to arrange. Planting the replacement trees is a nice idea, but that's a lot of extra work you weren't expecting from a volunteer role and I'd hope the school are willing to pay for the new saplings at least.

Honestly, I also would probably step back from working with them in future. I can absolutely see why you find this so disheartening, and honestly I could see it happening again with a fruit tree as fruit allergies aren't exactly uncommon. It sounds like the school take you and your fellow volunteers' time for granted, to be honest. It might be worth looking for other places to set something up, a community centre or somewhere people can visit of their own volition, so that allergy issues can be avoided and you don't have to worry about a school trust dictating what you do and don't need to do as volunteers.

@TastingTheRainbow do you think people misunderstand how serious cows milk protein/dairy allergies can be because they confuse it with lactose intolerance?

You can't remove all the allergen risks from the world. There are so many deadly allergies, and some of them are impossible to protect against, like bees, and trying to protect against others may involve people having to alter their lives in an inconvenient way, which will always be an uphill battle. Ultimately, a person with a deadly allergy can't rely on the people around them doing the right thing, or not slipping up accidentally/through ignorance, and needs to make sure they protect themselves through epi-pens, and being careful/aware.

Either way, in this case it appears the trees themselves are low risk, and uprooting all eight of them seems disproportionate. I'd tell the school that if they want that done, they'll need to arrange it.

Sorry if this has already been said, but can the orchard not be fenched off and used by the children again in 6yrs once this child has left?

Yes 10000%, or they think it causes vomiting and diarrhoea not death.

My daughter is allergic, thankfully managed to stop any anaphylactic reaction quite quickly so far which to be fair I think is purely because she has multiple serious medical conditions including adrenal insufficiency so she’s used to looking out for life threatening symptoms every minute of her day.

She’s been accidentally exposed more times than I can count in restaurants that claim to be allergy friendly and she was even deliberately exposed by a FRIEND who thought it was a funny prank to put her in her drink thinking no one was really allergic to cows milk and my daughter was making it up. Now it’s hard to stay mad at a child and I don’t doubt that child had no idea how serious what she was doing was but this doesn’t happen with nuts, it’s taken seriously with nuts and people forget other allergies are just as deadly if not more. Because we think banning the allergen, which is actually directly against what the anaphylaxis trust recommends as it creates a false sense of security, is the better option to being allergy aware in general, until it comes to something people don’t want to ban.

I do think it is understandable to feel disheartened, even though I don't agree with some of your other sentiments and attitudes about risk management in this case I.e. a slightly hyberbolic questioning if they should they ban eggs and milk... If they had a child with a severe (life threatening!) egg allergy that conversation would take place. Although my understanding is that egg allergies are common in children, but tend to be less severe. I would be willing to be corrected on that though. A school community is exactly that, a community, and should respond to the needs of its most vulnerable members.

The nature of risk assessment is you balance how likely an event is against how bad it would be if it actually happened. So even if the likelihood of some residual protein from a shelled nut making its way to the child with the allergy is unlikely, if it did happen... it doesn't bear thinking about.
And environments full of people are unpredictable, and children can be industrious little buggers who wouldn't let a hard shell stand in their way if they were determined! Even if educated on the topic, fully grasping the danger of an allergy cannot sit with them alone. That's the job of the adults here.

It sounds as if the school hasnt always been supportive or appreciative to your groups efforts, and your efforts are important, so maybe that's informing your reaction. It's so sad to see trees that were planted go uncared for and I agree most people don't have a clue as to what is required. Maybe it would help if you see that as part of your work, educating the school community as to what caring trees really means.

I think it's ok to outline to the school what support is needed to safely remove the trees- whether it's paid labour or expertise, help finding a home for the transplanted trees - whatever you need. But it will help if you go in with a good attitude. You likely won't have contact with the parents, but school staff also have anxieties about keeping children safe, as well as a million other things on their minds. Show them you take it seriously and try and approach it as a team, even if they are imperfect team members (which they will be).

It's a shame this wasn't anticipated when the trees were being planted, but it's done now, and hopefully it will still end well.

Interesting how many people are shouting about how important nut free schools are (against the advice of anaphylaxis UK) but are simply unable to accept the idea of milk-free schools. Milk allergies cause more deaths from anaphylaxis than any other food in children.

“But the nutritional value of milk” applies to nuts. Almond butter contains as much protein and iron as steak, and for dairy allergic kids nuts are often a major contributor to nutrition.

why do milk allergies just not count?

Two children died from dairy allergies in schools, no child has died from a nut allergy in school. Benedict Blyth died from drinking milk in a clsssroom. Kids can find dairy in stored lunch boxes, during lunch and break time, in sweets given out, dropped on lunch hall floors, residue on tables and all sorts of other ways. Nuts are hugely important for vegetarian children.

You are going against advice for schools re allergies which makes life a lot more dangerous for children with allergies. The focus on nut free schools even though schools can never be completely nut free lulls schools into a false sense of security and makes staff unaware how deadly other allergies including dairy can be.

Benedict’s Law doesn’t stipulate nut free schools but better knowledge on all allergies and better access to Epi pens with all staff receiving training.

My friend’s son died from anaphylactic shock. Why wouldn’t you want to make the area as safe as possible for everyone? Just replace the trees with apples or pears.

As far as removing them from places children have to go such as school or NHS grounds for example. Children are still young and learning, far easier to avoid danger that can kill you as an adult than as an excited four year old running in the playground with their peers.

You are being extremely selfish in your thinking.

That isn’t current advice.

Are you suggesting schools should go completely dairy free too?

Children in my town are often involved in planting daffodil bulbs in public areas as well as in school.

No. The child can go to another school or deal with the allergy using some other method… like don’t go near the trees. 🙄

OP on a quick google, the chances of an issue with the child touching the tree and said nuts on the tree are almost nil...its the nut "meat" that is the issue. I would also gather some info and send it to the school. Ultimately the school can bare the cost and responsibility to remove should they wish to do this.

Far too much responsibility for older volunteers.

Absolutely 💯 this.

IF the school deems it necessary the job needs to be carried out by professionals not 70 and 80 year old volunteers ffs.

It's just entitled behaviour. There are other ways to solve this.