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.

I have been tempted to do just that!
Realistically the school would not maintain them, prune them, weed them or water them - it's a job in itself.

How disappointing for you. But remiss of the school to have allowed a nut tree in the first place. Sadly some kids have airbourne nut allergies or can be triggered by a simple touch from a another child who has been in contact with nuts. So it isn’t as simple as the nut alergy child to simply stay away from the tree. The school will have it’s hands tied by their insurance policy and Benedicts Law, which came into force this month. I image you have no choice.

Might make them rethink.

Drop the rope, you're all volunteers, unless the school has a plan (and budget) to remove them, just keep telling them the volunteering group doesn't have the funds and they need to find a solution.

This sounds very sensible

I would offer to remove them all and the school can plant and maintain their own trees

Benedict’s Law does not require schools to go nut free. Instead, official guidance from the Department for Education (supported by organisations like Allergy UK) to schools is to adopt an allergy aware approach rather than a strict ban.

Banning just nuts can make people forget that dangerous allergies involve many other foods, such as milk, eggs, wheat, and seeds. While individual schools can still choose to ban nuts based on their own risk assessments, the law itself does not mandate a blanket ban. The priority is knowing how to manage all allergens and respond quickly to emergencies.

There's nut trees everywhere. You can't eliminate all risk. Instead you manage the allergy and keep eyes out for the signs.

Nobody can force you to do work for free. Just say no and let the school pay for it.

I too would be leaving the trees. Unfortunately we cannot fell all nut trees to manage allergies.

I do also wonder about the unintended consequences of Benedict's law ect. It seems it is unintentionally leading to poor allergy management for children. Many leading allergy specialists are against nut/ allergen bans as it doesn't not help the person with the allergy to manage it. It also can create a false sense of security. Not everyone will adhere to an allergen ban, it is far better for the allergic person is able to manage their allergies and know how to ask/ check their food does not contain allergens and get them used to asking/ advocating and speaking up about their allergy for preparation for adulthood and life in the world.

In the world there is no nut free policies in public parks/ places. People can have whatever in their picnics and leave crumbs and traces behind. People touch things in shops ect. It is much better for someone who has a severe allergy (airborne or contact) to be able to manage eating/ shopping in the world and know what provision they have to take for their allergies and have those as regular habits and routines.

No, not really. I'm sure there will be plenty children picking fallen nuts and bringing to classrooms. Allergies can happen to anyone at any age. Show some empathy, it could be you or your child next. Following the new guidlines on allergy awareness, the school are in the right. Im sure the nut tree can be replacement by a different tree

That is interesting to know. Should schools ban all bread, pasta, eggs, seeds and so on?

This is the point of view I would take. Yes it’s a pain and a real shame, but I personally wouldn’t be able to relax fighting against removing the trees just incase the worse happened now. I get that the risks can’t be removed through all of the child’s life, but at the end of the day children have no choice but to go to school, so it really should be a risk free zone for them.
I’m actually shocked at some of the harsh responses on here, this is a kid with a life threatening allergy at the end of the day and their scared parents.

If the allergy is that bad, how could it be managed at school or whenever you go out and mix with other people? You can't stop other people eating Snickers bars around you, that could happen anywhere in a public place where there are other people.

A Snickers bar is very different from a tree.

But tree nuts are covered in hard shells.

Yes - I grew up with an epipen.
No milk was banned at my school. I can't have gluten either. No gluten was banned either.

I made no sense to remove a nut tree. At sll

No they aren't. Have you read the guidelines? There's nothing in there about eliminating all possible allergens.

Tell the school that as volunteers you have not the skill to remove the trees safely. Then present them with a quote for safe removal by a professional tree surgeon.
See what they say to that.

Personally I'd refuse, there are not enough trees in this country as it is. We need every single one of them.

Who owns the land that the tree grows on? It's their responsibility.

Gosh, a lot of ignorance here with people saying just keep the child away from the tree.

As a school, you cant say you are allergy aware and have nuts in your back garden. Its not about just saying they are aware, they have to also make the place safe for children with allergies. Hence why the tree has got to go

I would be wanting proof from the child's allergy consultant that removal of an orchard of nut trees was a necessary part of allergy management.

I'd be very surprised if this was forthcoming and suspect this is panicked parents trying to control every molecule around the child which sadly is not possible.

Of course if the letter does arrive, you need to consider if digging up the nut orchard is something you can ask volunteers to do.

This creates a false sense of safety though. What is far better is to educate the child and peers about allergies, reactions, how to use an épi pen and where it is stored.

Why did the patent choose to send their nut allergic child to a school with a nut tree?

seems a bit short sighted