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.

Exactly. Does the school actually realise you're all volunteers, or do they assume you're getting paid by "someone"; and are therefore employees who have to follow orders? Point out you could, in theory, just walk away; and they'll have to do all the work themselves.

I do think in 2026 it’s crazy to have planted nut trees in a school orchard in the first place given how rigid the majority of schools are with their nut policy - no nut products in packed lunches has been in our schools for a decade or more

I can’t believe this thread is still going!

It sounds as though the OP had a good relationship with the school up to this point, the kids have enjoyed benefiting from the trees already, and presumably there are people on both sides that want to maintain cordial relations and reach a mutually agreeable conclusion. Just keep the dialogue open if you can OP.

They weren’t planted in 2026! If they were it would be considerably easier to relocate them.

Schools were nut aware 5 years ago though.

@Mangoripples
yes I know but in 2026 I’m surprised there is still the debate about it - they were only planted on 2021 - not so long ago that the community group who planted the trees couldn’t have been oblivious to the risk

Yes…though I think the school should have been aware rather than it being the responsibility of the volunteers tbh.

They were planted years ago and the school was fine with it then, that is your answer. So, not crazy.

Yes!

Good point, both the school and the volunteers want to keep the good relationship going and we all hope that a new eco group initiative will flourish and take root (but not get nutty, of course).

The school does know that we are all volunteers.
However, the school people are not tree experts by any stretch of the imagination (as anyone would expect) and seem to think that removing established trees and offering them to anyone is straightforward.

I think people are overlooking that there is a massive difference between a nut in its shell on a tree and a nut in a snickers (for example). The allergen is in the soft part of the nut so unless children are cracking the nuts open the risk is really minimal. I would more lean towards perhaps fencing off the area with the nut tress and teaching the children to not handle the nuts on the ground.

The decision to remove the trees has already been taken @2BarbieOrNot2Barbie.
OP needs to decide whether to be involved in their removal or not.

I’d not be involved in taking them down. Just get someone who knows how to use a chain saw. Let’s hope nut allergy dc doesn’t pick up conkers. They can be found everywhere. What about acorns and beechmasts? All nuts.

Conkers aren’t a nut and not a risk to those with nut allergies.

I thought of you today as I crunched through the mounds of cobnuts littering the pavements...

It's beechmast round my way.

I don’t believe op mentioned that these types of trees were on the school grounds so no need for the school or op to worry about that.

It's literally in the first sentence of the OP's post that she mentions these nut trees are on the school grounds 🤣

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

I believe pp is referring to beech, horse chestnut and oak trees here, not to the trees planted by OP.

That is correct😃

‘The trees are mostly filberts and hazel nuts, with a beautiful almond tree’ As described by the op.
They have not mentioned any of the trees the other poster mentioned so no need to be worrying about them on school grounds 🤣

I thought about this today at Gatwick airport. There was peanut M and M’s for sale. If the chance of a child touching a nut from a tree at school is so serious,why are they allowed to be eaten on planes where the aircon would possibly contaminate the cabin?

Most allergy specialists don't agree with bans on planes or in schools

That’s not because the risks aren’t real though.

For example, on planes “the real danger comes from passengers on previous flights leaving peanut residue on the seats, trays, floor and entertainment screens.
If seat areas are not properly cleaned between flights, small pieces of nut may end up on the next passenger's hands and face”…that’s the main danger according to experts.

If you’re allergic you need to clean the seat and tray well before you sit down. Other passengers eating nuts elsewhere on the plane are much less of a risk.