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.

Update: I have, of course, agreed to the removal of the 8 nut trees, but the logistics are easier said than done and fall with me and the group and that is challenging. School teachers are not tree specialists, so I am getting advice and getting a list of experienced groups that can take the trees, hopefully to dig them up, transport them and all the rest.

You are very kind to take this on. But the responsibility does actually lie with the school. It is their property

Another update: about what evidence the school has of the allergy!
I asked the school whether the pupil's medical team has reported on the details of the allergy, mostly out of interest and because people are asking me.

The school replied that the request came from 'safeguarding and health and safety risk assessments', so nothing actually medical-based and not based on which kind of nut (eg it could only be peanuts, which are biologically quite different and last time I checked, do not grow on trees...).
So, as I suspected, its not looked into by experts.
But we are where we are.

Hopefully the school will realise the cost and not being able to realise the funds to do it! As volunteers I'd question why this comes under your remit anyway.

I suspect trees have to be removed when it isn't nesting season so unless it's done very quickly, I suspect it will have to wait until next winter and not during term time for safety reasons.

If it really has come up as a huge red flag on a Risk Assessment, then the child shouldn't be in school until the trees are removed. If the parent feels the risk can be managed and the child attend, then it's clearly not the severe risk they are claiming...

I am sympathetic to allergies. My DC has horrible ones and the school worked very carefully to ensure my DC safety. My favourite being a Christmas lunch where my child got given their allergen on their plate. When the allergy was pointed out apparently it was "like that scene in Monsters Inc with the sock, Mummy".

Well. I a. A complete muppet. Jumping at you for not reading the opening post and me not having read yours properly!

Yes, you are right, of course. However, I did get the grant money to pay for the trees and my group has done all the work, plus the community is very invested. So, I don't want the school just to say to anyone 'just take a tree' because there are steps to take to prevent the trees dying as a result of cutting out, moving and re-planting. We do feel responsible.

They can’t give out the pupil’s medical details anyway so they’ll always give an answer like the one you got.

Good luck with moving the trees OP. You are very kind to be organising this and to be doing all the work you do.

It happens the best of us 😃

@Mangoripples Ah, I see now, that makes sense.
Thank you for your feedback! 🌳🌳🌳