Can you look at my attempt at a sheet for classroom?

[Weta]

Following on from my message yesterday, I've put together a sheet for the classroom. Can you tell me if there is too much/not enough info?

            ALLERGY TO DAIRY PRODUCTS
               (photo)
               (name)

Must not eat:
* milk, yoghurt, cheese, ice cream
* cakes, biscuits, sweets or any
other food not supplied by his
parents

Can eat/drink:
* food supplied by his parents
* fruit (except kiwifruit)
* water, juice, soft drinks

Symptoms:
* vomiting, hives, rash
* breathing problems,

unconsciousness (anaphylaxis)

Medication including Epipen is with the school nurse.

If (name) shows any of these symptoms and/or thinks he has had cow's milk, he should be accompanied to the school nurse IMMEDIATELY.

If the nurse is unavailable, please call an ambulance and inform his parents (phone numbers).

Didn't see the previous thread, but ought it not to go elsewhere in the school also? The dining room, staffroom, medical room?
Sorry if you've already covered that.

Crikey - what a nightmare - is there not some sort of a system of a wristband or something to draw people's attention to your DCs problems - like they give you in hospital if you are allergic to penicillin?

Thanks Pixie, will put that bit under the name and photo.

Thanks Clam - we're in the process of developing a better system within the school but it's quite complicated. It's a really big school (1000 kids) so there doesn't seem much point putting it in the staffroom, and he is one of the kids that takes a packed lunch (supervised by the class teacher) so I think the same probably applies to the dining room. The nurses have boxes for each child with special meds but I'm going to give them a photo to put on his. This sheet is for the class teacher (and hopefully we can find a way to make sure substitute teachers see it), the French teacher and the ethics teacher.

Highlight the word NOT and the word CAN.

No experience of this but have had to write instructions for various procedures and some tricks I use because people are very lazy readers could be useful.

Put things that he can eat in a green box with a big tick or simple smiley face and things he can't eat in red box with cross or simple sad face. Use light shades of green and red tho so you can still read the writing clearly.

Maybe also a really simple graphic of an ambulance near the bit about calling an ambulance.

It's suprising how actually seeing a visual of something can help your understanding especially when information needs to be understood quickly in a dtressful situation.

Exit - I think you can get that kind of thing, but he is well able to speak up for himself and it's more a question of making sure that teachers are aware of the situation and take it seriously.

Zandy and RacheyH - those are really good suggestions, thanks!

Looking at it 'fresh' there are two confusing bits

1. Do you want him to just eat food supplied by you?
2. Is he allergic to kiwi?

Otherwise it look good. I really like rachey's suggestions.

ethics teacher??

Whelk - I did wonder about this! basically I only want him to eat food supplied by us, but fruit is fine and I wouldn't want him to miss out. Maybe I need to specify food supplied by us (except fruit).
He has a mild allergy to kiwifruit - maybe I should just miss this out, as he wouldn't voluntarily eat it anyway. We're seeing specialist on Friday and will get blood tests for it, so I might discuss it with her.

Feenie - I know it sounds strange! He goes to a European School for children of EU staff (not in UK) and they have to choose a religion class, but people who aren't religious can choose 'ethics' instead. Actually they mostly seem to talk about stuff like pollution and the environment.

we get something like this provided by the local HA.

Weta, just to let you know you can get wristbands highlighting the allergies. DS has just done his first year of nursery and it has been helpful for us and the school staff. I think they're called Medibands and based in Australia, try Googling it.

It's just an extra thing to jog the staff's memory and also helpful when new staff come in who are unfamiliar with the children. DS really liked wearing his which was helpful!

weta, just a thought as I'm not sure how old your DS is but if he has a contact allergy to dairy, is he likely to come into contact with it through play or cooking say at school?

I've no idea what children get up to at school as my dairy allergic DD is only 3.5yo but I would be worried if all my precautions to stop her eating something dangerous were wasted if she ended up being asked to bake biscuits for example.

Don't know if you need to mention this sort of thing on your sheet?

That's a really good point about allergic reactions on contact. Before I had DS, I was simply not aware that people could react on skin contact to traces of eggs, milk and other foods.

I've done 'supply' in various different settings and am horribly aware that staff coming in at short notice get very little time to take in 'extra' information. I think racheyh's suggestions are great, particularly as many teachers are 'visual learners'. Where is the best place in your school for all incoming staff to see pictures / emergency medical procedures?

Thanks bilbomum and pixieonaleaf.

Mintyneb - he is 6.5 and I don't think he would have a serious reaction on contact (just rash/hives). I also have a one-to-one talk with the classroom teacher (and this year plan to do the same with French teacher and ethics teacher as we did have some problems with them last year), and I might write out a more detailed info sheet for them. I want to keep this one as brief as possible so that it is read by anyone looking after him who is in a hurry.

Greenbananas - this seems to be a really difficult issue in our school. I think I will talk to the nurses about it again (they are responsible for proposing improved procedures to the management, and I wss invited to talk to them after contacting the principal about a problem we had last year), but unfortunately the school is so big that there doesn't seem to be one central point where everyone would actually look at it. They had thought of having a list in the staffroom, but then the supply teachers would have to look at that and check before going to the class - it seems to me it would be better to have it in the register (inside the front cover say) and for all supply teachers to be told they have to check there.

We have sheets like this for all children with SN, allergies, health issues, etc. at school. There are copies in the staffroom, on the wall, and copies inside the medical cupbaord file. Teachers also have copies for their records although I have never seen them displayed on the class wall.

They have all the information on you have said.

I would highlight Epipen.

I like the idea of one in colour with the graphics, nicely laid out. Would make more of an impact IMO.

Thanks Hulababy, I think the colour is a brilliant idea too.