I was a bit horrified when he told me a teacher was taking volunteers to do 5 cooking sessions during school hours and he had signed up. But to be honest I'm so impressed at how he handled it - he told the teacher about his dairy allergy and worked out some ways of modifying the recipes plus the fact that his friend could do any tasks involving dairy for him.
I've emailed the teacher to explain a bit more and offered to provide dairy-free bread and margarine for a toasted sandwich, and explained that he should cook his first so there is no cheese on the machine from the others. The teacher said he was rather worried when DS1 mentioned the allergy but wanted to let him stay in the group as he was so enthusiastic. I think he's still a bit concerned about the extra work and managing DS1 alongside the other children.
I'm feeling a bit conflicted... DS1 is almost 9 and I feel I need to let him make some of his own decisions, plus he is on a desensitisation programme and is now having 250 ml of cow's milk (100 ml straight from the bottle and the rest boiled for 10 minutes) every day, so the risk of a reaction if he comes into contact with a small amount of dairy by accident is very low. But I also feel guilty for expecting the teacher (who I've never met) to accommodate him. I guess my overall feeling is that at this point it's really between DS1 and the teacher, and I've done what I can to clarify the situation and minimise the risk.
I'd be interested in other people's views...