Primary school refusing to provide gluten free meals without formal diagnosis. Help!

[Artichook]

DD2 starts reception in Sept. her school has a no packed lunch policy but won't do a gluten free hot meal without a doctors letter.

We believe DD2 is probably coeliac. Her grandmother, uncle and cousin all have formal diagnosis but we only got her the blood test (aged 2) and it was negative. Even her pead was surprised as her symptoms are so classic but he said the next step was a general anaesthetic and endoscopy after 10 weeks on a gluten diet. We refused this option as we had already moved her to gluten free and it had made huge improvements so we weren't willing to expose her to 10 weeks of misery.

What should I do about the school? Is this a common policy?

[greenbananas]

Is this a private school?

The school do need a doctor's letter, because otherwise they would find themselves catering for all sorts of faddy (and possibly imaginary) dietary 'requirements'. However, all you need is an official doctor's letter saying that your DD is on a gluten-free diet for medical reasons. This letter does not have to include any particular diagnosis (it is not the school's job to make medical decisions about which pupils are 'deserving' of a gluten-free diet).

Good advice from Blu about writing a draft of this letter yourself

Once the school have an official letter, they ought to move heaven and earth to cater for your DD, and to make sure she feels included. Either they should provide hot meals which are suitable for her, or they should allow other children to bring packed lunches so that she is not the only one eating food from home.

If you don't get a good response from the school once they have a doctor's letter, I think you should contact Ofsted (the official body for inspecting schools) because they would certainly be interested... Ofsted's telephone number is 0300 123 1231. All schools, whether state-run or private, have a duty to make sure they don't discriminate against any child, and that all pupils are included in the daily life of the school.

[MummaBubba123]

The staff answering that number are excellent. I've used it and got results before over a different matter. The school were quite cross that I'd called it but I'd friend to speak to them first and got nowhere. I'd def. speak to the Head first and then call the number without forewarning the school.

[megandraper]

Can your DD have an HLA typing blood test? They can be done on the NHS. I have two DSs - DS1 (5) is formally diagnosed coeliac (positive antibody blood test and biopsy) and DS2 (3), though showing symptoms was negative at antibody blood test and biopsy.

We had an HLA-typing blood test which showed that they both carry the same coeliac gene. Though that doesn't mean DS2 is definitely coeliac, it is another supporting factor. He has 1) coeliac blood-relatives, 2) coeliac symptoms that went away on going gluten-free and 3) the coeliac gene. That is enough for our paediatrician to support DS2's need for a gf diet.