what happens at the moment with free school meals and allergies/medical special diets?

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

DD will be eligible for fsm under the new scheme starting next year - hers would need to be dairy free and current provider (they have their meals shipped in) only makes something she can eat once a fortnightish. I also have no idea what contamination control is like at the source - because of,this she has packed lunches.

DH thinks we should angle for food vouchers instead but is there an obligation for them to provide for her? I don't want her to feel left out.

We have children at our school with a number of allergies etc. You need to have a doctors/consultants letter explaining the precise
nature of the allergy and at our school and local authority anyway someone from the ed dept and the meal provider and catering staff discuss the menu with you - altering it where necessary to suit the individual meal requirements. Also will depend if food shipped in or prepared on the premises. Our school has a four week rolling menu of food made on the premises and you choose the food your child has each day. on days when there may be a problem substitutes can be made ie one dairy allergic child has special biscuits made with non dairy spread and soy yogurts provided. Children with food allergies are served 1st in our school to avoid cross contamination too! You need to speak to someone in the school meals section of your local authority for clarification.

Ours are shipped in. We aren't currently eligible, so when I last spoke to them their position was that I would have to ring to discuss the exact ingredients of the schedule, and then she could have them on days that happened to have a full set of dairy free options. I left it because packed lunch is much easier!

If there was a proper kitchen on site, I don't think she'd be that hard to accommodate, but they don't have that.

I didn't ask what they would do if she was on fsm and if there was a policy. I'll ring and ask.

a our previous school they got the meals bought in from chartwells i think, and they always claimed that they could provide a dairy free option each day although we never actually took them up on it

our current school cooks on site, so can cater for anything really.

i would assume that there is an obligation to provide yes...

I wonder about this too, DD is allergic to egg and CMP and the school meals are brought in from another school. At the moment she is on packed lunches but next year when the free meals comes in I would rather she isn't left out, I'd hate her to be the only one left on packed lunches

Thanks for that BabyBarrister, here is the link for anyone who wants it www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/living-with-anaphylaxis/news/the-anaphylaxis-campaign-responds-to-the-free-school-lunch-announcement-for-infant-school-pupils-in-england