to challenge the schools nuts ban

[pigglewiggle]

The school has a strict no nuts policy. Apparently this is because someone in a higher year has a peanut allergy. I can understand banning peanuts if the allergy is severe but peanuts are very different to normal proper nuts and reactions to these are not to my knowledge anywhere near as bad as peanuts. It just makes lunch quite difficult as we are vegan and would love to pop something like a nakd bar in lunchboxes.

Aibu to go to the school and at least establish if a total ban on nuts is needed / necessary?

Our school refuses to have a nut ban for the very good reasons many PP have stated. They do, however, have a very strict 'no sharing food' rule.

How do you know if someone is a Vegan? Don't worry, they'll tell you!

My child has never had to use the epipen at all in school, I believe that is because there is a blanket ban on nuts at the schools concerned - both her primary and secondary school have a ban on all nuts

My child has also never had to use the epipen at school but there is no blanket ban.

school dinners are carefully checked to make sure they don't contain nuts, so why can't the allergic child sit in the midst of the school dinner eaters and the packed lunches sit at the opposite end of the hall.

My DD has a severe peanut and hazelnut allergy. The school doesn't have a ban on nuts and nor should they, for the reasons outlined above.

DD eats what I send into school and nothing else. We take responsibility for this. The school keep an eye on her during mealtimes and she knows to flag up any possible reactions. In my view, this is all that is needed.

I would hope that someone who wanted to send nuts in, for the legitimate reasons you outline, would let the school know so they could sit them apart.

I stayed with a friend a couple of years ago whose daughter's diet consisted of peanut butter sandwiches and little else. She was trying to persuade her to eat all sorts of alternatives, but she wasn't eating. I insisted she gave her the peanut butter and we just employed sensible precautions.

How do you know if someone is a Vegan? Don't worry, they'll tell you!

Oozing with originality that one

The nut ban at my dc school was requested by the lunchtime staff who were daunted my the responsibility of dc's safety. I was happy to go along with anaphylaxis society guidance but they wanted to reduce the risk as far as possible. I was happy to go along with this.

I think I am lucky as the school also has a strict no sharing policy, so no nuts, no sharing and good vigilance. I am happy and grateful for what they are doing.

Of course there is the odd parent like the OP who just doesn't want to be part of protecting someone else's child. But I have to turn a blind eye to that before I get stabby!

Andrewofgg, I think risk management in other eating environments is rather different. A young child with allergies at primary school may need some help understanding/managing risks. If that child is at a restaurant, they will be accompanied by a parent/other adult who will have taken steps to find out and manage risks. If the risks of a shared environment are too great, presumably they won't be eating there.

Mistigri I don't think the arguments for allowing nuts in somewhere like a primary school are persuasive. It's fair to assume that permitting nuts increases their consumption and their inadvertent circulation, including outside of a dining area with a supervised table for those with allergies. I can't see that allergic reactions would be dismissed just because it's a no nut environment. The schools I've experienced with a no nut policy also take great efforts to know which children have allergies.

I am struggling to think of a reasonable reason for the blanket ban.
It's not supported by the associated organisations, other caring precautions can be made , parents and the children who do have just allergy are normally so incredibly experienced and careful.
One HAS to question the ban and whether it is SUCH a good Idea.

Nut allergy threads always bring out the self rightious like Dustypink . Its nauseating to hear when they dont understand the real issues. Theres no point banning nuts if you are not going to ban every other allergen.

We have lots of nut allergies at school.

We don't have a nut ban either.

No-one has died.

I presume those with nut allergies never leave the house or never go to any communal space that might have people eating nuts (or people eating things that might have been made in the same factory as other things that might contain traces of nuts) incase they DIE!

I understand the OP's predicament but I'm sure many wont.

I think it's an excellent idea to raise questions about any policy in school through the correct channels and while being mindful that maintained schools have to follow LA policies, not just go their own way.

But to suggest, as some on this thread have done, that schools are in dereliction of their safeguarding responsibilities by having a no nut policy is not in anyway helpful.

I never thought I'd say it, but where is janethegirl when you need her?

It is an interesting discussion.

My children have a restricted diet, one of them has an anaphalyt allergy to peanuts but we have nut containing products as home.

I would like to send nut products as snacks on trips where there are no nut allergy children present but the school say, it's a no nut school.

School don't get it right all the time but they do have to protect the children with known fatal allergies as best they can.

In the year group of my children, there are serious allergies to peanuts, almonds, pinenuts (technically a seed), hazlenuts and cashew nuts. Adults make assumptions all the time about what is OK and rarely guess correctly for other people's children. Not alll Nãkd bars are made with cashews, some have peanuts, easy mistake to make but could be fatal.

Do schools have an obligation to also protect and ban other anaphylactic allergens eg dairy, eggs? Here it becomes difficult... but for younger children, in their class rooms, I think they do, on a case by case basis.

Surely there are degrees with allergies, there are with everything else in life as far as I can see. If so then it must depend on the child and their allergy. At the most severe end I imagine a ban is the only answer.

My understanding granny is that it is not so simple to predict. DD's skin-prick tests show a severe reaction to peanuts and hazelnuts. That, combined with her recurrent admissions for asthma attacks, put her at high risk of an anaphylactic reaction.. However, a number of varying factors can determine the outlook on any given day.

Having said all of that, I do not agree with a ban!

*Why on earth should the thread be pulled!?

Totally unnecessary to.make abusive comments to the OP.

Why not just answer the question, see an opportunity to inform/educate her about nut allergies, and leave it there.

FGS*

EXACTLY and why abuse someone for being vegan anyway? I think given the state of modern agriclture it's probably a sensible move.

I think children with nut allegies are more vulnerable than adults, they haven't learned to wash their hands, or whatever else they have to do on a daily basis to be safe. So schools have a duty of care. If there are no children in the school with a nut allergy and they have a nut ban, then yes you would nbu to ask them to lift it. Wait until the kid leaves and then ask the head to lift the ban.

See this is soooo tricky. on one hand you have someone's dietary choices. which may or may not be related to allergies or intolerance but are important to the person. These of course don't have to be followed by everyone body or believed in by everybody. just respected.

then there are the allergy sufferers who have a right to a safe environment and the chance to a normal activity like going school.

It's clear that often these will over lap. you get people fighting one side and others trying to have a sensible discussion the other.

I find the people all high and mighty about "but a child could die" seem awfully dismissive about anything other than a nut allergy and should perhaps wind it in a bit and think. cheese powder in crisps , flavour carriers in crisps,cake, bread crumbs, etc all contain milk and are easily aerosolised. yogurt and custard and rice pudding pots can splatter, sticky fingers and drips on clothing. of course it's just as dangerous to a dairy allergic person. nuts are not the only worry. eggs are also a major allergen for many people. again cake crumbs could he a huge issue.

People also don't realise where alot of ingredients come from. I am clued up to an extent but i can't promise everything I send in is safe. nor can anyone else. In that sense it is almost pointless banning a product because there's no way you can know short of house inspections and ensuring everyone shops from the same specialised zero cross contamination Web site.

never going to happen.

I understand the the reasoning behind it I just can't see how a child is realistically safer. either through mistakes or complacency.

It also creates alot of issues with others. how can one allergen be banned but not another.

remember the thread months back where egg nuts berries gluten and other things were all banned. People felt it was outrageous. why are nuts the only thing people take seriously.

I dint agree with blanket bans. but i don't flout them. I couldn't. bit o don't believe they solve anything and I don't believe it's fair on people who's children have allergies that aren't banned. It gives people the wrong idea. that only nut allergies matter or are serious.

Some of the responses on here are getting seriously upsetting.

lostteacher, yes totally hilarious, no one's died yet.

You have no idea.

It's not just a smug discussion on the internet. It's real children, real risks. It terrifies me on a daily basis.

Actually tomandizzymum the group most at risk of a genuinely life-threatening reaction is not primary school children but teenagers and young adults.

There's very little evidence that children are at risk from non-ingested nut exposure - in fact the evidence is that serious reactions are unlikely (the anaphylaxis association leaflet on peanut allergy contains info on the clinical evidence for anyone who's interested). And once you rule out the risk of airborne allergens, the risk from ingesting nuts is not necessarily any higher than for any other serious allergy.

As an allergic person with an allergic child I'm always far more comfortable when non-expert adults follow accepted, evidence-based good practice and/or the specific advice of medical professionals - because objectively that is the most effective way to reduce risk for all of us.

Nothing wrong with lostteachers reaponse rogueelement

You can challenge the school if you so wish, till hell freeze over but you'd be wasting your precious time.
They have a duty of safeguarding to the children, so by law they have to put in provisions to protect the child....Put the boot on the other foot if your child had a but allergy. Surely you'd expect a no nut policy.
Probably be flamed for this but it's your choice to be vegan. It's not that child's choice to have a but allergy.

Op
to challenge the school go the anaphylaxis campaigm website and print off their advice for schools. It does not advocate nut bans

My 4 year old is allergic to peanuts, cashew nuts, walnuts but low on the scale of allergic to almonds. His consultant only tested for common nuts. I suppose I could ask for further blood tests to see if there is a nut he is allowed thus allowing vegans to bring this to school!!??

a child in my dsc's class died in October due today nut allergy he didn't know he had. he was 11 and it wasn't a peanut so for my yabu

Wheresthelight
allergies happen aany time of life. My ds was 4 before he had an allergic reaction, even though he had eaten nuts and sesame many times before.