Headteacher used a biscuit in Maths and tried to feed our Coeliac daughter and when told not to, laughed about it

[RLBo]

Our daughter has Coeliac Disease - (the school is well aware of this as she is hyper sensitive). She had a 1:1 Maths lesson with the Headteacher who used a non gluten free biscuit to demonstrate fractions, the head teacher broke the biscuit apart and put it in our daughters face and said 'go on eat it, it's yours' pushing the biscuit towards her. Our daughter said 'no I can't eat it, it will make me ill' to which the headteacher laughed and said 'oh I will eat it then, yum yum yum' putting crumbs all over our daughter and the desk.

I was shocked at this behaviour and made a complaint. To which the reply was; the headteacher said she had forgotten that our daughter was Coeliac and that she wasn't wrong in doing this?

How would you respond? because in my eyes, it's once again a school brushing something that is serious under the carpet and dismissing it.

Interested to know your thoughts

Bye

I have allergies myself BTW before I get told I don't know what I'm talking about, I'm a weirdo and that my opinions don't matter. Yikes

So do you know what coeliac disease is? Specifically? You should be raising awareness rather than just letting things happen. You are forgetting the point I am making. This is a primary school, they know she is coeliac yet they put her at risk and haven’t followed protocol. Simple.

Yes. Thanks for asking ☺

I’m sorry to hear this and this is why it’s important that allergy policies are regularly refreshed with staff.

Why was the headteacher giving her a 1 to 1 maths lesson? That seems very generous. No doubt she will regret it.

You are absolutely right and nobody would understand unless they have been through it or seen their child in agony and very poorly after being exposed to gluten. X

I'm a teacher. I never use food in a lesson without checking if it is safe and acceptable for all the students (allergies, intolerances, Halal, vegan, etc). That's pretty basic. I would never assume that any given child is okay with a food product. Ask if old enough, check records if not old enough to answer reliably.

Unfortunately this happens. Especially in group settings - I've seen it happen to friends and colleagues too. Most of the people I know don't take any risks with eating food in public when their allergies are serious.

I imagine it's hard for her to not be able to join in at times but she seems very well educated and aware so hopefully the risk is extremely low for her eating something accidentally again.

It sounds like the previous issue is the real concern here as she actually ate something and this incident has just made you panic. But unlike last time, it sounds like any problems were prevented.

Totally agree. This is all I want. Recognition that it was wrong but the governors are telling me the HT “forgot” and didn’t do anything wrong 😑

You have hit the nail on the head. So many ridiculous comments on here, I’m shocked. Our children have no hope really with some of these mindsets

Hmmm embellishment. Clearly you haven’t seen your child in agony, vomiting, bleeding from their backside for a week.

Fact: she didn’t follow process or duty of care

I love the way you are so blaze about it. Perhaps you need educating on coeliac disease.

Worrying that there are people with your mindset that are happy to just “let things go” and wait for a fatality. I’m not just talking about my daughter - I’m talking about the future of other children with allergies far worse and safety

The school, and especially the Head Teacher when in a one-to-one situation - have a duty of care. This failed. Plus, the Head Teacher did not acknowledge her error in remembering this child's needs, or admit that she had a duty of care.

Health and safety should be paramount. We entrust our children to school. We don't expect things like this.

So between 4pm yesterday and today you have submitted a complaint to the governors, had it investigated and heard back?

Absolutely! We need more people
like you!

*like

Spot on.

No this has been over the course of 1 month and they came back on Monday with the response

Oh dear…🙄

Wow - you should know better!!! You should be supporting the awareness of Ceoliac disease - this is an unbelievable response. Just wow. Thank god there aren’t as many people with your thought process on here.

and you are coeliac - I am super concerned.

just so you know - she’s a child in primary school not an adult. The headteacher has a duty of care.

jeeeeze 🙄 whatever next.

I don’t appreciate people like you. I don’t like to see my daughter bleeding and in pain for a week, so I want to ensure it doesn’t come to that.

I think the one that needs to get a grip here is you!!

OP no one can tell which post you are replying to if you don't @ the poster, or quote it (three little buttons top right).

Briefly forgot something that could have very serious (if not fatal) consequences?

But that would be wrong. The DD is coeliac. Offering a child food they cannot eat is both unfair and dangerous.

If a teacher offered your child something obviously covered in mould that could risk serious food poisoning or a tablet that could make them very sick and contribute to disintegration of stomach lining, would you be comfortable that they had been put in that position? No. Firstly, because it was dangerous and therefore you worried for their safety. Secondly, because they are a child and it is the adult’s responsibility to keep them safe. Let’s be honest, if they can’t get the basics right, how do you trust them on other things?

I wouldn’t be happy if this happened with my son, even though his would not be an instant reaction but prevents long term cumulation and keeps his kidneys functioning better (not coeliac). Our school phones me if they have any questions and keep specific different foods for him. He’s catered for whenever there’s a situation where he is able to join in. If he was wrongly offered something, I’d complain - not because of immediate danger, but because he as the child shouldn’t be put in that situation. It’s not his job to worry over it, it’s mine and the school’s, who I have trusted to look after him while he’s there.

I think something worth mentioning here is that children with dietary requirements have sometimes gone through quite a bit already. They have often had dangerous scary reactions and been admitted to hospital or they’ve been unable to join in because of symptoms, or they’ve experienced a serious medical condition that’s resulted in this dietary need, sometimes with intrusive tests or procedures. Sometimes it might be that parents have an allergy and therefore tested early and therefore the negative experiences were missed, but that isn’t always the case. They need to know adults know and that they can trust them to make the right decision. Yes, they are aware of it themselves and the serious repercussions because they often remember the medical intervention or symptoms they’ve experienced before - but at primary age they don’t have the cognition to analyse every food and check reliably. They also find it overwhelming and anxiety provoking. Yes, sometimes they get it right and being more wary they do tend to check - but it shouldn’t be up to them because of their age.

Brilliantly explained.

And yes, I agree. In my experience children with allergies and coeliac etc are phenomenally resilient and impressively good at taking control of their own safety. And generally most of their peers are supportive and sensible too. But it is a constant hard road. Food is never straightforward. And to have adults in positions of responsibility make them feel uncomfortable or unsafe is horrible and unfair.

I'm surprised the school doesn't appear to have a policy about offering any type of food to children ie staff are never to offer any type of food to children. It's impossible in a busy environment to keep abreast with who is allergic to what and the blanket ban on food offerings solves that. Perhaps you could ask the governing body to introduce this policy to ensure that it never happens again to any child at risk of allergic reactions.