Food Allergies and Dietary Requirements

Food Allergies

There are a number of children on roll in our school with severe food allergies. In these cases, anaphylaxis (an allergic reaction) can occur as a result of digestion inhalation or sometimes, contact with the skin. For this reason, we aim to be a nut-free school, as promoted by Anaphylaxis UK. Due to the severity of such allergies, if a child is found with a nut-based product, it will be removed, and parents contacted immediately.

Dietary Requirements

We follow guidance from the DfE in these matters. We collect dietary information about all our children, and we fulfil our duty of care by ensuring that children are served appropriate food for their lunch.

Natasha's Law

In 2021, Natasha's Law became statute. Natasha's Law applies to food outlets or to sites where food events are organised and regular. It applies to all wrapped food, and/or food that is not pre-ordered.

Whilst school is not a food outlet, in the strict sense, we do have food events which are regular and organised. If cooking is part of the curriculum or when OSCAR organise one of their events and food is offered (either free or paid for) then Natasha's Law applies.

This means, for all wrapped food (including a napkin as wrapping) the school will provide a list of ingredients, with the item. For curriculum events, staff will always check for any allergies in their class before planning such an event, and we will share the ingredients with parents beforehand, as that makes a lot of sense. For OSCAR events, where food is not pre-ordered, OSCAR have been instructed to provide the ingredients too. This would most likely be where OSCAR are selling food items, at one of the fairs.

Other Foodstuffs in School

Children often bring in and share birthday treats. We therefore ask Class Teachers to arrange for children to distribute any birthday treats outside the class door, and parents/carers are welcome to help with this. This allows parents collecting children to see the distribution and check the item. For those in Y5 and Y6 who walk home alone, Class Teachers will always remind those children to take treats home and check with parents first.

At Christmas, some children add treats to cards, posted in school to friends. We always distribute such cards at the end of the day and ask children to open them after school, in order that parents/carers can check these too.