Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope this letter finds you well and that over the Christmas break you were able to benefit from some family time. I write to you today to outline a change in how all Trust schools will be approaching how they manage risk regarding allergies within their settings.

After reviewing the Trust approach to how we manage food allergies in our schools, we have identified a number of areas where we believe we can refine how we operate in order to minimise risk. In many cases children who have food allergies suffer mild symptoms if they come into contact with certain food types and yet we are also seeing a growing number of children within the Trust who have severe food allergies which, if the child comes into contact with a specific food type, can lead to a severe allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction which requires immediate medical attention and, if not treated quickly, can in some tragic cases lead to a fatality. In order to minimise the potential impact of a child developing anaphylaxis, all schools have a supply of Epi-Pens and staff are fully trained annually on their use.

Schools within the Trust currently place a significant emphasis on effectively managing potential food allergy issues at lunch times with kitchen staff and lunchtime supervisors across the Trust trained in how to ensure there is no cross contamination of food. In order to support this process, children with mild and severe allergies are identified and known to the kitchen staff when ordering a school meal. This is a system that we have had in place for a number of years and it ensures that we keep the level of risk to a minimum.

There are, however, other areas where the ability to manage risk and ensure that children do not come into contact with food types they are allergic to is more challenging. It is these areas that all schools within the Trust will be adapting their approaches with immediate effect, they are:

Birthdays - many children bring in sweets, chocolate, cakes and other food types to celebrate their birthdays with their classmates. This in itself presents a significant challenge in that many items do not have ingredients on individual wrappers and it is difficult to ensure that children with allergies do not receive a food type they are allergic to. We also appreciate that in the current cost of living crisis, sending in a child with sweets/chocolate/other food items for 30 classmates on their birthday is expensive and as a result we envisage that over the course of the year there may be a situation where some children feel left out as a family might not be able to afford to send their child in with treats for the class. As a result of this we will no longer allow for sweets/chocolate to be given out on a child’s birthday on the school premises - instead we will introduce a policy across all schools that any child who has a birthday is permitted to wear their own clothes on this day. This will allow the school community to wish your child a happy birthday and hopefully make them feel special - it is also something that every child can participate in regardless of family finances (children who have their birthdays in the holidays are welcome to wear their own clothes on the first day back).

Parties - where a class is having an end of term party or celebration event your child’s school will either take the view that no food is permitted within the party or they may allow each child to bring a food item for themselves and they will be asked to not share it with anyone. Your child’s school will make this clear at the time of the event.
Cultural celebrations - food provided during cultural celebrations will be provided through the school. This approach will ensure that the school has clarity over the ingredients within each food type in relation to potential allergies.

Packed lunches/break time snacks - if your child brings a packed lunch/break time snack we ask that you do not pack any nut related items (e.g. peanut butter, nutella, chocolate spread) as this is the most common form of allergen. We also ask that you speak with your child and ask that they do not share the contents of their packed lunch with other pupils.

PTA events - where a school has a Parents Teacher Association, they will be asked not to provide treats for the children as part of celebration events and instead different approaches will be taken.
Cooking in the curriculum - all food contents sourced within the curriculum will be provided by the school to ensure that ingredients can be checked in relation to allergies.

As a Trust we want to ensure that all of the children in our care are able to enjoy school and are treated equally and with respect. We believe that adopting the above approaches will ensure that we continue to celebrate important events whilst also keeping our children safe.

Thank you for your support in the matter.

Steve Taylor
CEO
Robin Hood Multi Academy Trust