In this article
- How can I be sure my allergic child will be safe in school?
- Can my child have school meals if she has a food allergy?
- What else should I be aware of?
- What should I do if my child has asthma?
- What should I do if my child has eczema?
- Will my child be teased because of her allergy?
- Where can I find out more?
How can I be sure my allergic child will be safe in school?It's natural to worry when your child goes into a new environment, especially if she's allergic (Cummings et al 2010). It may reassure you to know that every school is likely to have at least one pupil with a severe food allergy (Anaphylaxis Campaign 2011). This means schools are well prepared for looking after children with allergies. The staff will have rehearsed strategies and procedures in place.
Before your child starts school, book an appointment to discuss her allergy with her class teacher, the headteacher and the school nurse. Take written information about her allergy with you. The school may also need a letter from your GP or specialist that describes your child's particular allergy (Anaphylaxis Campaign 2011).
Most allergy clinics give parents an emergency plan of what to do if their child has a reaction. If you have one, your child's school will need a copy of it too.
Otherwise, your school nurse or your doctor can help you to write up a care plan of your child's needs. This is especially important if she has been diagnosed with a severe allergy, and has been prescribed an adrenaline auto-injector pen, such as an Epipen or Jext.
Your child's care plan should include:
- how to manage your child's allergy
- details of regular medication, if any
- how to manage an allergic reaction (Young et al 2009)
- how this affects her needs during class, lunchtime and at after-school clubs (Anaphylaxis Campaign 2011)
If your child carries medication for her allergies, such as antihistamine medicine or an adrenaline auto-injector pen, give extra supplies to her school. These can be kept in her classroom and in the school office.
Allergies can change as your child grows, so the care plan should be reviewed regularly with your GP or specialist.
Can my child have school meals if she has a food allergy?She should be able to. In England, free school meals are available to all pupils in reception, year one and year two, from September 2014. In Scotland, this is available from January 2015. If your child is older or you live in Wales or Northern Ireland, free school meals are means-tested.
There is no legal obligation for your school to provide meals which are free from any given allergen. However, the vast majority of schools will be happy to help however they can. Your child has the right to enjoy a meal with her friends, and her school should be able to arrange for her to do this safely (Muraro et al 2010). Speak to the staff at the school about what can be done to suit her needs.
Lunchtimes that you can't supervise are bound to be a worry for you. You may prefer to send your child to school with a packed lunch so you can more easily control what she eats. Try to comfort yourself with the thought that severe allergic reactions, whether at home or in school, are rare.
Many primary schools have nut-free menus (Muraro et al 2010). Some schools are entirely nut-free, meaning other children can't bring nut products in their packed lunches (Allergy UK 2012).
If your child has an allergy to a commonly used food, such as milk, your doctor or dietitian may have given you written dietary advice. If so, bring the written advice with you to the school. This will give the catering staff more information for an alternative menu that suits your child.
You can see for yourself what is expected of caterers by checking out the Anaphylaxis Campaign's advice for caterers and school cooks.
What else should I be aware of?Unfortunately, you can never be certain that your child's school is completely free from her trigger food. So it's worth encouraging your child to behave in a way that helps her to protect herself.
If your child has a severe food allergy, you're probably already teaching her how to avoid coming into contact with trigger food or foods. Now's the time to emphasise that she mustn't share snacks, however much she wants to join in lunchtimes with her friends.
This should be made easy for your child as many primary schools have a no-food-sharing policy for all children, whether or not they have an allergy. Ask her teacher to give gentle reminders to the children about this rule (Allergy UK 2012).
Talk to your child about:
- which foods are unsafe for her
- how to spot symptoms of her allergy
- when to tell an adult if she has symptoms
- why it's always best to ask if she's unsure about a certain meal
- as she grows, how to spot the words for the trigger food on labels (Anaphylaxis Campaign 2011)
Severe reactions to foods almost always happen as a result of eating a certain food, and not from just touching it. But small children do tend to put their fingers in their mouths. So encourage your child to wash her hands often to remove potential food allergens (Young et al 2009).
Happily, a food allergy doesn't mean your child has to miss out on cookery lessons (Anaphylaxis Campaign 2011). However, her teacher should review the ingredients carefully, and talk to you about them beforehand.
During special occasions such as Easter, you could take in some allergy-free snacks or treats in a labelled box, if other children are taking in cakes and sweets (Allergy UK 2012, Anaphylaxis Campaign 2011, Muraro et al 2010). That way, your child can join in with the celebrations.
What should I do if my child has asthma?Talk to staff at your child's school at the beginning of the school term and ask about their asthma management policy. Your child's school should have procedures for giving medications such as inhalers. They should also have procedures for dealing with rarer emergencies, such as a severe asthma attack.
Make sure your child has a written asthma action plan. This needs to explain how and when she should take any medications, her asthma triggers, and what should be done if she has an asthma attack (NAEPP 2003). She should be able to use her inhaler whenever she needs to. Her teacher and the staff in the school office should know where her spare inhalers are kept (Muraro et al 2010).
Your child shouldn't miss out on exercise and PE lessons at school. Her teacher should make sure she can use her inhaler whenever she needs to (Muraro et al 2010).
Apart from your main concern that your child is safe and well, you'll want her to thrive at school. If your child's asthma isn't controlled, it can interfere with her ability to concentrate. So keep talking to school staff throughout term times to ensure that all her needs are being met.
What should I do if my child has eczema?Unlike severe food allergies and asthma, eczema doesn't need emergency treatment. However, it can seriously affect the quality of your child's life at school, particularly if her eczema is severe.
Tell your child's teacher if anything makes her eczema flare up. This could be craft activities such as painting, swimming lessons, or even washing her hands with soap and using paper towels to dry them (Morgan nd).
For some children, stress and lack of sleep are triggers for eczema. This can become a vicious circle if your child is awake and scratching her skin at night and can't concentrate at school the next day, because she's so tired (Muraro et al 2010).
Put a small tube of emollient in your child's school bag (Morgan nd), which she should be able to use as often as she needs to during the day (Muraro et al 2010). You could show her teacher a sample of the medication and treatments that she currently uses to keep her condition under control. And you could also give the teacher extra emollient to keep in the classroom, just in case.
Will my child be teased because of her allergy?Though bullying is more common in older children, and is uncommon in reception classes, sometimes children with allergies are teased by their peers (Lieberman 2010).
If bullying does happen it needs to be nipped in the bud. If your child is withdrawn, tearful and reluctant to go to school, talk to her teacher.
Where can I find out more?The charities Allergy UK and the Anaphylaxis Campaign provide lots of information for parents of children with allergies.
And you can join the Babycentre community to talk about allergies and intolerances with other parents.
Last reviewed: August 2014
ReferencesAllergy UK. 2012. Starting school. www.allergyuk.org
Allergy UK. 2003. Stolen lives: the allergy report. The impact of allergies on people's lives in the UK today. www.allergyuk.org
Anaphylaxis Campaign. 2011. Frequently asked questions: in School. Factsheet. www.anaphylaxis.org.uk
Cummings AJ, Knibb RC, King RM, et al. 2010. The psychosocial impact of food allergy and food hypersensitivity in children, adolescents and their families: a review. Allergy 65: 933–945
Hu W, Kemp A. 2005. Managing childhood food allergies and anaphylaxis. Australian Family Physician 34 (1/2). www.isdbweb.org
Lieberman JA, Weiss C, Furlong TJ, et al. 2010. Bullying among pediatric patients with food allergy. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2010 Oct 105(4):282-6. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Morgan J. nd. Starting school with eczema. National Eczema Society. www.education.gov.uk
Muraro A, Clark A, Beyer K, et al. 2010. The management of the allergic child at school: EAACI /GA2LEN Task Force on the allergic child at school. Position Paper. Allergy. http://www.eaaci.net/images/files/Pdf_MsWord/2010/Position_Papers/the_management_of_the_allergic_child_at_school.pdf
NAEPP. 2003. Managing asthma: a guide for schools. www.nhlbi.nih.gov
Young MC, 2009. Munoz-Furlong A, Sicherer, SH. Management of food allergies in schools: A perspective for allergists. Clinical reviews in allergy and immunology. J Allergy Clin Immunol 12(4): 175-182. www.integrativehealthconnection.com