Smiles Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 We used to have a child in our group ho had a nut allergy so we made the setting a nut free zone as far as possible. The chidlno longers attends and we now have a child who comes and stays for lunch and will only eqat ham or peanut butter sandwiches. Can anyone advice me on whether or not it is allowed to have a policy if a nut free zone or am I excuding this child. smile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 We used to have a child in our group ho had a nut allergy so we made the setting a nut free zone as far as possible. The chidlno longers attends and we now have a child who comes and stays for lunch and will only eqat ham or peanut butter sandwiches. Can anyone advice me on whether or not it is allowed to have a policy if a nut free zone or am I excuding this child. smile This is an interesting point, smile! I'm in two minds about this: firstly, the parent knows you have a no-nut policy for snacks and lunches, yet sent her child to you anyway. On the other hand, your policy itself might be excluding this child on the basis of his individual needs (although I'm not sure that electing to have a highly restrictive diet constitutes an individual need!). If it were me I'd ring up the Inclusion Officer in the Early Years team and get some proper advice! Maybe he just has to develop his love for ham! Perhaps this is a good time to work with mum on getting him to try a wider range of foods Reminds me of when my middle son was at pre-school: every day he would come home and eat peanut butter on ryvitas (had to be single: no chance of making a ryvita sandwich). As school got nearer and nearer I began to be quite concerned about what he would eat at school. I just couldn't see how I was going to get a ryvitas to school intact without making them into a sandwich... but in the end he resolved it himself. Phew! Maz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiles Posted February 5, 2008 Author Share Posted February 5, 2008 Im not sure the Mum was entirely aware of our nut free zone - we never had an actual policy on it but it has always been on our headed note paper. The child is very fussy about his food and at the moment we are trying to get him to eat fruit but he gets hysterical about it - Mum put it in his lunch box and ommitted to tell us. He comes twice a week for lunch. We have another child who we allow to bring his own snack as he has special educational needs although we do offer him our snack.I am aware now that you cant exclude children for various reasons that you used to be so am concerned about having a nut free zone. Im going to chat too Mum tomorrow to see if we can come up with a solution. I am aware of the dangers of allergies as my son has an unknown allergy - couldnt ban all foods for him!!! smiles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 I am aware of the dangers of allergies as my son has an unknown allergy - couldnt ban all foods for him!!! And you do have to strike a balance between keeping children safe and removing all the risk from life don't you? Mind you, I dread to think how you deal with an unknown allergy - but at least it gives you a some commonality between you and mum: even if your need to control what your children eat for different reasons! Good luck with your chat - it does sound as though this child has some serious issues about food if he gets so upset at the mere sight of food! Maz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiles Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 Thanks Maz, my thoughts exactly. Mum has a few issues with us and I dont want too add this too her list. It has made me reflect on my practice and I will be making a few changes in September for our next intake. smiles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 Good luck with your chat - it does sound as though this child has some serious issues about food if he gets so upset at the mere sight of food! Maz I understand what you're saying, maz, but I think it's too early to talk about issues with food. My own son has never eaten fruit (apart from a suck on an apple about 13 months old!) even spitting back mashed banana as a baby. For a long while he wouldn't touch vegetables either, except potatoes and peas (That was a boring time, foodwise!) He wouldn't drink juice with 'bits' in, or eat the yogurts with obvious lumps of fruit, either, but now eats most things, although still not fruit. He, too would become upset if the issue was pushed. His diet started becoming more 'normal' around 13 or 14, when the famous male 'spider spurt growth' syndrome kicked in! I'm sure you'll sort it out, smiles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 My daughter lived on cold chicken soup for about 18mths at nursery age and then moved onto mash potato.She still 'snacks' on mash and doesn't like chips which is suprisingly awkward if you go out for the day. On the nut thing we had one of each in reception last year-one allergy-one only peanut butter.The children eat with the whole school 420 children so impossible to police the whole school for nut free so we had a nut free dinning table seating 10.Both children were very good at knowing where to sit.It didn't feel like segregation as we had other children who required accomodating in the hall for other reasons-2 in wheelchairs, diabetes, downs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westie Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 Hi, As an Inclusion officer i would advise you as a setting that a nut free policy would be a acceptable. Two things here seem apparent to me: 1. Under the DDA (although not a disability in the expected sense, this would still fall into the DDA) it would be down to making a reasonable adjustment. I would suggest that it would be a reasonable adjustment to expect parents to ensure that food children bring into the setting is free of nuts. However it would not be a reasonable adjustment to risk the health/life of a child attending the setting. When comparing the two it is much more reasonable that a child cannot eat a certain type of food than to put at risk the health of another child. 2. If you wait until you have another child entering the setting who does have an allergy, i would anticipate that it would be much harder to implement a nut free zone at that point. I think if you decide that a nut free zone is what you need then a policy needs to be drawn up and implemented straight away.It will then give you the chance to see how it works in practice before you have a child that will need it. Obviously you will need to work closely with the parents of the child who has a limited diet. But as long as you explain to her the reasons behind this policy, the potential risks and that you have a duty to support all children as a matter of Inclusion, then you are being completely reasonable. I hope this makes sense and helps a little Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I know of at least one school which has taken the opposite stance ie banning a child with a nut allergy as they could not guarantee his safety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 we also had a child with a severe nut allergy - put a policy in place - child has since left but policy still in place - better safe than sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I agree with Jo. Our feeder schools both have nut free policy's and we have always had the same even if no child attends with a nut allergy! One of our staff member's son has the servere nut allergy and she cant touch nuts/not products and then touch her son! She has to scrub her hands etc! So definatelybetter to be safe than sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I was told by the Ofsted inspector that a policy for a nut-free zone is acceptable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiles Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 Thanks evreryone for your replies, Mum did not bring her son in today. Having mulled over the situation and being aware and seen the results of a severe allergy reaction several timesm, I am going to draw a policy , it has always been an unwritten one before. We are developing a Welcome pack for parents for September and will include it in that but make sure I let all parents know now. Smiles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 does someone have one that they could post please , we do tell parents but no policy at present.. perhaps we need one as have child with nut allergy at present, Inge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I know of at least one school which has taken the opposite stance ie banning a child with a nut allergy as they could not guarantee his safety. And its still not unheard of for children with food allergies to be sent to the office to eat their snack/lunch so that their safety can be guaranteed! Imagine how that must feel to your average three year old! Maz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 I understand what you're saying, maz, but I think it's too early to talk about issues with food. I did look at that sentence myself Sue, and wondered whether to edit! Given that my son (in addition to the peanut butter and ryvita issue) only ate chicken nuggets and chips for about three years from quite an early age and now is the most adventurous eater of my brood, I completely agree! Maz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MaryEMac Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 My brother lived on bread and margarine up until he was about 14/15 when he got a girlfriend and her parents wanted to take them out for a meal. He wouldn't eat chips or mash but would have a few crisps and he loved ginger sponge pudding and custard. He went on to live and work in Malaysia and will eat anything but eggs. So there is hope for all. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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