Parenting Forums

Posted: 01 November 2007 at 10:49pm | IP Logged

I have just finnished writting a letter of complaint for my mum and i was wondering if you colud tell me is there are any spelling mistakes in it. would be intrested on your opinions too

Dear Mrs Johnston

I am writing this letter to address some concerns I have in regards to my granddaughter Louise Frame. As you are aware Louise has a special dietary condition where she cannot have nuts. I feel that the handling of her condition has not been satisfactory.

I do understand that you have now requested a dieticians report on Louise’s condition. However it is just nuts and food that contain nuts she cant eat. I do not understand why Louise has to be exclude from eating a hot school dinner due to this. Surely the school can provide all the children with food that is nut free. As Louise is not aloud to eat a school meal, I feel that this alone is socially excluding her. I feel that this treatment is in breach of her basic human rights. If you had a child with a physical disability attending your school you would be obliged to adapt your access to suit the child’s needs. So I ask why you cant adapt your menu to suit Louise dietary needs.

I was saddened to hear at a resent Halloween party you held for the children that Louise was told she could not eat any of the food you had provided for the other children as the food could had contained nuts. As a consequence Louise couldn’t join her friends when they were having their food. This is making Louise feel stigmatised.

The children then had a party in their class and I provided Louise with special food so she could eat with the other children. This food was not given to Louise instead she was aloud to eat the food you had provided on this occasion. This is sending Louise mixed messages and all children need consistency.

I was informed that also the school had sent out notes to the parents about Louise’s condition. I understand that this is a necessary action you had to take, however you did not get my consent for this. Louise is entitled to privacy I would have given permission for this. It would have been nice to know that this action was going to be taken before hand so I could have told Louise.

I would be interested to read your policies on equal opportunities and social inclusion and would be grateful if you could provide me with a copy of them.

I am sure Louise is not the first child and will not be the last to have a nut allergy. So I feel that your methods of dealing with such matter need to be addresses and possibly reviewed.  

thank you

Posted: 01 November 2007 at 11:17pm | IP Logged

Hi Connacher. Hope you don't mind, but I've made a few changes and corrected a few typos and reprinted below. I used to be an editor for a publishing company before I had the boys, so I'm a real bugger for things like this! It would be worth you checking on your local county council website to see if there's anything on there. Ours has this (you need to scroll down):

http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council--services/education --lifelong-learning/about-schools/school-catering/faqs

Also, can I just ask if Louise was named in the letter that went out to parents? The school are obliged to ask that other parents don't send in nuts to be shared, but she should certainly not have been named. If she was, that is a serious breach of Confidentiality, and you could make a real complaint against the school for that.

Hope it helps, Love Rachel x

Dear Mrs Johnston

I am writing this letter to ask you to address some concerns that I have in regard to my granddaughter, Louise Frame. As you should be aware, Louise has a special dietary condition that means she cannot eat nuts or their derivatives. I do not feel that the school is fulfilling its responsibilities to handle this condition.

I understand that you have now requested a dietician's report on Louise’s condition. Simply put, she cannot eat nuts or food that contains nuts.Why does Louise have to be exclude from eating a hot school dinner due to this? Surely the school can provide all the children with food that is nut free. This is a common, though very serious, condition, and many schools around the country are proud to call themselves "Nut-free". Not allowing Louise to eat a school meal is socially excluding her. I feel that this treatment is discriminatory and in breach of her basic human rights. If you had a child with a physical disability attending your school, you would be obliged to adapt your access to suit the child’s needs. So I ask why you cannot adapt your menu to suit Louise's dietary needs, as most other county councils are more than prepared to do.

I was saddened that at the school's recent Halloween party Louise was told she could not eat any of the food you had provided as it may contain nuts. As a consequence Louise couldn’t join her friends when they were having their food. This is singling Louise out and making her feel stigmatised. Yet when the children had a party in their class and I provided Louise with special food so she could eat with the other children, this food was not given to Louise and she was allowed to eat the food you had provided. If this was possible on this occasion - why not on others? You are not presenting a clear message at all.

I was also informed that the school had sent out notes to the parents about Louise’s condition. I understand that this is a necessary action, but you did not get my consent to name Louise in this way. Louise is entitled to privacy and I would not have given permission for this. I should at least have been informed that this action was going to be taken so that I could have told Louise. Surely this is a confidentiality breach.

I would be interested to read your policies on equal opportunities and social inclusion, and would be grateful if you could provide me with a copy of them.

I am sure Louise is not the first child to have a nut allergy, and she will not be the last. I feel that your methods of dealing with this matter need to be urgently reviewed. I look forward to receiving your comments on this as soon as possible.

Posted: 01 November 2007 at 11:35pm | IP Logged

as far as i know she was named and pointed out to all the parents. this matter has really pi**** me off.

3smallboys thank you sooooo much for looking over the letter didnt want to send it with errors on it i want them to take it seriosly big huggs xxx

Posted: 02 November 2007 at 9:24am | IP Logged

I i'm glad that you're facing the school with this but it when i was in lincolnshire i found out you only have to make a complaint to the head teacher twice and nothing be done then you can take it to your local education authority and i would be inclinded to do this too.....

Also take it to the papers if nothing happens, but i just wanted to let you know at my sons school all children have meals, hot ones if they want. But they have rules of now sweets not to be taken in on birthdays incase there are dietry requirements and don't want children to feel excluded and in pack ups no one is allowed to take peanut butter in case it comes in contact with another child.

Good luck, have you thought about seeking advice legally from a solicitor?

Posted: 02 November 2007 at 6:04pm | IP Logged

The school is sooooo in the wrong for naming her in letters that were sent home...hmmmm seriously goes against the data protection act that the schools are always going on about.

Id send something off to the LEA about that if i were you, but thats just me chica.

Good luck

Posted: 02 November 2007 at 7:05pm | IP Logged

My wee lad Thom has severe allergies to sesame, mushrooms, shellfish, cats and quite possibly peanuts ( he's never been in contact with them but he's to avoid them at all costs just incase) along with several food intolerances. We carry an epi pen and loads of other medication everywhere we go.

Thom has never had a school meal due to all of his allergies. I've always provided his packed lunch along with any snacks or treats that the school have asked for. I prefer to work this way....... to be perfectly honest I don't trust anyone else to feed Thom, and I think it would be unfair on the school to cater for all of the children in their care who have allergies/intolerances like Thom. If they did, I doubt that there would be any food left in the canteen!

I would love it if Thom could have a hot meal, especially as the meals are now free for his age group, but it's not to be. Afterall, Thom's safety comes first...

The school your daughter goes to is probably trying to protect both your daughter and themselves, although I think they need to review their practises.

Posted: 04 November 2007 at 2:27pm | IP Logged

thanks all for your responces. I am over protective when it comes to louise as my mum has adopted her and she gets a lot of stick at school as it is. the kids dont mean to be mean but they want to know why she lives with her gran? and make fun that she has no mum and dad (louise is not my child but my sisters). She was born with a drug withdrawal.

I just feel that she gets singled out enough she is knowen as the wee girl with no mum. now because of the school naming her she is the wee girl with no mum and cant eat nuts. i feel like shouting her name is LOUISE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

we just kinda want her to feel "normal" so you see why we dont want her to feel "diffrent"