Dear Parents and Carers
Allergy Awareness at Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School
At Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School, the safety, wellbeing and inclusion of every pupil is incredibly important to us.
As we begin the new academic year, we are strengthening our approach to allergy awareness and allergy safety in line with the new national requirements introduced under Benedict’s Law.
Benedict’s Law represents an important step forward in protecting children and young people living with allergies. It places greater emphasis on whole-school allergy awareness, reducing the risk of exposure to allergens, ensuring staff are appropriately trained, and making sure that pupils with allergies are able to participate fully and safely in school life.
We want Sir Thomas Boteler to be a school where pupils with allergies feel safe, understood, supported and included.
We are therefore asking everyone in our school community — staff, pupils and families — to play their part in becoming allergy aware.
Please take a few minutes to read the enclosed information from The Allergy Team, which provides useful advice about allergies and how we can all help to keep children safe.
Why is this important?
We have pupils in school with a range of allergies, including:
- Tree nuts and peanuts
- Soy
- Dairy
- Gluten
- Vinegar
- Chilli
- Pears and grapes
- Grass and pollen
- Latex
- Plasters and other materials
For some children, exposure to an allergen can result in a serious or potentially life-threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis).
Allergy safety is therefore everyone’s responsibility. While we cannot remove every allergen from the school environment, we can take sensible, proportionate steps to reduce risk, increase awareness and ensure that we know how to respond should a reaction occur.
How can you help?
- Please tell us about your child’s allergies
If your child has an allergy, please make sure that we are aware of it as soon as possible. You can update your child’s medical information easily through Arbor.
For Parents/Carers (Parent Portal or App)
- Log in to the Arbor Parent Portal or app.
- Go to your child’s profile.
- Locate the Medical or Allergy/Dietary section.
- Submit the new allergy details (note that a school administrator will need to authorise the change before it updates permanently).
If your child has an Allergy Care Plan or Individual Healthcare Plan provided by a medical professional, please ensure that we have an up-to-date copy.
Plans can be sent to Ms Fallon sfallon@boteler.org.uk who is our lead on Allergy Awareness and Training.
It is particularly important that we are informed promptly if your child’s allergy, medication or medical advice changes.
- Talk to your child about allergies
Please talk to your child about the importance of:
- Taking allergies seriously.
- Washing their hands before eating.
- Not sharing food or drinks with friends.
- Never deliberately exposing someone to an allergen.
- Being supportive and inclusive towards friends who have allergies.
- Understanding what to do if someone experiences an allergic reaction.
We want our pupils to become allergy allies — looking after one another, understanding that allergies can be serious and knowing when to seek help.
The Allergy Team also provides helpful videos and resources that families can access to learn more.
- Food brought into school
If you are sending food into school to be shared with other pupils — for example, for a charity bake sale or other event — we can only accept shop-bought food in its original, unopened packaging.
This enables us to check the ingredients and allergen information and helps us to make informed decisions about what can safely be shared.
Please do not send homemade food for sharing.
- Visiting friends
If your child is inviting a friend home, please ask their parents or carers whether they have any allergies and discuss what they need to keep them safe.
Where possible, we should always aim to manage the allergen rather than exclude the child.
This principle is an important part of Benedict’s Law: children living with allergies should be supported to participate in school life alongside their peers wherever it is safe and reasonably possible.
Working Together
Keeping children with allergies safe cannot be achieved by school alone. It requires a partnership between school, parents and carers, pupils and the wider community.
We are committed to ensuring that our staff have the knowledge and training they need to recognise and respond to allergic reactions, that appropriate individual plans are in place for pupils who require them, and that allergy safety remains an important part of our whole-school approach.
Most importantly, we want every pupil to feel that their allergy does not define them or prevent them from being part of school life.
Safety, inclusion and belonging go hand in hand.
Thank you for your continued support and for helping us to create an allergy-aware school community where every child can feel safe, included and able to thrive.
If you have any questions or concerns about allergies, please contact Ms Fallon sfallon@botelerorg.uk ,
Mr Mason smason@boteler.org.uk (SLT Allergy Lead and Assistant Head) or myself bscott-herron@boteler.org.uk and we will be happy to assist.
Mrs B Scott-Herron
Headteacher
Visit The Allergy Team webiste for more information: https://theallergyteam.com/
