Nearly 700 000 children with food allergies are at risk in the classroom as the majority of schools in England do not have recommended safeguarding policies in place to protect them, an analysis has found.
The research, carried out by the Benedict Blythe Foundation (2024), said that current legislation makes only modest requests of schools, falling far below the recommended good practice outlined by clinicians, allergy charities and coroners following inquests into fatal anaphylaxis reactions in children during school time.
Furthermore, the UK lags two decades behind international legislation, with the USA, Canada and Australia adopting stringent measures in schools to protect pupils. In the UK, however, few schools had plans to deal with health problems arising from allergies, and schools were ‘often being forced to make clinical decisions without having the level of knowledge to do so’.
According to figures, up to two children in any medium-sized class will suffer from an allergy, and about 680 000 children in schools in England will have one or more allergies. An estimated half a million school days a year are lost because of reactions to allergies.
Almost one in five (18%) allergic reactions in children with food allergies take place in school and anaphylaxis is more likely to take place in school than in any other setting outside of the home. An average hospital anywhere in the country will receive 190 children every year, during school time, who are experiencing allergic symptoms.
The report, the largest of its kind to have been conducted to date, and which was carried out in partnership with The Institute of Clever Stuff, found a ‘postcode lottery’ in terms of English schools adopting safeguards. It said there were huge variations in the quality and quantity of training given to teachers, and that parents could never be sure how safe their children were. Appropriate medication was available in only around half of schools, with the rates being slightly higher in secondary than primary.
There was also a lack of data being gathered on the incidence of allergic reactions taking place in schools, making it difficult to determine what additional help and support schools needed to be able to tackle incidents effectively.
‘Communication of how the school manages allergies and emergency response through policy individual healthcare plans wasn't universal and not always accessible to all staff ’, the analysis, REACT Is the education sector protecting pupils with allergies, and what more can be done?, said.
Helen Blythe, who founded the Benedict Blythe Foundation in memory of her son, who died in 2021 at the age of five of anaphylaxis, said: ‘This report shows the staggering variance between schools, with the patchwork of approaches, meaning it really is a postcode lottery for families with a child with allergy.
‘Some have robust processes, others none at all. The fact it's potluck whether your local school has medication, communication and education relating to allergy made available to teachers, puts children needlessly at risk.’
The analysis outlines a number of activities and scenarios which can be a source of potential risk, including the dining hall, school trips, science experiments, food lessons, and classroom activities, and suggests that teaching staff and leaders work with school nurses to develop protocols for responding to incidents.
The report lists a number of recommendations for schools to adopt to improve safety measures for children with allergies, including:
- Reporting all known instances of allergic reaction and near misses using a Schools Allergy Reaction Register to identify which schools have more cases and therefore need most support
- Implementing a specific allergy policy, which includes an anaphylaxis plan because of the prevalence, unpredictability and potentially lifethreatening implication of a reaction.
- Draft and implement an Individual Healthcare Plan (IHP) for every child with an allergy, containing vital information about a student's history, allergens, individual needs and risks, and day-to-day management.
- Funding adrenaline auto-injectors (AAI) in all schools, with staff trained in their use. In addition, school should keep spare asthma inhalers and antihistamines to create an ‘Allergy First Aid Kit’ to use in an instance of allergic reaction.
- Training all staff in allergy awareness, management and emergency response, with a framework developed to define what good practice looks like
‘[The report] said that there were huge variations in the quality and quantity of training given to teachers, and that parents could never be sure how safe their children were. Appropriate medication was available in only around half of schools, with the rates being slightly higher in secondary than primary.’
Simone Miles, from the charity Allergy UK, said: ‘Schools have a legal duty to support pupils with medical conditions, including allergy, and must adhere to legislation and statutory guidance on caring for pupils with medical conditions.
‘Allergy policies and Individual Healthcare Plans are not just pieces of paper. They are important documents for considering and communicating risk, and a school's process and approach to ensuring a safe environment for a student with an allergy, and how to respond in an allergy emergency.’
The report also calls on policymakers to take proactive steps to safeguard children with allergies by implementing a range of protective measures: to provide targeted support to improve culture and awareness of allergy across educational settings, to ensure schools are aware of their statutory responsibilities, and to highlight good practice.
Helen Blythe added: ‘We know that changes to legislation and funding take time, but there is action that can be taken in the meantime.
‘We would urge schools to react to the findings in this report and to put their own measures in place. For parents concerned by the findings, there is action they too can take, raising helpful guides like the Schools Allergy Code (The Allergy Team, 2023), which is backed by the Department for Education, to the attention of schools and raising money to implement some of the more costly measures.
‘This is something that needs to be achieved by a united effort, taking a wholesector approach to allergy safety in schools. The findings in this report demonstrate that there is much more to be done to ensure our children with allergies are safe in school.’
FURTHER INFORMATION
Benedict Blythe Foundation
In July 2023 the charity launched a campaign to #protectpupilswithallergies.
For more information visit: https://www.benedictblythe.com
The Allergy Team
https://theallergyteam.com/