My daughter has severe allergies and is about to start school. As a parent, do I have the right to request that her teacher impose hand-washing rules and restrictions on what foods other kids can bring to school?
If your daughter is allergic to certain foods, first make sure she understands her allergies and what they mean for her. This includes:
• What an allergy is
• What foods could harm her
• Any symptoms she should worry about
• What could happen if she comes into contact with the things she’s allergic to
• What to do if she has an allergic reaction, ie who to go to for help, medication to take, or a phone number to call.
Schools are allowed to ban certain foods and drinks if they consider them harmful to their pupils.
Before your child starts school, talk to the teacher and develop a plan involving the class if an emergency does happen with your child’s allergy.
Allergy New Zealand has good resources online for handling severe allergies in schools and pre-schools.
Visit allergy.org.nz
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