What is the new guidance
The guidance introduces a requirement for the governing bodies of maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England to publish and regularly review an allergy safety policy. A maintained school is a state-funded public school that is funded and overseen (“maintained”) by a local authority rather than directly by the central government.
This guidance follows the Government consultation earlier this year and is the first of two updated pieces of statutory guidance for schools. It will be followed by the revised statutory guidance ’Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school’ which is expected to include the broader management of medical conditions, including coeliac disease.
What does this mean for pupils with coeliac disease?
This new guidance represents a significant strengthening around allergy management in schools and there are several positive developments for children and young people with coeliac disease, including:
- Recognition that coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease (not an allergy or intolerance)
- A dedicated section covering what coeliac disease is
- Acknowledgement of the importance of avoiding gluten and having robust cross contamination controls
- Inclusion of coeliac disease within required staff training
- Recognition of coeliac disease within catering, wellbeing support and initiatives
What does this mean for schools?
The new statutory guidance makes it clear that coeliac disease should be managed through the school’s medical conditions arrangements, rather than through its allergy safety policy.
While allergy and coeliac disease are different medical conditions, in practice the food-safety risk management in schools is similar.
Under the new guidance, schools should have appropriate measures in place to:
- Reduce the risk of exposure to allergens or, in the case of coeliac disease, cereals containing gluten
- Implement appropriate procedures and processes to manage the risk of cross contamination
- Communicate clearly with pupils and parents about the suitability of school meals
- Ensure relevant staff understand how to support pupils with coeliac disease
We expect further information about schools’ wider responsibilities when the revised ‘Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school’ guidance is published.
How Coeliac UK can help
To support parents, schools and school caterers in responding to the new publication, Coeliac UK has developed a range of guidance documents and resources to help ensure the right support is in place for children with coeliac disease.
These resources include:
- Information packs for parents, carers and schools
- A template letter
- An individual healthcare plan template
- Catering guidance and top tips for catering gluten free
We also offer online training for staff and caterers through our Gluten Free Academy.
Find support
We will be updating our information in line with the new ‘allergy safety policy’ guidelines over the next couple of weeks, but please bear in mind that while this is happening, some of our information may not yet reflect these changes. In addition, there will need to be further updates made once the revised ‘Supporting children with medical conditions at school’ guidance is published.