Benedict's Law

What Benedict’s Law Means for Schools 

The new statutory requirements mean that, for the first time, all maintained and academy schools in England will be required to: 

• Have a whole-school allergy policy 
• Relevant schools must develop and publish whole-school allergy policies. This allergy policy is not the same as the medical conditions policy and must be displayed and available on school websites 
• Provide allergy awareness training for all staff 
• Ensure all staff are given comprehensive and detailed allergy awareness and emergency response training, which must cover recognition of symptoms, emergency response and the use of adrenaline devices – alongside incident reporting and lessons-learnt processes 
• Stock spare adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) for emergency use for any child or adult experiencing symptoms of anaphylaxis 
• Hold spare in-date adrenaline devices on site. These are not a second set of prescription devices for an individual but can be used on any child or adult experiencing anaphylaxis 
• Put Individual Healthcare Plans in place for pupils with allergies 
• Develop and implement individual healthcare and action plans for pupils with serious allergies. 

Further, the measures recommend that: 

• A named senior leader should be responsible for the whole-school allergy policy, which should be reviewed at least annually and published.    

These requirements apply to state schools, including maintained schools, Pupil Referral Units, academies and free schools (excluding 16-19 academies).  

“Maintained schools” receive funding and oversight directly from a local authority, such as special schools, but excluding maintained nursery schools. 

In addition to the above, the Department has made it clear that “the Government intends to introduce equivalent allergy safety requirements…for independent schools including independent special schools) and non-maintained special schools”. 

They have also made it clear that this guidance “will also be of assistance to other education providers as they fulfil their wider statutory duties, including early years settings, further education (FE) colleges and other post-16 institutions.” 

The new law also means that when schools are inspected, they will have to show how they have implemented these new changes and how they care for and keep children living with allergies and allergic conditions safe.

Key messages from the guidance: 

Allergy safety is about more than food allergy

Schools must look beyond food allergies and consider a wide range of allergic conditions and the impact on those living with them. It is not enough to only consider food allergies when preparing risk assessments and health plans. Allergies highlighted by the guidance for consideration include: 

• • Hay Fever (Allergic Rhinitis) 
  • Skin allergies, such as eczema, contact dermatitis, contact urticaria or hives 
  • Asthma 
  • Less common allergic conditions including allergy to insect stings such as bees and wasps, and medicine allergy. 

Schools must be proactive in reducing potential exposure to allergens

While the statutory guidance focuses strongly on the measures to be taken in the event of emergency, it also strongly recommends schools are proactive in developing preventative strategies. Recommendations include: 

• • Ensuring allergen risk is managed in classrooms, such as in practical lessons. 
  • Considering the risk of allergen exposure for trips and visits – simply barring students with allergies from participation does not constitute appropriate management (please see our section on cultural changes below). 
  • Ensuring food brought from home is carefully monitored to minimise risk. 
  • Ensuring activities involving animals, food, or craft materials that might risk exposure to allergens are carefully planned. 

‘Nut-free’ environments

Many educational settings adopt proactive allergy management policies to enforce a ‘nut-free’ environment. The guidance highlights how this can prove counterproductive, as it may create a false sense of security as nuts as one of a great many food allergies that can have serious health considerations – the top 14 food allergens. Key considerations highlighted include that: 

• • Any food can lead to an allergic reaction 
  • Many foods include confusing precautionary labels warning that they may contain nuts, even when this is not the case, complicating policy implementation. 

The key recommendation of the Department for Education is that schools adopt an “allergy aware” (eg “nut-aware”) environment rather than a “nut-free” policy.” It notes that: 

While schools, colleges or early years settings may wish to discourage certain foods being brought on site, it is more important to remain actively aware of the risk posed by allergens, take steps to minimise the risk of exposure and to have robust emergency response plans in place.

Cultural changes and allergy inclusivity

As Allergy UK has highlighted repeatedly across the years, many young members of the allergic community struggle with social isolation, exclusion from activities other children take for granted, and even bullying because of their allergy. 

This is recognised by the statutory guidance which, in turn, highlights new expectations of educational institutions. These expectations include: 

• • That strategies will be used to recognise when bullying of children and young people with allergy is happening, and that the allergy safety policy should set out measures to prevent and respond to bullying 
  • That children and young people “should not be prevented from taking part in activities alongside their peers simply because of a risk of coming into contact with one of their allergens” 
  • That children living with allergies have the right to attend school normally, participate in trips, join extracurricular activities, and eat alongside their peers.  

Reasonable adjustments are not exclusion from social activity that others take for granted. As highlighted by the document, the Equality Act 2010 includes the protected characteristic of disability, there is a legal duty on educational institutions to make reasonable adjustments and avoid discrimination. 

Incidents and near miss reporting

A key expectation of the new guidance is that schools will record any allergic incidents and near misses, investigating all fully, before sharing details of the incident with both the parents of the effected child or young person as well as governors.   

Further, the school will then review their allergy safety policy, to prevent any recurrence. 

Allergy safety drills

When a severe allergic reaction occurs, such as anaphylaxis, time is of the essence. Effective training to ensure that all staff can recognise and respond is crucial, but so too is ensuring that drills take place to identify areas of concern. The guidance recommends that schools conduct simulated exercises, similar to fire evacuation exercises, to best test policies and emergency response times.  The results of these exercises should then be used to inform and develop allergy safety policies for the educational institution. 

Summary

The new guidance is intended to improve the safety of children and young people living with allergies while they are at school. It ensures all schools in England adopt a consistent approach to allergy management, emergency preparedness and staff training. This change will positively impact the many children and young people attending schools where these measures have not been in place. Families should continue to provide their child’s prescribed medication and ensure their child’s Individual Healthcare Plan is kept up to date, as spare adrenaline auto-injectors do not replace a pupil’s own prescribed devices. 

We recommend that you read the full guidance document, which can be accessed here below.

Allergy Safety in Schools Policy

Why this matters

As the guidance sets out, roughly 20% of children and young people living with an allergy experience their first allergic reaction while in an educational setting. It is not enough to develop individual healthcare plans for those with a known allergy – more must be done to ensure that young members of the allergic community are safe while at school. By ensuring non-prescription medicines are available, and that all staff are trained to competently recognise acute allergic reactions and administer adrenaline, this guidance is a huge step forward to ensuring the safeguards that have long been called for are brought into reality. 

Allergy UK welcomes this vital legislation and understands the positive impact this will have for families. This guidance is long overdue and will go a long way to improve the safety of members of the allergic community in education in England. We are grateful to the government for this pivotal step forward, and to the tireless work of the Benedict Blythe foundation and its supporters in campaigning for this key work.