My daughter is 5 and has to have a gluten free diet. The school are not willing to provide a Gluten free lunch.
The government states the all children under 7 will be provided with a hot meal. It didn't say ' unless they have a medical condition'.
This is discrimination and my 5 year old is the only child that is not having a hot dinner.
She feels 'sad and lonely' and has asked me if the other children will still play with her if they know she's different.
This can't be right surely? She not a leper she 5 year old with coeliacs.
I have asked to speak to the catering staff, I was told that all messages go through the office and a meeting is not possible.
I have also spoke to the head, who told me to " go through the weekly menu and pick out a GF meal, she can have that, and each a packed lunch the rest of the time".
A jacket potato once every 3 weeks !!
I am finding the schools total lack of interest in this staggering.
They have funding to provide a cooked meal to all children, if this is the case are they receiving funding to my child too ? If so this should be deducted until this problem is resolved.
Am I the only one who has a GF child who feels alienated due to their medical needs ?
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Fishpond2012
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That's an absolutely appalling situation and completely discriminatory. I have found that once schools refuse to do anything it's virtually impossible to budge them without outside support. Personally I would be enlisting the help of the local paper or radio but that has the potential to sour the relationship further if that's possible
I really hope your daughter's friends rally round and prove she's no different. Would the school insist on her eating peanuts if she had a peanut allergy? Good luck
Contact the school governors, followed if necessary by the county council. There really is no reason they can't offer her something gf apart from ignorance of where gluten is used which us the biggest problem in school catering staff. Appalling you haven't been allowed to speak to the kitchen/catering company directly. Good luck.
It is awful that your child is not able to eat any of the school meals, but is it the school's fault? At most schools, the food is not controlled by the kitchen staff, nor the school itself, but the local government. The school's attitude is completely inappropriate, but they may not be able to do anything about the food at all. Why don't you ask who you need to speak to that is actually involved in the food purchasing process? Most food is pre made and only reheated onsite, so there's little they would be able to do for you, without speaking to the local government (unless it's a private school or an academy).
I do so feel for you, my granddaughter changed schools , and my daughter went in and talked to the cook, the school has set menue for the week fish fri , wed roast etc but every day they would have jacket potatoes. My daughter went through every ingredient they used, they agreed for her to take in gravy granules, fish fingers,sausages and gluten free cakes sauces have been changed for every one so they all get the same. ,always jacket with cheese when there is a problem, please go demand you see the cook, and straightaway find the school governors, not hard, speak to your local county councillor, take it up with the MP,it's discrimination,have the facts at hand in multiplications, so you can hand it to them in person highlight parts that concern her health, in time to come, good luck let me know how you get on .we live in Essex not sure where you are best of luck .
What an appalling situation for your daughter. It's time to start making a fuss. They wouldn't treat a diabetic child this way, nor withhold medicine from an asthmatic child or one with peanut allergy. It's the same principle, this diet is your child's medication! Can you see your local MP? Or get your GP to write a letter stating the importance of the diet? I would try and see the head again and ask for the senior chef to be present, offer the head the chance to do something , stating firmly that it's your daughter's health at stake. If they don't then you need to ensure they understand YOU WILL take it further.
I am disgusted at the treatment you are getting. My son was diagnosed with Coeliac when he was 5. I spoke to school and then I made a call to our local council which is Shropshire.
I was blown away by the support. The cook at school was amazing and all of last year he had 3 days of school meals and not once was he caught
If your school is sourcing meals via the council then I would contact them. If it's a private catering company maybe contact them then approach h the head to say you need it sorting. My head advised me to use the words 'inclusion ' and 'equal to peers' it worked a treat.
I am disgusted at the treatment you are getting. My son was diagnosed with Coeliac when he was 5. I spoke to school and then I made a call to our local council which is Shropshire.
I was blown away by the support. The cook at school was amazing and all of last year he had 3 days of school meals and not once was he caught
If your school is sourcing meals via the council then I would contact them. If it's a private catering company maybe contact them then approach h the head to say you need it sorting. My head advised me to use the words 'inclusion ' and 'equal to peers' it worked a treat.
Lisa
Hi there, this is very sad and like many others it makes me angry. And it will almost certainly have a huge negative psychological effect on your 5 year old, who through no fault of her own has CD.
So what I would do next is contact the local authority and if need be have a letter from your daughters GP and see what their response is.
As far as I'm aware the law changes this September so that primary schools have to provide a cooked lunch for all children under a certain age, so I'd try and find out how this could be used to your daughters advantage.
I also think that you have to be very careful (tactful) how you go about this, so that you do not alienate the school against your 5 year old. But if the school comes across as being belligerent over this then contact your local paper as they would almost certainly portray your daughter as being bullied by the school.
So good luck to you and your 5 year old and please do let us know how this pans out as it is almost certainly not an isolated incident.
Like the others I am very sorry to hear of the treatment your child is getting at school.
I hope your letter writing skills aren't too rusty because as the others say there is action you can take. Unfortunately it might take a while to get results - but hey your child is going to be at that school for some time, right?
How much help you are entitled to will depend on whether you can get the school to view your daughters needs as a disability. This aspect is crucial if you are going to get anywhere at all. Firstly do you have (or can you get hold of) any proof that your daughter is a coeliac or has a medical need for a gluten-free diet? If so, it may be time to start quoting legislation you can use.
Under the Equality Act 2010 (which applies to schools), The definition of disability is a person who has "a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a SUBSTANTIAL and LONG-TERM adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities".
My understanding is that day-to-day activities (in the eyes of the law) normally includes things like bathing, dressing, mobility and meals. I would argue that not been able to eat a 'normal' gluten diet has a substantial and long-term impact on a Coeliac's ability to carry out day-to-day activities ie. Eating at school! Interestingly this act focuses on the effect of the impairment on the person and not the actual condition itself. If you were to look up the Equality Act 2010 guidance, Section A5 (on page 7) specifically mentions autoimmune conditions - and the last time I checked Coeliac Disease is an auto-immune condition.
Another piece of legislation that might be applicable to you is the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001. Now if I'm honest I know very little about this act. I think most parents use it to get their children formally statemented at school but you would need to focus on the disability part (which I think is part 2) rather than the SEN sections.
From what I can figure out it seems to piggyback the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995. Part 4 of DDA refers to schools and educational establishments. Now what type of help you would be entitled to will depend on what type of school your daughter is going to. If it is a local authority controlled school you have a right to ask for their Accessibility Strategy (DDA section 28D if you want to look it up for yourself). If you don't feel the school would be helpful in providing it, then you can apply to your Local Education Authority directly for a copy. They are legally obliged to have one and it is the duty of each LEA to actually implement it!
In all the legislations mentioned you are going to come across the word 'reasonable' a lot. This is a 'get out of jail free card' for many organisations - because you can drive a bus through the various legal meanings of reasonable. It's basically up to you to prove (and argue) that the school is treating your daughter less favourably than it would treat others to whom coeliac disease (or any other disability) does not apply. They have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for your daughter and if they fail to do so it can be regarded as discrimination under the Equality Act because it places your child at a substantial disadvantage compared to her classmates. This includes trips, excursions and extracurricular activities; so all the acts do not only focus on just the educational aspect of school.
As the others have said, if things are starting to look too difficult for you to handle once you've exhausted the obvious stuff, then maybe approaching your local councillors or MPs might help; as might talking to someone at Citizens Advice.
Good luck, I hope this helps and do let us know how you get on.
Ps. Have you also thought about contacting coeliac UK for support and advice? It might be worth a try because you surely can't be the only one in this situation.
PPS/Btw: Please, please ensure that you do any communicating with the school and any other authority in writing on this issue (as much as possible that is) - if you choose to pursue it. It might be a little more time consuming initially but it's then so much easier later on to prove that: a) you have indeed communicated; b) what you said and when; and c) what the reply was, if it's all in writing.
It's really important to impress upon you how necessary this is! Hopefully you will never need to go down the Tribunal route; but written correspondence is vital if you do. Sadly, remembered phone calls never carry the same sort of weight with anyone - ever!
However, if you do have to communicate by phone, ensure that you make notes. It's a good idea to put in your notes the time, the date, who you spoke to and what was said.
The above strategy worked very well in our family when my brothers had disability problems at school. In fact 20 years later, all those written letters still came in very useful when one of my brothers had an issue he needed to sort out with governmental authorities.
Totally agree this needs sorting. I suspect it is to do with food prep legislation that says in order to be classed as 'gluten' free the food has to be prepared in a seperate area using seperate equipment. A small amount of people are so sensitive to gluten that even a small amount of cross contamination from perparing the 'gluten free meal' in same area as gluten containing foods can make them seriously ill. Unless the school could provide another kitchen area (which I suspect is financially not viable) they would be leaving themselves open to law suits. Hence the fact subway and Mcdonalds dont do gluten free bread options as they decided it would be too much hassle to facilitate. Its a difficult situation where there needs to be some system where the parent could sign a disclaimer to say the child is not at risk from cross contamination if the gluten free meal is perpared with same equipment etc
Just to add to this, there is no legislation that schools have to provide a gluten free meal here's an article about it:
And according to this schools do not have to adhere to EU labelling laws so things need to change for the sake of coeliac children, in my opinion.
So if you want to change this you will have to campaign for legislation. The way to do this is by your MP and or with a petition to the Prime Minister, here's an organisation where you can start a petition:
If you start a petition on Change.org then I would also contact Coeliac UK and one would hope that they would support your petition.
If I was going to do this I would contact my MP for their support and tell them that I'd started a petition. And it may interest you to know that Coeliac UK have an APPG (All party political group) to lobby parliament for coeliac and Gordon Banks is the chair and they serve gluten free food in the House of commons and they're worse than big kids that lot LOL.
It might seem like hard work but with a couple of emails you've started the ball rolling and you will have lots of support on here judging by the replies and I'll help to promote a petition.
Hi I'm a school cook and you have to provide special meals for children with food allergies I cater for gluten free children and lactose free kids also , u do need a letter from doctor or specialist listing all the foods that the child can not have , u tweek menu if can't for gluten free then I do them a jacket potatoe hope this helps . Also is the school catering from a outside sauce or are they inhouse cooks ?
Just to clarify: have you got a confirmed diagnosis?
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