Nutrition and Allergy/Anaphylaxis Policies
As you prepare for your child(ren)'s return to school next week, I wanted to take the opportunity to remind you of our updated Nutrition and Allergy/Anaphylaxis policies, which were distributed at the June Parent Orientation/Teacher Appreciation evening.
This year, we have children in our school community with severe anaphylactic nut allergies, so it is important for all of us to raise our awareness when planning and preparing school lunches and snacks.
In addition, we request that students wash their hands and face, and brush their teeth before arriving at school, as nut residue can remain on the skin after breakfast. For some allergic children, even the odor of peanuts on the breath can stimulate a severe allergic reaction.
Lunch hour supervisors and directresses will be monitoring lunch contents on a regular basis. If your child has a product which may contain nuts, they will be asked to put it back into their lunchbox and save it until afterschool. Please be aware that most bakeries cannot guarantee nut-free products, so it is important to read the label to determine nut-free safety.
In order to support parents' dietary preferences and food allergy-safety, students are reminded regularly that we do not share lunches with other students. Please support us by reminding your child that they need to finish their own lunch, and snack/meal sharing can be done at home during a playdate.
If your child wishes to share a treat on their birthday or following their "Special Person" presentation (Primary class only), we ask that you approach the classroom teacher in advance of the day to discuss appropriate treats. At the same time, parents of our students with allergies can make arrangements for an alternate treat so that their child can join in the celebration of that occassion.
Thank you for your help in making our school as healthy and nut-safe as possible!
Pam Ferguson
Academic Director
