Out-of-school activities
Children with allergies should have every opportunity to take part in out-of-school activities such as ski-ing trips and other foreign holidays, sports events hosted by other schools and educational visits to museums. Such activities will need careful planning and preparation, but there is no reason to exclude a child with allergies. A meeting with the allergic child’s parents will be necessary to ensure that everyone is happy with the arrangements. If the child is allergic to a food, similar procedures need to be followed to those in operation at school to ensure that the child does not come into contact with the culprit food.
If the child has been prescribed an adrenaline injector, at least one person trained in administering the device must accompany the school party. From the child’s point of view, it is not advisable for a parent to accompany them on school trips, although in some cases this may be unavoidable.
In the case of sports events, it’s advisable to ensure your PE teacher is fully aware of the situation and notifies the schools to be visited that a member of the team has an allergy when arranging the fixtures. Should another school feel they are not equipped to cater for the allergic child you could arrange (as a last resort) for the child to take their own tea.
Insect sting allergy
Insect sting allergy causes a lot of anxiety and needs careful management. Children need to take special care outdoors, wearing shoes at all times and making sure any food or drink is covered. Adults supervising activities must ensure that suitable medication is always on hand. The Anaphylaxis Campaign has a special fact sheet on insect sting allergy. Click here.
