angry with school!!!!!

[mrsflibble]

soph's school is lovely, well maintained, friendly... but they seem to have a massive break in communication between the office and class teachers/helpers.

the school have really annoyed me today. what the hell was the point in me filling in a form stating sophie is lactose intollerant when she gets given a petits filous for snacktime in class?! oh. yeah. that happened over the summer. lactose intollerance diagnosis.

so, his flipping petits filous; firstly she was unsure about eating it, but someone (dont know who yet) told her she needed to because it will make her bones strong. so she ate it. because she's never eaten petits filous (no, never!! she always preferred yogurt!) she didnt know to ask about the ingredients. also this could be cos she's 4, and also it's not her job to ask!!

on the way home i then had to explain that no, she doesnt need it for her bones, she gets her calcium from other places like safe cheeses, lactose free milk and brocolli...

i am so fricking angry, the tummy pain this has caused her meant she didnt eat her lunch, and since getting home she's been quiet, subdued and doesn't want any clothes on which touch her tummy so she's been in a nightie since we got in. i know its not an allergy, but she gets some quite severe symptoms from the intollerance and i informed them of this!!!!!

i have written a polite but angry letter in her home/school message book, offered to provide milk free snack ingredients and will be talking to her teacher tomorrow and also complaining to the offce. what if this happens to another kid 'cos of the lack of communication? i know a coeliac in the year above her, what they gonna do? feed her bread?!

argh. i am soooo not looking forward to tonights poo!!

[boboff]

That really sucks.
Deep breaths......

[Silver Ether]

Mrs flibble ... my children are grown but every September I would take a list to the new teacher and tell them if they gave them any of the stuff on it not only would they be very ill on some of the stuff but some of it would kill them ... I hold you responsable NOT to give them stuff on the list .. in any doubt dont ... cuss I will getya ... and I had to do it every year as none of the info was ever past on ... or teachers not interested enough to find out about their students ... It worked ... I do tend to scare folks to death when it comes to my kids even now....

[oldjerry]

I'm mad just hearing about it,god knows how you must feel.Hope your little one isn't as bad as you fear.We have similar problems getting through to the teachers at my kids school,but thankfully nothing as stressfull as that.I do hope your daughter is better soon. Jerry.

[snapdragon]

poor Sophie, what a way to start school.
I can see why they do it - as many children are not fed decent food, but they just don't take account of the top class parents who do feed their children properly.

Put on your scariest 'angry mummy' face and go get 'em MrsF

[mrsflibble]

well i spoke to the dep.head and to soph's class teacher too, all is aarently orted but we shall see lol.

[NaturalBlue]

Really sorry you had such an experiance I had the same with my son's nursery - he has severe dairy protien allergy and a mild egg allergy - but they thought they'd give him some birthday cake one day as "surely a little bit won't do him any harm!" he was off ill for the rest of the week and they had the cheek to try and charge me for those days - fortuneately he's 7 now and it's not so bad, he can have little bits and he's really good at saying no to things he knows will make him ill.

Sadly schools just don't seem to have the resources to cope with children on this level - I make a point of telling their teaching assisstants too as this seems to help, they seem to be a bit more switched on to things like that as they tend to be parents themselves...

xx

[becks77]

This is a terrible thing to happen, poor Sophie hpe she's feeling better

[jampot]

sympathies mrs f .my little bros school were like this, they new from my ma (and the doc) that he had a dairy intolerance but decided that because they were teachers they knew best and that milk ,cheese choc (etc ) were ok as "it isnt an allergy" no it wont kill him but i might when i see them causing such pain for days after ggrrrrrrr i hate teachers that think theyre god!

[battybird]

My son used to be violently sick if he ate pineapple, I had told the school & he told the dinner lady but she felt she knew best, and insisted he ate pineapple pudding. He vomitted over her, and the 4 other children at his table... He was never forced to eat anything again!! Shame your little one cannot produce a similar reaction...her pain at home has no impact on the staff who ignore your instructions ...having to change and clean up five children and an adult (and the surrounding area...he did a GREAT job!) had a lasting effect

[fifi folle]

I hope the school pays more attention now.
From the point of view of someone who has been through teacher training I have to say that intolerances etc aren't really stressed enough, it is down to the individual schools to have clear procedures in place and to ensure teachers are aware of each child's individual needs (duty of care anyone?) When I worked in childcare the communication was much better and everyone was aware of which child has an allergy or intolerance (plus I will never forget the little 4 year old who clearly said to everyone that she couldn't have milk at snack! My best friend's three year old also makes the definition between cow milk and soya milk, but she is rather precocious!!!)
I would second speaking to the learning assistant/classroom helper as they often will work with your child's class throughout their school career and should be able to pass this info on to any new teachers/supply teachers etc.

[theabsinthefairy]

poor sophie - what a miserable start to the school term for her, and for you.

[citizentwiglet]

How's Sophie now, Mrs F? I do hope she's feeling more comfortable.

The problem, once again, is with the press, I think. I don't think people take intolerances (as opposed to allergies) seriously enough - thanks to people like the Daily Mail who would shout scare-stories from the rooftops one minute, then dismiss anyone with intolerances as 'whingers' the next. It's easy to see how an untrained, uneducated (in intolerances, I mean) member of staff might consider an intolerance in a young child as being faddy eating, and nothing more.

I'm currently keeping a food diary for Ellis, because we are seeing some very bizarre behaviour from him ATM and I'm gradually ruling out causes for it, but telling nursery that I don't want him having Fruit Shoots, food colourings from bought-in birthday cakes (which have to be shop bought and sealed in the box - heavens, no home baking for health and safety reasons!) etc etc; well I might as well be banging my head against a brick wall. Mind you, this is a nursery who offer a tuna sandwich as a vegetarian alternative to ham!

DO stand your ground, DO kick up a fuss - not just for Sophie and yourself, but on behalf of all the other parents who want - and deserve - a say in what their children are eating.