Documentation of Food Allergies, Intolerances and Coeliac Disease
Following the approval by the Government of the Balearic Islands of Decree 39/2019 of 17 May, this school has updated its protocol for the care of pupils who have food allergies or intolerances or coeliac disease and who use the school canteen.
All food allergies or intolerances and coeliac disease MUST be documented to the school in the manner laid down by the above regulation: an official medical certificate/report.
Therefore, before the school year begins, the parents or guardians of pupils with food allergies or intolerances or coeliac disease must hand in the following documentation at the school's main office between 2 and 6 September (it does not need to be submitted again if it was submitted in previous years, unless there has been a change in diagnosis or treatment):
1. Medical Certificate/Report
Issued in the pupil's name and specifying:
Food allergies. The more detail the better, including guidance on eating foods that may contain traces.
Food intolerances. The more detail the better, including guidance on eating foods that may contain traces.
Coeliac disease. The more detail the better.
Latex allergy (needs to be known in case of medical treatment).
Symptoms or reactions the pupil may show if they eat foods to which they are allergic or intolerant, and other episodes of allergic reaction.
The complete action protocol the school must follow in the event of an allergic reaction, indicating:
The medicines to be administered and how (dosage), as well as how they should be stored.
Whether adrenaline is required in the event of an allergic reaction, the administration guidelines and how it should be stored.
Telephone numbers of the healthcare contacts to be called.
Any other information the doctor considers relevant.
To avoid misunderstandings, these medical certificates/reports must be TYPED (typewriter or computer). They must identify the professional issuing them with their full name and qualifications, and must be stamped and signed on every page.
Only allergies, intolerances and coeliac disease documented in this way will be taken into account. Notes in the school planner, emails or documents other than medical certificates or reports meeting the conditions set out will not be accepted.
2. Authorisation
Duly signed by both parents/the guardian, using the downloadable form (see below), authorising or not authorising school staff, in the event of a crisis (administering medicines or adrenaline injections), to treat their child before the appropriate medical service arrives, releasing the school and/or the person attending to their child from liability should problems arise from that intervention.
Without this authorisation, the school will not administer medicines or injections to pupils and will wait for medical assistance to arrive.
In this document, parents/guardians must give the contact telephone numbers of the people the school should notify in the event of any incident.
Keeping Information Up to Date
For the care protocol to be effective, in addition to the school's commitment, parents and guardians must be fully involved in keeping the information they provide up to date. Any change in their child's allergies, intolerances or coeliac disease, medication or the action protocol to be followed must be promptly reported to the school and documented by means of a new typed medical certificate or report meeting the same requirements set out above, which must again be handed in at the school's main office.
Unless the information is updated, the latest information provided by the parents/guardians will be considered valid when pupils move up a year. Any changes must be documented as explained in the previous paragraph.
Provision of Medicines and Injectables
It is the responsibility of pupils' parents/guardians to provide the school, through their child's form tutor, with the medicines or injectables to be administered in the event of a reaction related to the allergy, intolerance or coeliac disease.
In Escoleta and Early Years, one unit of each medicine must be provided.
In Primary and ESO, two units of each medicine or injectable must be provided: one to be kept in the canteen and the other for the classroom (which will be taken on school outings).
In Bachillerato, one unit of each medicine must be provided, except for pupils who use the canteen service, who must provide 2 units.
These medicines must be clearly labelled with your child's full name and replaced when they expire; checking expiry dates is the responsibility of parents or guardians. The school will only check the expiry date if the medicine needs to be administered, and will not administer it if it has expired.
Diabetic Menu
Pupils with diabetes who use the school canteen must provide the school nurse with a menu adapted to their own requirements. Carbohydrate portions may be weighed daily by the kitchen staff under the supervision of the nursing staff.
Vegetarian Menu / Special Diets
Vegetarian pupils or those who never eat red meat/pork must submit a request to the school nurse for the type of menu they need at the start of the school year. VEGAN menus are not served.
Throughout the entire school year, without exception, pupils will receive only this menu.
In all cases, requests for these menus must be handed in at the school's nursing office and signed by both parents.
Light Diet Menu
The above does not affect what is known as the light diet menu for temporary reasons, which will continue to be served as before.
Occasional Users
In the case of occasional users of the canteen service, given that it is impossible to offer the service with all the necessary guarantees, the school will not offer special menus to pupils with food allergies and intolerances or coeliac disease.
Protocol for the Management and Care of Allergies, Food Intolerances and Special Dietary Conditions of the School's Pupils
This document sets out the management and control of food allergies and intolerances according to the following points:
1.
Only allergies, intolerances and coeliac disease documented in the manner indicated in this protocol will be taken into account. Notes in the school planner, emails or documents other than medical certificates or reports meeting the conditions set out below will not be accepted.
2.
The parents/guardians of pupils at the school who have food allergies or intolerances must make an appointment through the channel set up for this purpose and hand in the following documentation and medication to the school's nursing service, within the deadline set by the school each year:
a) MEDICAL CERTIFICATE/REPORT issued in the pupil's name and specifying:
Food allergies. The more detail the better, including guidance on eating foods that may contain traces.
Food intolerances. The more detail the better, including guidance on eating foods that may contain traces.
Coeliac disease. The more detail, the better.
Latex allergy (needs to be known in case of medical treatment).
Symptoms or reactions the pupil may show if they eat foods to which they are allergic or intolerant, and other episodes of allergic reaction.
The complete action protocol the school must follow in the event of an allergic reaction, indicating:
The medicines to be administered and how (dosage), as well as how they should be stored.
Whether adrenaline is required in the event of an allergic reaction, the administration guidelines and how it should be stored.
Telephone numbers of the healthcare contacts to be called.
Any other information the doctor considers relevant.
To avoid misunderstandings, these medical certificates/reports must be TYPED (typewriter or computer). They must identify the professional issuing them with their full name and qualifications, and must be stamped and signed on every page.
b) AUTHORISATION , duly signed by both parents/the guardian, using the
, authorising or not authorising school staff, in the event of a crisis (administering medicines or adrenaline injections), to treat their child before the appropriate medical service arrives, releasing the school and/or the person attending to their child from liability should problems arise from that intervention.
This authorisation will record whether the pupil has been registered in the ALERTA ESCOLAR BALEAR programme. This information is very important, because the medical history of children registered in the programme is entered into a database that the 061 emergency service can access.
c) MEDICATION: Two units of the medicines or injectables to be administered to the pupil in the event of a reaction related to the allergy, intolerance or coeliac disease must be handed in together with the medical documentation. In Escoleta and Early Years, one unit of each medicine is sufficient. These medicines must be clearly labelled with your child's full name and replaced when they expire; checking expiry dates is the responsibility of parents or guardians. The school will only check the expiry date if the medicine needs to be administered, and will not administer it if it has expired.
3.
The healthcare staff in charge of the school's nursing office will enter the information received into the Alexia application and, based on it, will use the same application to prepare the pupils' RECORD CARDS according to the template established by the school. So that each form tutor knows which pupils in their care have food allergies or intolerances, they will be given a copy of the corresponding record cards, which must be kept in the lockable desk drawer.
The pupil's record card will include at least the following details:
Full name.
Year group.
Photo.
Whether or not they are registered in the ALERTA ESCOLAR BALEAR programme.
Whether or not the family has authorised the administration of medicines.
The pupil's allergies/intolerances.
Severity.
Possible symptoms.
Protocol to follow in the event of an incident.
Prescribed medication.
Location of the medication.
Telephone numbers of healthcare contacts.
Telephone numbers of family members.
Date of the record card.
Date of the medical report.
Whether or not the pupil uses the canteen service.
4. Safekeeping of documentation
The original documentation referred to in point two of this protocol will be kept in the school's nursing office, filed in folders organised by school year, with one folder per pupil, so that any future documents provided by parents and guardians can be added.
5. Access to pupils' record cards
A printed copy of the record cards, filed in folders organised by school year, will be kept in the school's nursing office.
A printed copy of the record cards, filed in folders organised by school year, will be kept where the pupils eat, which varies according to year group or school stage, within reach of the teachers and monitors responsible for looking after the pupils during mealtimes.
Thus:
"Escoleta" pupils: kept in their canteen.
Early Years pupils: kept in their canteen.
Primary, Secondary and Bachillerato pupils: kept in the main canteen.
A list of pupils and their dietary conditions will also be given to the company responsible for the canteen service.
A set of record cards will also be kept in each of the cupboards or lockers where the second units of the medicines are stored, located in the respective staff rooms.
Form tutors will also have access to their pupils' record cards as indicated in point 3 of this protocol.
In all the locations described, the furniture where the folders are stored will have locking mechanisms to prevent unauthorised access to the documentation. However, during mealtimes the canteen furniture will remain unlocked so as not to hinder access to the documentation should it be needed. If such mechanisms are not available, alternative measures will be taken (signs restricting access to authorised staff and placing the furniture in an area pupils do not access).
6. Location of medicines and injectables
To ensure they can be administered quickly in the event of an incident:
One unit of the medicines or injectables provided for each pupil will be kept in the same locations described for the pupils' record cards, stored in the same furniture where the cards are kept in the canteen areas of each educational stage.
The second unit will be used on school outings involving food or drink supplied by the school or third parties, and will be kept in the locations determined by the school.
7. Identification of pupils who eat in the school canteens and have food allergies and/or intolerances
Escoleta: supervised by the teacher.
Early Years: identified by a card attached to the table where the pupil eats.
Primary: identified directly by the staff responsible for allergies and intolerances.
Other year groups: identified directly by the staff responsible for allergies and intolerances.
8. Seating and care of pupils in the school canteen
During mealtimes, the healthcare staff in charge of the school's nursing office will remain in the school canteen so that pupils can be attended to quickly in the event of a food-related incident, and to check the food served to them.
All pupils with special dietary conditions will be accompanied from the entrance door to the kitchen, where their food will be served under the supervision of the assigned monitor or the school's nursing staff.
For better supervision and care, pupils in Years 1 to 4 of Primary with food allergies will eat at tables specially reserved for them, looked after by the monitors or teachers designated by the school, as well as by the school's head nurse. Wherever possible, the same monitors will be assigned to supervise these pupils. If a replacement is necessary, efforts will be made to ensure the replacement is always the same person.
Exceptionally, from Year 2 of Primary, pupils who are allergic only to nuts may not need to be seated separately in the school canteen when the day's menu does not contain their allergen. This measure is based on the fact that the canteen menu does NOT contain nuts, except on 2 days a month when dessert is ice cream. This measure requires prior authorisation from the parents and daily authorisation from the nurse. The pupil will lose this arrangement if they do not meet the above requirements.
Pupils with food intolerances and coeliac disease will not need to be seated separately in the school canteen. Only measures to avoid the foods to which they are intolerant need to be taken into account.
Vegetarian or vegan pupils, or those who never eat red meat/pork, will not need to be seated separately in the school canteen. Only measures to avoid the foods concerned need to be taken into account, as appropriate.
9. Seating of Escoleta and Early Years pupils
Pupils in these stages will eat in their own canteen, one for Escoleta and one for Early Years, supervised by their teachers.
During mealtimes, the healthcare staff in charge of the school's nursing office will remain in the school canteen so that pupils can be attended to promptly in the event of a food-related incident.
10. Checking the food served to each child
a) In the main canteen (Primary and Secondary Education):
The school's nursing staff will be present in the school canteen throughout the daily meal service to personally attend to each pupil with allergies and intolerances. They will wait for the pupils at the canteen entrance and personally accompany them to the kitchen area set up to serve their specific meals. The head chef is responsible for serving the meals and checking them together with the nurse before handing them to the pupil. Finally, the nurse will accompany the pupil from the kitchen area to the designated eating area of the canteen. If the pupil wants a second helping of any dish, this process must be repeated.
The catering company will post a daily allergen sheet at the canteen entrance declaring the allergens present in the menu. This sheet reflects any change to the menu due to reasons beyond the catering company's control.
Every morning, a photograph of the allergen sheet will be sent to the school's nursing staff to facilitate allergen control.
In the main canteen, there will be a sign in front of each food tray specifying the allergens contained in each dish.
Every day, the school's nursing staff will notify the catering company of any change to the original list of pupils with food intolerances or allergies.
b) In the Escoleta and Early Years canteen:
In the Escoleta and Early Years classrooms, teachers will request from the kitchen each day the different menus (standard and special) to be served to the pupils.
Meals for Escoleta and Early Years pupils are served in canteens separate from the kitchen facilities. The meals will therefore be taken by the kitchen supervisor, in a hot-holding chain, to their respective canteens.
The specific menus for pupils with allergies and intolerances will be prepared exclusively by that supervisor and stored in sealed, clearly identified containers before being handed over by the kitchen supervisor to the person in charge of each canteen.
The catering company will prepare a daily allergen sheet declaring the allergens present in the menu. This sheet reflects any change to the menu due to reasons beyond the catering company's control.
The daily allergen sheet will be sent every day to the school's nursing staff and to the heads of the stage.
The kitchen supervisor for Escoleta and Early Years will check all the menus daily, together with the head chef, once they have been stored and labelled, and will complete a compliance record before the meals are taken to the canteens and handed to the teaching staff responsible for serving them.
The assigned staff of the stage, trained in allergens, will be responsible for serving the food to pupils with allergies and intolerances.
The school's nursing staff will notify the catering company every day of any change to the original list of pupils with food intolerances or allergies.
Annually, for all the school's canteens:
Before the start of the school year, the school's nursing staff will provide the catering company with a list of all pupils with food intolerances or allergies.
Based on the list provided by the school's nursing staff, the catering company, together with a qualified nutritionist, will design the menus for the following school year.
A general menu will be designed declaring all the allergens present in each meal, along with a specific menu for each allergen.
Lunch menus: The general and specific menus will be presented to the school so that it can pass the information on to the teaching staff and to families through the school website. The catering company, together with the school's nursing staff, will review the menus. This review aims to prevent any contamination of food in cases of food intolerances or allergies for the pupils concerned when they enter the canteen, are served and eat. The guidelines are mandatory for kitchen staff and for those responsible for supervising pupils during mealtimes.
Afternoon snack: Up to Year 6 of Primary, the kitchen staff bring the snack to the classrooms. Snacks for pupils with allergies and/or intolerances are wrapped separately in a box with a lid and a label.
Escoleta (1 and 2 years): for the mid-morning snack the school serves fruit, except to pupils who are allergic or intolerant to it, who are served an alternative option.
Packed lunches: Teachers will send a list to the kitchen, which will prepare the special packed lunches and wrap them individually and distinctly. Pupils will collect them accompanied by their form tutors.
11. Incidents
If an allergy/intolerance incident occurs, the care protocol must be activated as set out in each pupil's record card.
The person responsible for activating and following the care protocol, including administering medication or injections where necessary, will be the healthcare staff in charge of the school's nursing office, always with the collaboration of the monitors assigned to supervise and look after these pupils, and of the Escoleta and Early Years teachers in their respective canteens.
If the healthcare staff in charge of the nursing office are temporarily absent, the teachers on canteen duty will be responsible for activating and following the protocol.
12. School outings that may involve eating or drinking
Teachers accompanying pupils on the outing must take with them an up-to-date copy of the pupil's record card and the medicines or injectables to be administered in the event of an incident, in accordance with the protocol set out on the pupil's record card.
In this case, the teachers present on the outing will be responsible for administering medicines and injectables.
After the activity, the nursing office must be informed whether or not the medicines and injectables were used, and any unused ones must be returned to their location. If they were used, the school's nursing office will ask the parents/guardians to replace them.
Note: this protocol applies not only to day trips but also to trips organised by the school, such as longer journeys or outings.
13. Retreats and summer schools
At the retreats and summer schools organised by the school, meals are provided by the same company that runs the canteen service during the school year, so the same protocols will apply, including the presence of healthcare staff at mealtimes with the same duties, except for retreats and activities outside the School.
If the activity takes place outside the School, such as at the Esporles facilities, the form tutor must take a copy of the pupils' record cards and one unit of the medicines or injectables to be administered.
If children who are not pupils at the school are allowed to take part in these activities, they must provide, when registering, all the documentation described in the first section of this protocol, as well as two units of the medicines and injectables to be administered if necessary.
Those who have a food allergy or intolerance and have not submitted the required documentation and provided the medicines or injectables to be administered will not be allowed to register for or take part in the activities.
14. Updating medical information and pupils' record cards
For the care protocol to be effective, in addition to the school's commitment, parents and guardians must be fully involved in keeping the information they provide to the school up to date. Any change in the pupils' allergies, intolerances or coeliac disease, medication or the action protocol to be followed must be promptly reported to the school and documented by means of a new typed medical certificate or report meeting the same requirements set out above, which must again be handed in at the school's nursing office.
Unless the information is updated, the latest information provided by the parents/guardians will be considered valid when pupils move up a year.
Any changes occurring during the summer holidays must be documented as explained in the previous paragraph within the first fortnight of September each year.
Parents/guardians will be reminded of this before the end of each school year.
In the case of allergies or intolerances that arise after the school year has started, they must be documented in the same way as described in this protocol.
Any change to the information provided will be recorded in Alexia and will involve updating the pupil's record card; outdated copies must be replaced in all locations with fully updated ones. The outdated record card will not be destroyed, but filed in the folder opened in the pupil's name where the original documentation provided by the parents/guardians is kept.
15. Replacement of medicines and expiry date control
Parents/guardians are responsible for checking the expiry dates of the medicines and injectables handed in to the school. The school, through the healthcare staff in charge of the nursing office, will only check the expiry date if the medicine needs to be administered, and will not administer it if it has expired, notifying the parents/guardians that it needs to be replaced. The pupil may not use the school canteen service until the expired medicines or injectables have been replaced.
Using the medicines or injectables means they must be replaced, which is the responsibility of the parents/guardians. The school will inform them of their use and request their replacement. The pupil may not use the school canteen service until the medicines or injectables used have been replaced.
16. New pupils
During the enrolment process, the information provided by the school will include the existence of this protocol and the need to inform the school if the pupil has any food allergy/intolerance or coeliac disease.
If so, those responsible for the child will be informed that, together with the documentation required for enrolment, they must submit the same documentation (and medication) listed in the first point of this protocol.
The enrolment form will include a specific question on this matter, and those responsible for the child must expressly indicate whether or not the child has these conditions.
17. Leaving the canteen service or the school
When a pupil stops using the canteen service or leaves the school:
The school must notify the nursing service.
The nursing service will remove the pupil's record card from the folders in which all pupils' record cards are kept, both those in the nursing office and those in the canteens, kitchen and held by form tutors.
The nursing service will remove the pupil's folder containing all the medical documentation provided for the treatment of their allergy or intolerance and transfer it IN A SEALED ENVELOPE to the pupil's administrative file, where it will remain in accordance with the retention periods established by the school.
If the pupil rejoins the canteen service or the school, the parents/guardians must provide all the information and documentation listed in the first point of this protocol, duly updated, and the historical information kept in the administrative file will be retrieved.
18. Alexia
Every incident, care provided, registration, withdrawal or change of medical information, care protocol, expiry, replacement or change of medication must be duly recorded in Alexia (or the application that replaces it) so that the follow-up and actions taken can be justified at all times.
19. Review of how the protocol is working
Every year, at the beginning of the last teaching month of the school year, the protocol will be reviewed in light of any incidents that have occurred, and appropriate changes will be adopted. These will be communicated to pupils' parents/guardians sufficiently in advance so that, should any action be required on their part, it can be carried out before the start of the new school year.
20.
This document is permanently kept up to date on this website.
