The school said ‘we take all matters regarding food allergies, medical management and safeguarding exceptionally seriously’
Sophie Williamson is now home schooling her son(Image: Donna Clifford/Hull Live)
A mother has withdrawn her son from his primary school after he was given food he could not tolerate due to allergies. Sophie Williamson’s son has a milk protein allergy but she says they struggled to find a balanced meal at the school.
St Mary’s VC Academy on Sancton Road, Market Weighton, is part of St Cuthbert’s Roman Catholic Academy Trust. A spokesperson for the trust said, while it was unable to comment on individual cases, it has “strengthened its mealtime arrangements across the school” and “takes all matters regarding food allergies … exceptionally seriously.”
Sophie has since taken her son out of the school and is now home schooling him. The final straw came after her son, who has Special Educational Needs (SEN), was given ice cream despite the school being aware of his allergy to milk protein. “They were failing my son,” she said. “They were giving him stuff he is allergic to. He’s a SEN child as well and even his teaching assistant (TA) knows he can’t have ice cream and it did affect him. He had the worst tummy ache.”
She said she sent a letter to the school signed by her son’s GP stating his allergies, but the school gave him a dessert containing milk, which affected his stomach. She claimed, after she complained, the solution offered was for him to not have a dessert.
Sophie de-registered her daughter from the school last year due to bullying concerns that she believed the school failed to adequately address. She said: “I made them aware of why and what’s been going on. They said they haven’t got the staff and they would send work home in the meantime.”
When Sophie’s daughter tried to go in for a half day, she said the anxiety became too much and the family were left with no choice but for her daughter to go back to doing work at home. She then spoke to the educational welfare officer, who said she’s either got to come back full time or Sophie would risk getting fines. She says it was then that she was “forced to re-register her”.
So when her son came home with stomach complaints, she said it was another hurdle to clear with the school, who “should communicate better”. She said: “Surely it’s the caterer’s job to amend the food slightly. When he’s been on previous school trips I’ve requested an ice lolly. I emailed asking for a detailed incident report, but heard nothing back. This was literally before they broke up and they had time to do one. They are not really following procedures correctly. It’s not acceptable.”
She has also had concerns about teachers that do not help children apply sun cream, and claims her son has returned from school with sunburn on several occasions. “My son has additional needs so I said he isn’t capable of putting sun cream on every area. He’s a redhead and burns easily. They say they aren’t allowed to touch children, so I signed a form saying I approved of a member of staff helping him with his sun cream. There has been many times he’s come home sunburnt. They’ve asked me to put an eight-hour one on him. Because he’s sweating he still needs topping up. They make excuses for everything.”
“It’s harder with him having the Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) for him to move school. I have to go through the SEND team. It’s very frustrating and stressful.”
A statement from St Cuthbert’s Roman Catholic Academy Trust said: “The health, safety and welfare of our pupils are our fundamental priorities. While data protection guidelines prevent us from commenting on individual cases, we take all matters regarding food allergies, medical management and safeguarding exceptionally seriously. All staff across our Trust undergo comprehensive training in food allergen awareness, emergency response and Benedict’s Law. Whenever a concern is raised, we proactively review our health and safety procedures to ensure we maintain the highest standard of care. As part of our commitment to pupil safety, we have strengthened our mealtime arrangements across the school.
“We remain dedicated to working in positive partnership with parents to keep every child safe. While we are saddened when any pupil leaves our care, we wish the family every success for the future.”
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