Allergy awareness has become an increasingly important focus for schools. Following the introduction of Benedict’s Law and new statutory allergy guidance, many settings are now reviewing how they manage allergy safety across policy, staff training, emergency medication and individual care plans.

Maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units must now have an allergy safety policy, review it at least annually, bring it to the attention of pupils, parents/carers and staff, publish it on their website and have regard to the Department for Education’s statutory allergy guidance.

While essential, there is another part of an effective whole-school approach: what pupils themselves understand about allergies.

Children do not carry responsibility for managing another pupil’s medical condition. They can however, learn simple behaviours that help make classrooms, dining halls and playgrounds safer and more inclusive.

That is where allergy awareness education can play an important role.

Why Pupil Allergy Awareness Matters

The Department for Education’s statutory guidance sets clear expectations around school systems. Inspection guidance has also been updated to clarify consideration of arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions and allergy safety policies.

However, effective allergy safety cannot exist only within a policy document.

Pupils eat, play, and take part in classroom activities together. They may see a friend becoming unwell before an adult notices what is happening. They may also encounter situations involving shared food, unwashed hands or teasing about somebody’s allergy.

Age-appropriate education can help children understand:

·        what an allergy is

·        how allergies can affect others in different ways

·        why food should not be shared without checking

·        why clean hands matter

·        how to recognise that somebody may need help

·        why they should alert an adult immediately

·        how to include and support friends with allergies

Compliance, Strategy and Everyday Practice

For school leaders, it can be useful to think about allergy safety at three levels.

Compliance includes the school’s statutory allergy safety policy, appropriate staff training, relevant individual healthcare arrangements and systems for recording incidents and near misses. The allergy policy must also be publicised within the school community and reviewed at least annually.

Strategy is how leaders turn those requirements into a consistent whole-school approach. This might include identifying senior responsibility, working with catering teams, considering allergy risks during trips and activities, and ensuring temporary and wraparound-care staff understand procedures.

Everyday practice is what pupils and staff actually experience.

Do children understand why they should check before sharing food? Would they know to find an adult quickly if a friend became unwell? Are pupils with allergies included confidently at lunchtime, on trips and during celebrations?

A whole-school assembly cannot replace robust policies, trained adults or emergency medication. What it can do is give pupils a shared language and simple expectations that reinforce the wider systems already in place.

Introducing Being Allergy-Aware Together

Our new Being Allergy-Aware Together assembly has been developed specifically to help primary schools introduce allergy awareness in a clear, reassuring and inclusive way.

Designed for Key Stage 1 and 2, the adaptable whole-school assembly uses child-friendly explanations, scenarios and discussion prompts to explore what allergies are and how pupils can support one another.

Children are introduced to common allergy triggers and the difference between an allergy and food intolerance. They also learn about important signs involving Airway, Breathing and Circulation (ABC symptoms), with a clear emphasis on getting an adult immediately rather than attempting to manage the situation themselves.

Just as importantly, the assembly considers inclusion. Pupils are encouraged to think about how it might feel to have an allergy and how kindness, understanding and responsible choices can help everyone feel safer.

We describe this as becoming an “allergy ally”: a friend who understands, includes and knows when to seek help.

With Anaphylaxis Awareness Week also running from 1^st-7^th October, the assembly provides an opportunity for schools to enhance their planning around key awareness dates across the academic year.

Building Allergy Awareness from the Early Years

For younger children, stories and familiar characters can provide an appropriate starting point for conversations about allergies. 1decision’s Early Years story Red’s Nut Allergy introduces the topic in an age-appropriate way, helping practitioners explore why some foods may not be safe for everyone, how allergies can make someone feel, and the importance of listening to adults and showing care towards others.

This early learning also supports wider personal development themes such as empathy, inclusion, recognising differences and asking for help.

As children move through primary school, these foundations can be developed through more detailed learning about allergy safety. Within 1decision’s Year 4 First Aid module, pupils explore anaphylaxis as part of wider learning about first aid and emergency situations.

The module helps children understand that anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction, recognise some of the warning signs and know why it is important to seek adult help quickly. It also reinforces the role of the emergency services and the importance of staying calm and responding safely.

This progressive approach helps pupils build their understanding over time, from early conversations about allergies and inclusion to recognising when someone may need urgent help and knowing what action to take.

• Access Red’s Nut Allergy resources here.
• Explore how 1decision’s curriculum supports progressive learning across First Aid and personal development, including Year 4 learning on anaphylaxis. View our curriculum progression here.

Looking Ahead

The new statutory guidance has rightly brought greater attention to allergy safety in schools. The next step is ensuring that this awareness reaches beyond policies and procedures and becomes part of everyday school culture.

Helping pupils understand allergies in an age-appropriate way can support inclusion, reduce misunderstanding and reinforce the practical systems schools already have in place.

As schools review their provision, resources such as Being Allergy-Aware Together can help turn wider allergy safety expectations into clear, meaningful conversations with children.