🌿 Allergies & Food Safety at Little Acorns
At Little Acorns Out Of School Clubs, every child’s safety and wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do.
We understand that allergies can be worrying for parents, particularly when a child has a serious allergy. We work closely with families to make sure we understand each child’s individual needs and have appropriate arrangements in place.
📝 Tell us about your child’s allergy
Before your child starts with us, we ask you to provide details of any:
● Food or other allergies
● Food intolerances or dietary requirements
● Previous allergic reactions
● Prescribed emergency medication
● Symptoms or signs we need to look out for
Please let us know straight away if anything changes.
🍎 Safe food & snacks
We take care when buying, preparing, storing and serving food.
We check ingredient and allergen information and take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of children coming into contact with allergens they have been identified as allergic to.
We also take steps to prevent cross-contamination during food preparation and serving.
The 14 regulated allergens include:
🥛 Milk | 🥚 Eggs | 🥜 Peanuts | 🌰 Nuts | 🌾 Gluten | 🐟 Fish | 🦐 Crustaceans | 🌱 Soya | 🌾 Lupin | 🌿 Celery | 🌼 Mustard | 🌱 Sesame | 🦪 Molluscs | Sulphites
💚 Individual care plans
Where appropriate, we work with parents/carers to create an individual allergy or healthcare plan.
This helps our team understand:
● What your child’s allergy is
● What symptoms to look out for
● What action to take
● What medication your child needs
● Where their emergency medication is kept
Relevant staff are made aware of children’s individual requirements so that everyone knows how to respond.
🚨 If an allergic reaction happens
If we believe a child is having an allergic reaction, we will follow their individual plan and our emergency procedures.
If a child has been prescribed an adrenaline auto-injector (such as an EpiPen), staff will administer it in accordance with their individual plan and appropriate emergency guidance.
For a suspected serious allergic reaction or anaphylaxis, we will call 999 immediately.
Parents/carers will be contacted and the incident will be recorded and reviewed appropriately.
👩👧 Working together with families
Managing allergies safely is a partnership between Little Acorns and parents/carers.
We ask families to:
✅ Keep us fully informed about allergies and dietary requirements
✅ Tell us immediately about any changes
✅ Provide prescribed medication when required
✅ Make sure medication is kept in date
✅ Keep us updated about changes to your child’s treatment or healthcare plan
🌈 Every child belongs at Little Acorns
We want every child to feel safe, included and able to join in.
We take allergies seriously and will work with families to put appropriate measures in place so that children with allergies can enjoy their time at Little Acorns alongside their friends.
If your child has an allergy or specific dietary requirement, please speak to a member of our team before their first session. We are always happy to talk things through with you. 💚