Please help

I think that's how the parents of the T1 pupil I look after did it. Now the lunchtime staff just weigh out the same amount of the food every time, and we keep a record of the carb values of the meal. I'm quite shocked a school would refuse school meals to a child just because he/she is diabetic -- on the whole it seems to work out pretty well for us, and my t1 gets to eat at the same time as everyone else, etc....

 

The law is the dda which mandates the school to make reasonable adjustments

 

Like bobcurly our local authority produces nutritional values for all school meals (I guessed they had too post Jamie Oliver's campaign). We phoned them and they email us a term at a time. We had to ask but the info was already available. We haven't had problems with school meals in the year since my 7 year old was diagnosed. Seemed a healthier meal choice than packed lunch.

 

This might help. After several google searches, I don't think that legally, a school must carb count the menu.
I'm a food teacher, who provides nutritional advice to our school canteen, and I'm also the mother of an 11 year old type one diabetic.
Some school canteens are ran by the local authority, and in this case, they usually provide a carb counted menu. Some school canteens are ran by national companies, who also provide carb counted menus. My school canteen is ran by a small in house team of catering staff who do not have the experience to carb count, as a result, it took me in excess of 8 hours work to carb count a secondary school menu. (Nutritional analysis software which we cannot afford, can cost in excess of £600 per year!) Carb counting is not an easy task based on the fact that some dishes are made from scratch, and others use standard components such as Pataks curry sauces.
My son is going to secondary school in September and his school have already told me that their catering provider doesn't have to carb count, as the school is an academy!

I'd love to know if anyone can confirm if it is a legal requirement.

 

As at post #12, it's not. While food labels have to contain info on carbohydrates, there is no such requirement on cafes and restaurants to provide nutritional information on meals served, certainly not to the extent of confirming carbohydrate content of the food served. They only have to provide allergen info - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/food-labelling-giving-food-information-to-consumers

 

Prepackaged food should declare the nutritional label, such as sandwiches that are made up in advance of lunchtime service.

Whilst there may not be legalisation surrounding school meals and nutritional information, it could be seen that a student with a disability is excluded from taking school lunches if the carb count is not available. I'm going our diabetes nurse can clarify this as google searches are proving very useful.

 

If your child is in either years 1 or 2. or has qualified for free school meals, the school is breaking the law:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/free-school-lunch-for-every-child-in-infant-school
and
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/univers...meals-guide-for-schools-and-local-authorities

While May intends to repeal the UIFSM program, she hasn't yet. This means that - assuming your child is in either year 1 or 2 OR is "disadvantaged" (i.e. qualifies for free school meals) the school is required to provide her with a hot, nutritious lunch.

The term "universal" has been legally demonstrated to mean "every child according to their need" which is why schools must now offer halal and vegetarian options. Your child, according to her need, requires a low-carb diet. If the school is failing / refusing to provide this, they are failing to provide "universal" school lunches. And, therefore, they are both breaking the law by failing to provide a child with a hot school lunch, but also they are doing it because of her diabetes - which is discriminatory.

They are also breaking the Equality Act 2010 which provides further protections for people with disabilities (non age-specific) and, I suspect, a good solicitor will find them in violation of both the new Code of Practice for schools as well as The Children and Families Act 2015 which adds further, specific protections for children with disabilities.

Contact your local SENDIASS (Independent education, information and advice service) for immediate support, and The Law Society (https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/) to find a good SEN Law solicitor who can take this on. Also, copy your Local Education Authority (LEA), particularly whoever runs / commissions their SEND department (your SENDIASS will know who this is) to every letter and email and invite them to every meeting. They probably won't respond, but they'll get seriously irritated and might be moved to intervene, and it'll save time if this judicial review because they'll already be well-informed of your complaint.

Plus, even if your school is an academy (instead of a maintained school that gets its funding directly from the LEA), they have to provide whatever they have been contracted to by your LEA - that is to say, they have been commissioned to offer, at the very least, a service that is non-discriminatory and follows all legal guidelines. The LEA might well force the school to take appropriate action if this is brought to the right person's attention.


*A note on separating good solicitors from bad ones: A bad solicitor will tell you that education cases no longer quality for Legal Aid in England and Wales. A good one won't.

Hope that helps!

Sock x