Coeliac And Starting School: One Year On.

Last year my little coeliac started school which you can read about here. I wrote about our worries of what may ensue. Starting school is daunting enough in it’s own right, however, couple this with an autoimmune disease, allergy or intolerance and the worry can become overwhelming when lunch time, school trips and activities out of our parental control are introduced.

One year on and the experience of our 5 year olds first year at school has been a positive one. He cannot wait to return to year 1 and see all his little friends again bubbling with excitement from the Summer holidays. Reflecting on this past school year, I thought I would share some of the things we have learned in this time and hope our experiences may help make the transition a tiny bit easier if you are about to embark on the same journey.

1. Communicate

Communication, Communication with another big spoonful of communication. I cannot emphasis enough, how much we had to work on building up trust with key teachers, the catering staff and school nurse over the year, I think that sometimes they thought we were being over-zealous and neurotic parents. I am not denying it was also sometimes uncomfortable to be quite so insistent about this, but needs must and my shoulders have certainly broadened over the past year!

Coeliac UK produce invaluable resources for parents and schools which can be found here.

2. Drinks bottles

As a 5 year old, choosing your favourite character drinks bottle certainly rated highly on William’s priority and gave him the opportunity to assert an element of independence and ownership. The flip side is that other children in class also tuned into the same loveable Pixar character. So, label your child’s drink bottle clearly, several times if necessary, to make sure that it is easily visible to him or her and their pals, and in case one label falls off.

3. Snack labelling

For William’s daily school snack we have tried to balance the nutrition / health aspect with choosing something different each day that appeals to him and importantly doesn’t make him feel different to his friends such as fruit one day, gluten-free cereal bar the next, carrot rounds and sticks, (also known as noughts and crosses in our household), gluten-free pretzels and so on. Again, we have clearly labelled his snack. There are an abundance of websites that produce stickers to show the childs name as well as a gluten-free symbol or other dietary requirement. We used www.labels4kids.com as they produce durable waterproof stickers too.

4. Play dates

Play dates are exciting for any child, though can be initially daunting for parents of a child with specific dietary requirement with the continual fear of cross-contamination. I decided to make the first move and invite William’s friends for tea initially so that it gave me the opportunity to explain to the parents what he could and couldn’t eat, the implications etc without making the parents think that I thought them incapable of providing for my son. In his close circle of friends we have been able to build up trust and understanding, though I will never stop reminding them of cross-contamination.

5. School trips
I’ll always try and find out what is being supplied by the school and aim to match it with a gluten-free alternative, again so he feels included. If nothing is being supplied then, like the snacks I’ll try and balance the nutrition with what is appealing to him and match the snacks his friends may have with a similar gluten-free alternative.

If you or your child are transitioning into a new school, I hope you have a positive experience as we have had so far. If there is only one piece of advice that you take from this piece, communicate, communicate, communicate.