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Best Practice Resources funded by the
Australian Government Department of Health

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Sample letter about anaphylaxis and allergies for the children’s education and care community

docxNAC Sample letter to CEC service community23.96 KB

NAS Sample letter to CEC service community

This letter is an example of how to communicate that you are an Allergy Aware CEC service to the CEC service community.

This letter is an example of how to communicate that you are an Allergy Aware CEC service to the CEC service community.

Dear parents and carers,

We are seeking your help to support the children with severe allergies in our Children’s Education and Care (CEC) service.

Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that is potentially life-threatening. The most common causes of anaphylaxis in CEC services are allergies to food and insects (bees). To help manage allergies, our CEC service is following the National Allergy Council’s Best Practice Guidelines for Anaphylaxis Prevention and Management in CEC services.

The Best Practice Guidelines recommend an Allergy Aware approach, which means we are supporting children at risk of anaphylaxis in the following ways:

  • training staff
  • educating children about allergies and anaphylaxis
  • teaching children that we all have different needs and to be respectful of others
  • teaching children the importance of getting help immediately if their friend with allergy looks sick.

For food allergies, we are also:

  • encouraging children with food allergies to wash their hands before and after eating
  • encouraging children to wash their hands after eating something their classmate or friend is allergic to
  • teaching children not to share food with friends who have food allergy.

Food allergies are common in children and avoiding the food is the only way to prevent an allergic reaction. Therefore, we have put a range of different things in place to help keep these children safe.

[Optional section]

Where parents provide food, we request that parents consider not sending nuts to the CEC service, especially for younger children. We may also send letters home if we have a child with other allergies to discuss ways that we may be able to support that child.

We ask you to support the CEC service’s Allergy Aware approach so that we can increase safety and provide an environment that meets the needs of all our students.

Thank you for helping our CEC service be “Allergy Aware”.

Yours sincerely

Supervising officer/Manager

Content updated May 2023.