“Anaphylaxis is a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. It can occur within seconds or minutes of exposure to something you’re allergic to, such as the venom from a bee sting or a peanut.
The above text is literature taken from a reliable health internet site which may be alarming to parents of very young children who are out of their sight and care some parts of the day while they are away at school. Parents of highly allergic children are the most concerned, as mere contact with the allergic substance may trigger a life-threatening situation for their child.
Because of the seriousness of this threat, the parent handout I designed was meant to remind parents of the Egg and Nut Free Policy in the community preschool which was raised due to several children’s allergies. It encourages them to think twice before dropping just any convenient snack in their children’s lunchboxes. They know that everyday, the staff communicates to them the message of upholding health and safety standards to the highest levels to protect their own children from harm. However, since parents are busy with other daily concerns, it is likely that they forget and just grab whatever they can to fill up the children’s lunchboxes. With this handout, parents may place it at a site visible to them like the refrigerator door so they get to view possible choices for their children’s diets.
The parent handout I have designed may look too “paranoid” or “over the top” for some readers who may not be aware of Anaphylaxis because it seems to dwell too much on the details of a simple snack diet of young children. On the other hand, listing the suggested snacks which are pre-packaged and convenient to send to school is very helpful for busy parents who may rest assured that their children are eating safe and healthy foods. This in itself gives much value to the material I designed.
The handout communicates that the school is ensuring the health and safety of all children and not only of those with special allergies. Sims (2002) suggests that one of the core features of a family centred practice is that services should be based upon the needs & interests of individual families. However should the interests of these individual families affect the whole population of the school, then services must support the welfare of all. In this case, promoting a healthy, allergy-free diet and school practices are put into place.
The community preschool policies reflect a very family-centred philosophy, as it enjoins everyone to support its causes. “Working in partnership with parents and the community, we endeavour to enrich children’s lives and gently expand their world” (Community Preschool). This statement from the school philosophy is embodied by every member of the staff in the school and is reflected in all the actions and communication between the school and the home. Fraser & Gestwicki (2000) suggest that open communication is only possible once trust has been established between parents and staff. Earning parents’ trust goes a long way in ensuring the success of school programs because they become supportive of all of the school plans and projects like this current Egg & Nut Free Policy Campaign. Since the school makes all efforts to being respectful and accepting of all families (Beckett cited in Stonehouse, 1998), they are repaid with the families’ mutual respect and cooperation.
The awareness campaign on Anaphylaxis may enjoin parents of highly sensitive and allergic children to share their experiences with Anaphylaxis with other parents. Amatea (2009) contends that educators need to value family expertise and involve parents as significant participants in children’s learning.
With the support and cooperation of the parents and the community, efforts of the school will go a long way in the insurance of health and safety of all the children and staff of the school.
Workman and Gage (1997) sum it up as thus: “A real partnership between schools and families is possible only if both truly believe that the other has something valuable to bring to the relationship, that the common goal is the welfare of the child, and that there is a sense of shared responsibility” (as mentioned in Brewer, 2001, p. 215).
References
Brewer, J. (2001) Introduction to Early Childhood Education. Allyn and Bacon
Mayo Clinic Staff (2008) Anaphylaxis Definition. Web.
Workman, S.H. and Gage, J.A. (1997) Family-school partnerships: a family strengths approach.” Young Children: 10-14.