Bridgewater School is an Allergy Aware school

Bridgewater School is allergy aware, ensuring that the staff and students are actively aware of the risk posed by allergens, take steps to minimise the risk of exposure and have robust emergency response plans in place. 

Whilst there are 14 key food allergens that cause over 90% of reactions, any food can cause a reaction. At Bridgewater we continue to discourage nuts in school as we have several children in school with severe nut allergies (and Herts Catering Limited who caters our school lunches are a nut-free provider). Blanket bans, especially to nuts, can create a false sense of security so while we ask that you DO NOT include nuts in your child's packed lunch or snack, we do not claim to be a 'Nut-free school'.

Please note that while pine nuts are not strictly a nut, we have noticed that many brands of pesto have started to include nuts as an ingredient. It is therefore impossible for us to know if the pesto in a child's packed lunch contains nuts or not. As a result, we are asking that you DO NOT include pesto in your child's packed lunch or snack. Please also keep an eye out for 'hidden' nuts in products, such as bakewell tarts, battenburg cakes and some madeleines, all of which have come into school in children's lunch boxes.

Please note if your child has a nut allergy you do not need to apply for a special menu as HCL (our catering providers for school lunches) do not include peanut or tree nut as an ingredient or use products that carry 'may contain peanut or tree nut traces' labelling.