03 Aug 2026
A St Albans children’s nurse who specialises in respiratory health is warning local schools that they may not be sufficiently prepared for changes to the law relating to allergy awareness, prevention and emergency response.
Ana Marote fears that many schools have not taken on board the full requirements of Benedict’s Law, groundbreaking legislation introduced following the tragic death of five-year-old Benedict Blythe from a severe allergic reaction in 2021.
This requires schools to mandate allergy safety policies, staff training, and emergency medication, including formal allergy action plans for any pupil with a diagnosed allergy, and stocking “spare” adrenaline auto-injectors – “epipens”.
Last year she started training allergy, anaphylaxis and asthma in St Albans schools, while still working full time in her role in the NHS, in a bid to better inform teaching staff in schools to keep children safe.
Approximately one in five children with allergies have their first allergic reaction while in their educational setting. Many schools did not have trainer pen devices and had not gone through the practicalities of holding a child to administer an adrenaline auto-injector pen.
“Post-COVID, teaching in schools drifted to online and some headteachers were teaching asthma and anaphylaxis themselves. My sessions are designed to raise awareness and equip staff with the knowledge they need to manage allergy and respiratory conditions effectively.
“By educating staff we can work together to create a more inclusive, supportive, and informed school environment that prioritises the health and well-being of all students.
“Benedict’s Law is brilliant but the risk is that people are jumping on this bandwagon without themselves having the training and experience of knowing what to do.
“Certain schools have some knowledge, but some really don’t, I had one school claiming to be nut-free but allowing nuts in the staff room, another not administering an epipen because the only symptom was coughing, and yet coughing is a symptom which requires adrenaline immediately!”
A year after starting this work Benedict’s Law has now come into fruition with a need to ensure schools are fully aware of their legal responsibilities. The concern is that unqualified trainers are giving schools incorrect information.
Ana has criticised media reports which suggest calling 999 before giving an epipen to a child suffering from an extreme allergic reaction.
“Anaphylaxis is time critical. An epipen should always be given at the first signs of anaphylaxis, calling an ambulance first could risk a child’s life. It’s so importance to get the right information out there.”
Shanti Johnson is headteacher at Maple Primary School, one of the schools where Ana carried out allergy training.
She said: “Staff thoroughly benefited from Ana’s expertise and now feel much more confident to recognise and respond to any incidents of asthma or allergic reaction.
“Following Ana’s training, we have evaluated and updated systems in our current practice to ensure that we are confidently providing the best possible practice in our school.”
Hannah Rimmer, headteacher at Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School, added: “Ensuring staff are confident to administer epipens and asthma inhalers is vital. A large number of children across our school have a diagnosis of asthma and a wide range of allergies and being ready to respond and provide care in line with the DfE Supporting Children with Medical Conditions is part of our statutory duty.
“Up until Ana came in to deliver training I had been leading this training myself using a PowerPoint from a charity organisation. Ana’s training was a revelation. She delivered two 30 minute back-to-back sessions to staff and was clearly very knowledgeable and confident.
“The impact of her training was clear in the questions staff asked and from their feedback about her training. It felt so valuable to hear her experience and I felt confident that as a team we are so much better prepared as a result of being trained by Ana. Excellent value for money – I will be booking her in for next year!”
Schools can find out more about Ana’s training on her website at https://anamaroteconsultancy.com/
