Dear Parents:

In June, 2005, the Ontario Government passed Sabrinas Law (Effective January 2006), a Private Members Bill which requires that every school board establish and maintain an anaphylactic policy which must include the following:

• Strategies to reduce the risk of exposure to anaphylactic substances.

• A strategy for communicating information on anaphylaxis

• A training program for staff on how to respond to life-threatening allergies.

• A plan for school principals to identify and maintain a file for each student who has a history of anaphylactic allergies.

At Our Lady of Mercy School, we continue to be an allergen aware school and have been for a number of years. Each year we review all of our procedures to be sure that "Sabrina's Law" is working effectively in our school. We are asking your cooperation in achieving this goal and keeping our school safe for all children.

Within our school community we have a number of students who suffer from various life-threatening food allergies which include: peanuts, tree nuts, nut products, dairy, egg, seafood (including shrimp), shellfish, and brown sugar. Should these students come into contact with these foods, these students may go into anaphylactic shock. We want to do everything in our power to avoid this situation. If your child has someone in their class who has a life-threatening allergy to a specific type of food, you will receive an additional letter outlining what exactly those allergens are. We are asking that you DO NOT send your child with a snack or lunch that may contain those allergens. If your child were to bring any of these foods to eat, we will ask them to eat lunch in the neighbouring classroom so that contamination does not take place.

We appreciate the difficulty this may pose on making lunch, however, the safety of all of our children is our first priority.

Thank you for your support and cooperation.

Sincerely,

T. Cruz

Principal

Please visit to following websites for more information:

http-//www.medicalert.ca/en/index.asp.webloc

http-//www.anaphylaxis.org/content/programs/programs_main.asp.webloc