Benedict’s Law: How Schools Can Improve Allergy Safety with Cosafe

When a child has a severe allergic reaction at school, every second matters. Staff need to know what to do, who to contact and where to find the information needed to help.

But in a busy school environment, that isn't always straightforward.

An incident could happen in the classroom, playground, dining hall or during a school trip. The nearest member of staff might not know the pupil's medical history, and the information they need could be stored somewhere else.

Benedict’s Law is helping to change how schools approach allergy safety, placing greater emphasis on preparation, staff awareness and clear procedures.

For schools, the challenge isn't just having the right policies in place. It's making sure staff can act on them when an emergency happens.

That's where technology such as Cosafe can make a difference.

What Is Benedict’s Law?

Benedict’s Law is named in memory of Benedict Blythe, a five-year-old boy who tragically died following an allergic reaction at school in 2021.

His family campaigned for stronger allergy safety measures in schools, highlighting the importance of consistent procedures, staff training and access to emergency medication.

Their campaigning helped bring about changes to allergy safety requirements in England, with new statutory guidance introduced for the 2026–2027 academic year.

The aim is simple: to make sure children with allergies receive appropriate support and that school staff are better prepared to recognise and respond to an allergic reaction.

What Does Benedict’s Law Mean for Schools?

From September 2026, new allergy safety requirements and statutory guidance have strengthened expectations for schools in England.

Schools covered by the requirements need to consider four important areas:

• Allergy safety policies: Having a clear, published policy explaining how allergies are managed and how the school responds to emergencies.
• Staff training: Making sure staff understand allergies, recognise the signs of anaphylaxis and know what action to take.
• Emergency medication: Ensuring appropriate access to adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs), including spare devices in line with the applicable requirements and guidance.
• Individual Healthcare Plans (IHPs): Identifying pupils who need an individual plan and ensuring relevant staff have access to important medical information and emergency procedures.

These measures are designed to create a more consistent approach to allergy safety across schools.

However, having a policy written down or a healthcare plan stored in a file doesn't necessarily mean that information will be easy to access during an emergency.

Schools also need to think about how those plans work in practice.

The Challenge of Responding to an Allergy Emergency

Imagine a pupil begins showing signs of a severe allergic reaction during lunchtime.

The member of staff supervising the dining hall recognises that something is wrong, but the designated first aider is elsewhere in the building.

Someone needs to contact the first aider, another person may need to retrieve the pupil's healthcare plan, and other staff may need to assist.

If communication relies entirely on phone calls, messages passed between colleagues or someone running to the school office, valuable time can be lost.

This is why effective emergency communication is just as important as having the right procedures.

Staff need a quick, reliable way to raise an alert, reach the appropriate people and access the information they need.

How Cosafe Supports Benedict’s Law Readiness

Cosafe is an emergency communication and incident management platform that helps schools communicate quickly and access critical information when it's needed.

It doesn't replace allergy policies, staff training, healthcare plans or emergency medication. Instead, it supports the communication and information-sharing processes that help staff put those measures into action.

1. Alert the Right Staff Quickly

During an allergic reaction, finding the right person shouldn't mean making several phone calls or searching the building.

With Cosafe, schools can configure medical emergency alerts that notify designated members of staff directly through the app.

This could include first aiders, senior leaders or other staff responsible for responding to medical incidents.

Rather than relying on someone to pass on a message, relevant staff can be alerted quickly, wherever they are working.

2. Access Individual Healthcare Plans

An Individual Healthcare Plan is only useful during an emergency if the relevant staff can access it.

Cosafe allows schools to make important documents and procedures available to authorised users within the platform.

This can include Individual Healthcare Plans, helping staff access information about a pupil's needs and the procedures they should follow.

With offline document access, important information can also remain available when an internet connection is unavailable, provided it has been made accessible in advance.

For schools with multiple buildings, outdoor areas or staff working away from the main office, this offers an additional way to keep critical information close at hand.

3. Keep Staff Informed During an Incident

An emergency can involve several people, each with different responsibilities.

While one member of staff remains with the pupil, another may be arranging emergency assistance or contacting senior leaders.

Cosafe's secure messaging functionality allows relevant staff to share updates and communicate through one platform.

This helps reduce the confusion that can arise when information is being passed between separate phone calls, emails or messages.

4. Support a Consistent Approach Across Schools

For Multi-Academy Trusts, maintaining consistent emergency communication across different schools can be challenging.

Individual schools may have different layouts, staffing arrangements and existing communication methods.

Cosafe provides a shared platform that can be configured around each school's procedures while supporting a more consistent approach to raising alerts and communicating during emergencies.

This can help trusts strengthen communication arrangements across their schools without removing the need for individual pupil care plans and school-specific procedures.

From Having a Policy to Being Prepared

Benedict’s Law is an important reminder that school safety depends on more than written procedures.

Schools need to know that staff understand their responsibilities, can communicate effectively and can access important information during an emergency.

It's worth asking a few practical questions.

Could a member of staff quickly alert the appropriate responders from the playground? Could a supply teacher access the information they're authorised to see? Would staff know how to communicate if the school office couldn't be reached?

These are the situations that schools need to prepare for.

Having the right technology in place can help make existing procedures easier to follow and reduce unnecessary delays when staff need to respond.

Supporting Safer Schools with Elmdale IT

At Elmdale IT, we understand that schools need technology that supports the people using it, especially when pupil safety is involved.

Through our work with Cosafe, we help schools explore how secure emergency communication and access to important information can strengthen their existing safety arrangements.

Whether you're reviewing your allergy emergency procedures, improving communication between staff or looking at a consistent approach across a Multi-Academy Trust, Cosafe can provide an additional layer of support.

Want to see how Cosafe could work in your school?

Get in touch with Elmdale IT to discuss your current emergency communication arrangements and find out how Cosafe could help your staff respond with greater confidence.