Sunscreen...

[Pyrrah]

Is there a rule against teachers applying sunscreen?

Picked DD up today from primary school nursery and she's quite badly burnt on her face and arms - as were a lot of the other children.

Tomorrow I will be sending a bottle in, but am a bit shocked and annoyed that the staff allowed the kids to get so burnt considering the health implications from sunburn - especially at such a young age.

Was not sunny when set off for school hence I hadn't put it on this morning.

[jkklpu]

If it's anything like nurseries, they need written permission from parents to apply anything to the kids. If the weather was unpredictably sunny, perhaps they hadn't yet got around to sending out the letter seeking permission. Alternatively, it may be written somewhere in paperwork you've seen/signed before that it's your responsibility to apply sunscreen to your children. Some parents object if there's a skin reaction, so they need to cover themselves (so to speak).

[SoupDragon]

Buy the Soltan Once stuff from Boots and just put it on in the morning - check the weather forecast.

The staff can't put sun cream on 30 children before they go out.

[Sirzy]

I think expecting them to put suncream on a whole class of children before they go out is a big ask they would spend the whole time putting suncream on them!

They won't be able to just apply it anyway as they don't know what allergies children have

[givemeaclue]

You put it on yourself, you dont send a bottle in.

[Pyrrah]

I checked - nothing about supplying sunscreen yet, but there was a thing about giving permission for it to be applied on the initial form at beginning of year.

Thing is, I will now be asking them to keep her inside at playtimes till the burn has gone which I imagine will be much more of a hassle for them.

[Pyrrah]

Surely if the weather suddenly turns sunny - having been dreary in the morning, you would think twice about letting a class of little ones spend that much time in the sun considering that it is pretty likely that none of them will have had sunscreen on?

[givemeaclue]

Were all the kids burnt?

[Madamecastafiore]

FFS did you not see the weather forecast today? Why in gods name do you not think this is your responsibility?

[HariboAndWine]

I'm sorry but I really do think it is your responsibility. It is easy enough to check the weather forecast and dress and prepare your child accordingly. The staff are entitled to breaks and shouldn't have to supervise your child inside because you were unprepared. They also can't be expected to apply sunscreen to 30 children each day.

[Meglet]

Use P60 in the morning if it's going to be sunny. I wouldn't expect a teacher to check the weather or apply sunscreen.

[Madamecastafiore]

Not preparing your child for a sunny day is like not giving your kid a raincoat or a jumper, it's your responsibility to dress or apply protection accordingly!

[Pyrrah]

Out of 25 children I would say that 15 were quite badly sunburnt - there are 7 black children in her class so that leaves 3 who weren't.

The class has 1 teacher, 2 full-time TAs and a trainee, so 4 staff to 25 kids isn't really very many.

According to the TA I spoke to, they're about to send out a letter asking parents to send in sunscreen so they obviously don't have issues putting it on them.

If we'd just had a week of sun then I would have been less surprised.

The private nursery she was at before sunscreened the whole lot of them before they were allowed outside, so I probably mistakenly presumed the same applied given that we had signed at the beginning of the year that they could apply sunscreen.

[daftdame]

This seems, in my experience, to be quite standard in primary schools.

I know it can be frustrating when you've a fair skinned child who has had to spend long periods of time outside,over lunch for example, in very hot weather with no shade.

My only advice would be to give them a hat, button up necks to shirts / polo shirts, teach them to apply sun cream or put the once stuff on them. Tell the teacher if there are any problems and you think your child may need reminding.

Teachers should be able to remind children to wear hats / apply sun cream. Teachers should also be able to sensibly plan outdoor time.

[DeafLeopard]

All the schools my DCs have been to have put the responsibility on the parent to provide adequate sun protection - applying 8 hour suncream in the morning and providing a sun hat for the child to wear.

Seems pretty standard to me. I would be less than impressed if the staff had to waste 10 minutes, 3 times a day, 5 times a week applying suncream, when the parents could put the cream on in the morning and the staff could be teaching for that time.

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

Can you just not send some in your dc's bag? Pick one that's easy to apply like a roll on or easy mist spray and remind her to top up at break times?

[HariboAndWine]

But how could they apply sunscreen when you hadn't provided any?

[noramum]

We asked last year and were told that the guidelines in our borough say the teacher should not put suncream on the children.

Also, no bottle should be sent in, it would end in the office and the child would have to go before playtime and put it on herself.

Soltan Once brought out a rash so we bought a hugely expensive 8hr suncream and it is applied just before we leave the house. Last year we had no issues with sunburn but DD loves wearing hats and I insist on long dresses.

[Sirzy]

assuming your in the south because there is no sun up here! I thought the warm weather was forecast? So sun coming should have hardly been a shock for you!

Where the children burnt or red from running around though? I find it hard to believe that so many children managed to get burnt!

[Pyrrah]

I will send some tomorrow and put it on in the morning, but she's 3 years old and you can't honestly expect a 3 year old to remember or apply it properly.

[Pyrrah]

Sirzy, there was a party for the nursery today, so I was there for an hour and was really surprised that so many children were burnt (I counted them).

The playground has no shade whatsoever and the children are out there at midday for best part of an hour - surely staff would notice that so many were getting burnt and take them inside given that there is no shade.

[christinarossetti]

Unfortunately, the staff wouldn't have been able to put cream on your dd if you hadn't sent any in.

[daftdame]

op - sorry missed that your child is nursery age.

The nursery my DC went to would apply sun cream from a named bottle. Others that I looked around did this too. When she gets to primary though teachers often won't apply sun cream so you could start teaching her to do this now.

Sirzy - yes it is possible to get burnt at school / nursery especially with the advent of 'outdoor classrooms'!

Check out with OFSTED the nursery's duty of care with reference to 'Every Child Matters'.

[Pyrrah]

If she was primary age then I would expect her to be more sensible about staying in the shade, applying sunscreen, being careful and certainly wouldn't expect the teachers to be spending time putting sunscreen on children older than reception class.

I do feel that nursery - where a lot of the children need help with basic things like going to the loo, washing hands, putting on coats etc is a bit different.

I didn't say anything to the staff as I agree that I should have put sunscreen on in the morning or sent it in.

My sister lives in Australia and has 3 kids - they are obsessive at school about sunscreen and the schools have huge tubs of the stuff plus a no hat = no outside play rule.

[Madamecastafiore]

You were there for an hour? Did you take sunscreen and apply it then?

[AICM]

It wasn't sunny where I am this morning. I did the responsible thing and checked the forecast and put on 8 hour suncream DD was fine. It seemed like the responsible thing to do.

I've always assumed that I do the parenting and the teachers do the teaching.