Schools sun policy - am I wrong?

[Originalfoogirl]

Before I speak to the school about their sun policy, I wanted to know if others think I'm taking an unreasonable stance.

As soon as it starts getting sunny, we get a text from the school reminding us to send our children wearing sunscreen. Fair enough, a reminder is good. I also send our girl with a bottle of suncream and remind her to re apply it - as per the advice from cancer research and sunsmart. All day sunscreen is not effective. Yesterday she said she got in to trouble for asking for help to do it and was told "you're supposed to put it on before you come to school". At 7 she can kind of do it herself, but her disability does cause her some problems putting it on.

I know it can be a faff for a teacher to put sunscreen on 30 kids and there aren't enough assistants, but just as they have to help the littles get help changing for PE and for using the toilet etc, but to me, sunscreen is just as basic. I have friends who have had skin cancer.

I think the school should have a policy on this and build it in to their day. Schools in Australia seem to manage and before anyone says it, our sun is just as dangerous to children as theirs is.

I know many people just don't see the importance of it for their children and don't appreciate the risks of burning, but should I take this up with the school or not?

[Fairuza]

Access to outside provision certainly does not mean children have to have constant access outside.

[mb182]

For the average child, short sleeved shirt or t shirt, dress or shorts to knee level, hat with neck protection if short haired and not wearing a collar. If child plays out regularly legs and arms should cope unless very fair skinned then lotion on exposed areas once in the morning should be ok.
As a mum and ex primary school teacher, I was always surprised at the number of girls who turned up for school on hot days in vest tops and skimpy shorts. Our policy was not to allow these children outside on hot days unless they were willing to wear something from the lost property to cover their shoulders, lotion or no lotion. Remember to send them with refillable water bottles as well. The number of boys who insisted on running around all lunchtime who arrived back in lessons near collapse, not having wanted to lose a minute to stop for a drink. If they had a water bottle on their desk they could drink as much as they needed instead of lining up at the nearest water fountain with those behind moaning they were taking too long.
Cover up, drink plenty of water, stay in the shady parts of the playground and don't run around too much - much more reliable than solely sun lotion.

Having said that, at the age of 9, my niece developed a nasty allergy to sunlight which meant that if not totally protected in the summer, her skin broke out in nasty, itchy spots which often got infected from her constant scratching. We could never rely on lotions or even light clothing to be 100% effective so staying out the sun was the the best option even with lotion on.

[SuburbanRhonda]

Your school sounds like it might raise concerns that the children are not getting the choice of daily outdoor activities.

I think you may have understood - our reception children spend plenty of time outside learning and playing. It's just they don't take themselves out of the classroom without an adult's permission. Ofsted were very impressed with our reception provision at the last inspection

[dizzyfucker]

Fairuza it means that during free-flow time they have to have the choice to go outside and explore the activities there when they want to rather than be taken on scheduled or time controlled trips outside (unless for reasons of building design the classrom doesn't have a direct outside space).

SuburbanRhonda but presumably you have an outside space and presumably everyday the teacher plans and sets up activities in that space. So just because they have to ask you to open the door or lead them out there doesn't mean that they cannot go outside whenever they choose to. In fact it sounds like they can. Which is the point I'm making, in the summer a lot of children choose the outside space, some will be outside most of the day.

[Fairuza]

The EYFS states access to an outside area or outside activities planned on a daily basis, unless the weather makes it impossible.

It does not state children must have access whenever they choose or anything about scheduling or time limits.

[dizzyfucker]

Fairuza the difference between free flow classrooms and more rigid practices is that in free flow the children have a range of different activities which they can freely choose, they can go from one activity to another independently. To meet national guidelines those activities must incorperate outdoor play. In more rigid settings outdoor play in scheduled. So for example in my sons nursery they go outside at 3pm. They are not free to go outside at any other time. Those are what I mean by scheduling and time limits.

The EYFS states access to an outside area or outside activities planned on a daily basis, unless the weather makes it impossible.

Yes daily, meaning everyday they have a choice to go outside, the outside space is part of a free-flow classroom. If they do not have access when they choose, then it is not free-flow.

And sunny weather is not considered "making it impossible" in fact, the opposite. So again when it's sunny children can be and usually are outside much longer than 30 minutes. Most sensible settings will ask parents if sun cream can be applied and ensure children are appropriately dressed. My orginal point was that children can be outside for considerably longer than 30 minutes. Which is still the case.

[Senpai]

Is this a new thing? I don't recall ever having to bring sunscreen to school growing up, and I don't think I ever got a burn outside. We were also kicked out in the rain and snow. Isn't school getting out soon anyway for summer break?

[Fairuza]

OK dizzyfucker, but there is nothing in the EYFS about children having free choice to go outside when and for as long as they like. A Reception teacher may well decide to limit children's outside play if it is very sunny, and very sensibly too.

[SuburbanRhonda]

dizzy

Yes, our reception children can only be outside if there's an adult with them. We have a high ratio of adults to children in the class but we couldn't accommodate children popping outside in ones or twos because we don't have the adults to cover that. It's not as if all the other children are inside all doing one activity together and supervised by one adult. They're doing a variety of activities and therefore need several adults with them. If we wanted to do your version of "free flow" we'd need to employ at least one more adult for the class so something would have to go to pay for that.

[dizzyfucker]

SuburbanRhonda in my experience of high ratio there is one adult outside and there will floaters, so if a lot of children are outside, one or more floaters will go as well. Likewise the floaters will go to any area where there are a lot of children inside or out. If there is one or two children outside then one adult will be with them. It works that way in many schools.

Fairuza in my experience a lot of adults, not just teachers but parents and others is that in the UK the majority of people feel the need to "make the most of the sun". In theory they should limit the outside time and if 20 plus degrees avoid the outside completely between 11 and 3. I have yet to see that in action. 12 oclock summer parks are heaving with lightly toasted to overcooked adults and children. In theory they should limit the outside time, I just have strong doubts this is actually done in practice. Again, I think a lot of children spend more than 30 minutes in the sun a day.

I think some British children get as much sun in a few weeks as my children here in Brazil get in an entire year. The short, high intense exposure is dangerous. British schools need an overhaul in their summer practices, and the OP is NBU. Britain has a high rate of skin cancer, higher than countries like Brazil and South Africa, where sun safe practices are implemented.