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?

nokids do you seriously think primary teachers up and down the country are hugging crying children?

This worries me. My boy is basically translucent, he's so pale (you can see every vein in his back, it's both vile and beautiful) and he burns at the drop of a hat. There is no way on God's earth he would be able to apply suntan lotion to his own face without it ending in those kinds of tears that sting like a bitch for hours because you've got suntan lotion in them.

He wears a hat all the time. This has been drilled into him since birth. And I send him in the P20 factor 50 all day stuff, knowing that it isn't great but what else can you do? He came home yesterday with so many new freckles. SO MANY. But the school won't help him apply suntan lotion.

To the person who said they don't know how we managed to survive our childhoods - do you not know anyone who has had skin cancer? Because I do. It doesn't incinerate you at the time. It creeps up when you're in your 40s and 50s. Watch and wait.

Judging by this thread sadly not. But thankfully I know teachers that do.

I work in an International school in a very sunny place in SE Asia. My kids go to my school too. They get Boots or Nivea factor 50 applied in the morning before school and wear a hat outside. None of the students in the Primary school are reapplying suncream throughout the day, teachers definitely don't do it for them either.

My oldest son in particular has very fair skin but has never been burned at school, even after a morning swimming lesson.

As a teacher I wouldn't be keen on rubbing lotion on a student's skin for various reasons but most safeguarding myself and the child against accusations and also inaccurate application complaints.

Can I suggest buying a factor 50 sunstick for your child to use on her face, ears etc? They are very good and easy to use. My 4 year old can apply it to himself.

Yanbu I have red haired fair skinned children . They need suncream reapplying but even though I send it the school don't seem to do it. They arev4 and 5 so not able to do it alone.
They have been burned more than once.

Judging by this thread sadly not. But thankfully I know teachers that do.
Well we will agree to disagree on that one. It is perfectly possible comfort a child without needing to physically touch them.

In our primary there is special contingency plans for hot weather. Lunch time supervisors organise groups of kids to be herded into the shade for a few mins for quiet time during the lunch break, and encouraged to actually play in the shade as much as poss. for the rest of it.

What with that and the fact that they have already spent a good portion of the 45 min break eating indoors, it means they aren't actually in the sun for more than 10/15 mins max. And kids aren't allowed out without a hat on and spare hats are kept to hand.

If decent sun screen is applied at about 8am it's only been on for 4 hours by school lunch time anyway. Nothing to panic about.

I agree with the sun cream sticks - easy and no mess -
Some kids love to apply the sun cream and insist on doing it a break time 10.35 spend 10 mins applying so only out side for 5 - its all mom said - fine no loo break for the teacher because mom didn't apply it at breakfast!
Teach your kids to seek out the shade - wear a hat - factor 50 in the morning's - there's no reason for kids to burn but parent Sneed to teach their kids

Advice from The National Union of Teachers:

"The sun safety policy should promote the self-administration of sunscreen by pupils. Most children, apart from the very youngest and those with special needs, will be able to do so under supervision. The policy should recognise that teachers cannot be required to apply sunscreen to pupils. The NUT advises teachers not to apply sunscreen to pupils due to the potential for allegations of abuse and, in particular, the time it would take to apply sunscreen to a class of pupils prior to breaktime or lunchtime. The policy should, however, address the potential for allegations of abuse being made against teachers and other staff who have agreed to apply sunscreen. If schools decide to allow staff to apply sunscreen to pupils, parental consent should be obtained. Teachers and other staff who do wish to do so should only apply the sunscreen to the face, neck and arms of pupils."

The same rule applies to any creams for eczema or medications, if written parental consent is given then the school first aider can apply it.

I'm a TA, and it does seem ridiculous, but I have been told by the head that I am not to apply sun cream, we do allow children to bring in and apply their own whilst we supervise.

But teachers don't put sunscreens on 4 year olds who can't do it themselves.

I think the disability thing us a red herring.

I will add that I also have very fair skinned children, one a red head, I apply all day sunscreen in the morning and supply a sunhat, they have never burnt.

We have 60 children in reception, if I spent just 1 minute a day applying sunscreen to each child it would take me an hour!

I do mine before school with 'all day' Ultrasun and send them in with a bottle of it but have pretty much asked their teachers not to apply it.

Mostly because the teachers obviously don't have the time to use each kids' individual cream and tend to slap the class bottle which stains everything on the kids but also because, I'm really not convinced that they need a second application for the amount of time they spend outside. I might feel differently if I had extremely fair children but I really can't imagine my kids would ever burn at school on a normal day if I'd put cream on them in the morning!

DS is very fair. Never had a problem with the once a day stuff. He takes a sunhat and sits on the benches under a parasol to eat his lunch.

An all day sunscreen works perfectly well for the length of the school day.

I really despair of parents who freak out at a few freckles. And yes I do know people who have had skin cancer. And they all - without exception - were massive sun worshippers. Not kids who are slathered in factor 50 and spending 30 mins outside

Totally off topic, re boater hats- our girls school in Scotland did- back in the 80s at least for the lower school, straw hats summer and felt hats in autumn/winter- looked fabulous... no more though... And it's also gone co-ed, not at all jealous!

For the short time they spend in the sun if they are not sensitive then they are likely to be able to gain the benefits of creating some vitamin D if you do not plaster them in factor 50.

As a teacher I wouldn't be keen on rubbing lotion on a student's skin for various reasons but most safeguarding myself and the child against accusations and also inaccurate application complaints.*

This.

I bet the parents on here moaning about this being the responsibility of the teacher would be up in arms if that teacher missed a bit on their child and they caught the sun!

If I were to stop teaching half an hour before lunch every day to apply sun cream to 32 year 1 children (yes, there are supposed to be limits but we had to accept the extras on appeal), that would be 11.30--bang in the middle of maths. What do you suppose the other 31 will do for twenty+ minutes whilst I was trying to put sun cream on individuals? Would you complain in July because I hadn't taught them enough maths?

At my children's school they had a policy that children were not to bring in sunscreen in case of allergies. In hot weather such as this they used to limit the time outside and also had big gazebos in the field so that children could play in the shade.

We do send her with cream on, she is covered up as far as uniform allows it. Uniform is short sleeved polo shirt, she does have a light cover up sleeved thing to wear but with the polo shirt, long socks, splints and shoes, adding another layer, even a thin one adds to her being too warm! She wears a hat. But she has a weird shaped head and we struggle to find one which stays on!

The main problem is her face and neck. She can do arms and legs fine but struggles with the face (she is limited in movement with her arms or hands up the way). She was outside most of yesterday afternoon and despite having had cream on in the morning, her face was burned in places. I'm not bothered about the 15 minute play times. In fact addressing the vitamin D issue, it would actually make more sense if she could go out unprotected for the 10am break for 15 minutes (that's all that's needed). But it is laughable to suggest children should never wear sunscreen because of a lack of vitamin D.

I suspect I can be overly sun protection conscious (hence me asking for opinions) probably because of the people I know who have had skin cancer, plus a couple of scares myself. I lived (and burned) through the 70s, including that really hot summer, and the many which followed and my skin has definitely suffered because of the lack of protection so to say we survived childhood is way off the mark. Many of those 70s children are not surviving adulthood because of the lack of knowledge we had then.

I think I'll email them. I never go in all guns blazing, I need to have a good relationship with them as issues do come up around additional support. I just think if everyone just lets them carry on with the spurious excuses (as we have seen here) nothing will change and it does need some more thought. The irony is, the very same school hosts a privately run after school club. They emailed us to say they would be putting sun cream on the children and if we didn't want that or wanted a different one, we had to let them know. I suspect the club has exactly the same "safeguarding" issues as the school does.

Meh, it's alsays worked fine here.

I have taught all mine to do sunscreen from an early age. I buy one that is easy for them to apply themselves (they are roll on ones atm. My 6 year old thinks it is amazing to roll it all over himself). You don't have to apply it everywhere as they are clothed. I buy them decent wide brimmed hats and then they do their arms, legs and a bit on their face (mainly nose) before we leave for school. I can then check they are doing it right so I know they will do the same at school. They tend to reapply at school at lunchtime but with a decent hat on and only 4 hours since they put it on it's not the end of the world if they don't manage it. I've not had a child burn yet with this approach and my eldest is a teen now.

In this country we just don't have the staff to apply sunscreen to kids. We have to teach our kids to dress themselves, tie their shoes, brush their hair and apply sunscreen.

A disability would be an exception but mostly I would expect a child disabled enough to struggle with physical tasks to have extra support and putting sunscreen on would be part of that support.

Skin cancer is far more of a problem now than it was in the 70s and 80s when a lot of us were growing up, even though we're all far more aware of the 'risks' of the sun and most of us use suncream quite liberally.

If you look at the ingredients on a bottle of suncream it reads like a science experiment ..... I'm not sure it's good for us to slather this on all day and it's a possible reason why skin cancer is on the increase.

I see. I didn't realise your DD had actually got sunburn.

Tbh I'd rather my school was extra good at safeguarding and extra cautious about child protection all year round ... than extra careful about sun cream on the two or three days a year it actually matters.

IMHO appropriate clothing and opportunities for shade and drinks are far more important for children's sun safety than relying on cream. My DCs' school has a legionnaire cap available as part of the uniform (any sun hat is allowed) and wooded areas in the playground that the children are encouraged to play in to stay out of the sun.

Cross posted.

I suspect the club has exactly the same "safeguarding" issues as the school does.

On the other hand they don't have seven hours of curriculum to squeeze into a six-hour day.