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Original poster

Big school and sun cream

31 replies

Carla · 01/06/2003 20:58

I may be being a bit naive, but nursery school was adamant about providing sun cream/hat for my daughter. Since Easter she's started big school and there's been no mention of it at all. I'm really worried about it, but trying to catch the attention of the teacher -for anything at all - is impossible. Anyone else had this worry?

OP posts:
codswallop · 01/06/2003 21:04

No mention of it at ours...
Presume you have to put it on in the morning

soyabean · 01/06/2003 21:13

At ours you have to put it on in the morning as the staff cant do it for the whole class. Ours had a bit of a hat campaign a couple of years ago but that seems to have lapsed a bit, I may mention it again as it would be good for the kids to see it a s the done thing for everyone, rather than for those with hats to stand out at all.

sb34 · 01/06/2003 21:14

Message withdrawn

Khara · 01/06/2003 21:21

I was wondering about that too. Surely putting it on in the morning is pointless as it says reapply again after 2 hours?

soyabean · 01/06/2003 21:23

I admit I am a bit lax on this myself as my kids are relatively dark skinned and dont tend to burn. I tend to think that if the cream goes on in the morning and they arent swimming or anything itll still be OK at lunchtime. Maybe Im wrong?

sb34 · 01/06/2003 21:24

Message withdrawn

Claireandrich · 01/06/2003 21:25

I don't have a child of this age so haven't dealt with it yet but could your little ones apply the Pampers Sunnies themselves? They are like wet wipes but covered in factor 30 suncream. Just a thought - don't know if it is workable.

Ghosty · 01/06/2003 21:26

It is such a bad policy that some schools have in not putting cream on 5 yr olds ... have you ever witnessed a Yr1 class attempting to put on their own cream ... not a pretty sight ... and some of them take so long doing it that they miss out on most of their playtime.
I told the head of my last school that it was ridiculous ... the school's reasons were 'No physical contact with children' because of 'repercussions' ... what a joke!

soyabean · 01/06/2003 21:27

I think our school asked that children didnt take in suncream as it was getting a bit messy...But I'm sure if a child was particularly prone ro burning they wd be sensitive to that.

Ghosty · 01/06/2003 21:27

Claireandrich ... what a good idea .... !!

robinw · 01/06/2003 21:40

message withdrawn

robinw · 01/06/2003 21:41

message withdrawn

fallala · 01/06/2003 23:59

Robinw has the world gone mad?
Who the hell would object to a mum applying sunscreen to a child?

Tortington · 02/06/2003 00:09

well then i would rather be phoned at work and shamed into comming and applying it in person or bringing suitable clothing.

my fair skinnd daughter was badley sunburned on her shoulders on holiday about 4 yrs ago - and it never happened again.

it hurt that little girl to even put a t shirt on to play or shower or even move.

i would rather drive the 20 miles from work to school and apply it

suedonim · 02/06/2003 00:55

Because we're in the tropics we have to be very careful about the sun. I've found P20 sunscreen is the best thing for my dd as it lasts all day. The only downside is that it takes 90mins to be effective but if you apply it first thing, it is up to speed by the time they are likely to be outdoors.

Britabroad · 02/06/2003 06:40

Thanks suedonim will buy that next time I'm in the uk.

lisaj · 02/06/2003 08:53

Thanks for that info Suedonim - I've just been on the website and see that they have free trial sachets, so I'll give it a go on ds, who is very fair skinned so burns easily.

willum · 02/06/2003 17:54

My friend swears by P20. I had never heard of it till she mentioned it, but she has been using it for 4 years. She gets it from the local chemist and she says it's water proof. Sounds perfect!

steppemum · 02/06/2003 17:58

It is funny to read this coming from the other sied. When I was teaching, we had a playground with no shade and the kids were out for 1 hour at lunchtime. I taught 8-9 yos and one summer during a heatwave I seemed to be a one woman campaign to get the kids to cover up. The girls (most of the guilty ones seemed to be fair skinned blonds) (sorry that wasn't a dumb blond comment, just that they were the most at risk)used to come in in strappy sundresses, so that their arms and shoulders burnt during lunchbreak. In the end I sat the class down, we talked about burning and skin damage, and I said that they would not be allowed outside unless they had a baggy T-shirt, big hat or suncream. I confess that I had no authority to do this, and I'm glad none of the parents ever questioned it, as I would have had to let their kids go out and get burnt. All the kids changed their habits within 2 days. I felt I had succeded when one came back form a Sunday on the beach and told me she had told her mum she had to wear a T-shirt so that she wouldn't burn. The school had no policy and didn't think it was their business, but I couldn't get over the shortsightedness of the mums sending kids in with no suncover. Mind you, the same mums sent them in in the middle of winter without a warm coat or sweater.

SueW · 02/06/2003 18:22

steppemum - just out of curiosity, did you follow your own good advice?

Every year it winds me up to see another British school getting publicity for its cover up policy. The teachers are rarely wearing hats themselves.

In NZ and Australia, there are areas of shade made out of sailcloth as well as natural cover if possible. And the teachers wear hats too.

And no hat, no play, is strictly enforced.

eidsvold · 02/06/2003 18:32

Sue - you beat me to it .. particularly in primary schools the no hat no play policy is big. Also in the state I taught in ... a number of the school polo shirts that they wore were SPF15 at least.

Most kids wear hats and all the teachers I have worked with wore hats when out on duty. GUess as I lived and worked in QLD skin cancer capital of the world - it was a big thing.

maryz · 02/06/2003 19:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Slinky · 02/06/2003 19:44

At our school, they expect you to apply suncream before school and that's it.

At the day nursery where I work and DD2 attends, we buy high-Factor suncream and apply it to all children before they go out.

helenmc · 02/06/2003 20:51

dh's cousin's dh (if you get my drift) used to be the British windsurfing champion and he swears by p20. the great thing is you only put it on ONCE at the beginning of the day, you don;t need to top up at breaktime or if they have been swimming etc etc. It does smell of alcohol, and so my kids don't like the smell but its not sticky. wasn't there some kind of T-shirt poilcy ie teachers could apply sun cream to areas not covered by T-shirts??

SueW · 02/06/2003 21:10

Another sun screen thing that irritates me - why can you buy sunscreen by the litre or more in Australia/NZ for a very reasonable price and yet it's difficult to get a large bottle over here?

And when you go to an outdoor event in Australia e.g. children's summer eventsi n parks, there a huge 5 litre squirty tubs of sunscreen for you to apply to your children/self. And even bars in Melbourne had sunscreen on their outdoor serving areas.

I have dozens of moles on my torso and arms so I am very sun conscious. I used to apply factor 30 all over before I left the house in Melbourne and even in the UK don't go out without SPF15 moisturiser, even in winter. My skin's stuffed anyway from maltreatment in earlier years but I'll do what I can to prevent damage now. And I'll do anything I can now to ensure DD doesn't have skin like leather in 25 years! In a few years' time though, I guess she'll be on her own.