Keeping our children 

SUN SAFE

We are pleased to announce that Sawley Junior School are taking steps to implement a Sun Safe policy and teaching. The content of which forms part of our duty of care to ensure the health and wellbeing of your child/children during school hours. This is a voluntary undertaking by the school following an invitation from the Sun Safe Schools (national accreditation scheme), which has been developed by national skin cancer charity 'Skcin', to encourage the necessary culture change regarding attitudes towards sun safety required to combat the soaring rates of skin cancer in the UK.

Skin cancer is now the most common and fastest rising cancer in the UK. Malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of the disease is one of the most common cancers in young adults aged 15-34. Burning as a young child can cause irreparable damage to a child’s delicate skin, that over time can develop with serious consequences.  Therefore, whilst we recognise that some sun is good for us, we are mindful of the importance of protecting the children in our care from over exposure to UV during outdoor play and activities.

However, the good news is that skin cancer is almost entirely preventable and simple steps can be undertaken to ensure that your child’s skin is protected from the sun’s harmful rays. As such, we will be utilising the Sun Safe Schools accreditation scheme to teach all children the importance of sun safety with the fun and engaging teaching resources supplied to us.

In order to gain our Sun Safe Status it is our duty to ensure that all parents/guardians send their child to school with an appropriate sun hat (named)  ideally to remain at school, where possible,  at all times during the months March through to the end of September. This is necessary to ensure that your child/children have access to the appropriate items that will help protect them from over exposure to UV during outdoor activities and break times - the majority of which are taken at the hottest times of the day, when UV penetration is at its strongest.

Sun hats should be either legionnaire or broad brimmed, bucket style hats that shade the face, neck and ears. Sun hats will be worn during outdoor play/activities when UV levels are 3 or above.

We are also pleased to inform you that courtesy of the Colin Bloomfield Melanoma Appeal’s bespoke version of the Sun Safe Schools accreditation scheme our school has been selected to take advantage of FREE sunscreen for all pupils. Our wall mounted sun stations with dispensers containing SPF 30, 5 star UVA, broad spectrum sunscreen are installed and ready for use by all pupils. Children will apply the sunscreen themselves before extended periods of time outdoors such as lunch breaks when UV penetration is at its peak. Should you wish to patch test a sample of the sunscreen on your child, samples can be trialed by contacting the school office.

 

Please Visit our 'Sunsafe' page on the parents tab.