2nd June 2025
Dear Parents/Carers
Sun Safety in School
At Whitehouse Community Primary we would like for our pupils, staff, parents and carers to enjoy the sun safely. Educating our pupils on the importance of this, including how to reduce the risk of sun damage and about safe and unsafe exposure to the sun is part of our Personal, Health, Social and Economic curriculum, our commitment to safeguarding and ensuring the health and wellbeing of our pupils during school hours.
Whilst we recognise that we all need the sun for Vitamin D it is an important health and safety issue. Children spend almost half of their childhood at school. During the warmer months of the year we are exposed to Ultraviolet Radiation (UVR) from the sun, the majority is when penetration is strongest (between 11am and 3pm). Without adequate protection, a child’s delicate skin can easily burn, which increase their risk of developing skin cancer later in life. The good news is that this is entirely preventable (around 90% of cases) and with parental support, simple steps can be undertaken to ensure that our pupils are protected, can enjoy the sun safely and learn to develop healthy lifestyle choices.
In our efforts towards encouraging and ensuring a safe environment, we have created a Sun Safety Policy which outlines the commitments from the school, protective measures and education. The policy can be found on the school website https://www.whcps.org/whcps-policies/.
Parental support is vital in our efforts to implement effective measures, particularly with the provision of suitable sunscreen and sun hats. We ask for parents to ensure children are equipped with a suitable sun hat (wide-brimmed) and sunscreen from May to the end of September. We recommend sunscreen to be a minimum 30 SPF with a minimum of 4-star UVA rating. We also recommend that Parents/Carers apply sunscreen to their child before they come to school and, where possible, for this to be an 8-hour sun cream which is now widely available.
However, we recognise that all children are different and that for some children, a sunscreen top-up be needed during the school day.
If this is the case, with your permission, children will be able to have access to their sun cream whilst in school. In many cases they will be able to apply this themselves. We ask them not to share this with other children in case of allergies.
If you would like your child to have access to sunscreen in school, please bring the sunscreen in a clear, labelled plastic bag (for example a sandwich bag) to the school office. A member of the office team will ask you to complete a permission form and may have some follow up questions in case your child needs any support to apply the sunscreen. They will pass this information, along with the sun cream to class teachers for safe keeping in the class medical box.
Many thanks for your cooperation
Miss Siddall
Co-Headteacher
FAQs
Will my child be prevented from going outside if I don’t send them with a bottle of sun cream?
No. For many children, an application of 8-hour sunscreen before school (along with our other procedures such as shade breaks) will be enough.
Is my child allowed to bring sun cream to school?
Yes, but you will need to take it to the office and complete a permission form.
Will you help my child with their sun cream?
Yes, if they need help. Please talk to someone in the office first as if your child needs a lot of help, they may also need to have an intimate care plan. Someone in the office will advise you and they will feed this back to us.
What is an intimate care plan?
An intimate care clan is a documented, individualised plan that outlines the specific support and care needed for a child who requires assistance with personal tasks.
Will all children need an intimate care plan?
No. Many children will be able to apply the cream themselves or with a small bit of help so there won’t be a need for an intimate care plan.
Can I have the sun cream back at the end of each day?
We will return any unused sun cream to you at the end of term. It would not be feasible to put 30 sets of sun creams in and out of the medical box each day.
Where and when will my child be able to use their sun cream?
Medical boxes are kept in classrooms and readily accessible before PE, lunch time and break time.
Can my children share one bottle of sunscreen?
No, not unless they are twins in the same class as we want the children to be able to access their sun cream.
What happens if the sun cream I provided has run out.
We will let you know so it can be replaced.