Statement of intent

The Ark believes that the health and well being of children is of paramount importance.

Aim

We aim to minimise the hazards and risks to every person who enters the nursery setting.

Methods

Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun can cause skin damage including sunburn, blistering, skin ageing and in the long term can lead to skin cancer.  Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK.

The skin of children is even more sensitive to the effect of sunlight than that of most adults.

To help protect the children, parents are asked to follow the below advice during the summer months.

 

  • Apply a high factor sun screen or sun block to their child’s skin just before they come to school each morning.  Pay particular attention to ears, back of neck etc – areas that can be particularly sensitive to sun burn.
  • Make sure that the child has a sleeved top on, or at least has a top that can be put on over a strappy top when he or she goes outside to play.
  • Send the child to school with a sun hat or cap.  For children with short hair or collarless tops it is advisable to use a hat with a neck cover to reduce the risk of sun burnt neck.
  • If a child arrives at school without having had sun cream applied, the nursery may have a high factor cream that can be offered to the parents.  The staff will not apply sun cream to a child, unless they are staying all day.in which case ,; this must be done by a parent / guardian before leaving in the morning and staff will reapply if necessary at lunch time.
  • Sun creams must not be left accessible to the children by parents e.g. not to be left in children’s drawers or bags.  This would be a risk to any child with allergies to sun creams.
  • If a child is allergic to all sun creams, the parents should advise The Nursery of this fact and ensure that they attend school on sunny days with long sleeved tops and light trousers or special sun protection fabric clothes, so that they are afforded some protection via their clothes.  As far as possible The Nursery will try to ensure that the child is not exposed to undue risk.