Sun Protection Policy for Schools

This assignment delves into the importance of sun protection policies within Australian schools. It examines various school policies, highlighting best practices for sun safety education and promoting student well-being. The document utilizes resources like SunSmart guidelines and research on melanoma prevention to emphasize the significance of responsible sun exposure habits among children.

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTH AND SAFETY
Early Childhood Health and Safety: Sun Protection Policy
Student Name
University name
Author Note

EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTH AND SAFETY
Four information systems resources
1. Sun Protection: A Primary Teaching Resource, World Health Organization, 2003.
http://www.who.int/uv/publications/en/primaryteach.pdf
2. Sun Safety, KidsHealth. http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/sun-safety.html
3. Be SunSmart, Play SunSmart, Early Childhood Resource,
http://www.sunsmart.com.au/downloads/communities/early-childhood-primary-school/
resources/be-sunsmart-play-sunsmart.pdf
4. Sun Safety for Babies and Children by Raising Children Network,
http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/safety_in_the_sun.html
Part A:
a) Sun Protection Policy: Sun Protection Policies are responsibilities and duties of care in
order to minimize the health risks from harmful effect of sunrays. The policies can be
defined as certain policies that are implemented to promote knowledge and positive
attitudes regarding skin protection among children and parents (Harrison, Garzón-Chavez
and Nikles 2016). These policies are used to promote awareness to develop protection
from skin cancer through improved lifestyle. The staff and children are guided by the
policies to save them from the harmful ultraviolet radiation. These are designed to ensure
that the children are provided with sun protected outdoor environment. Sun protection
policies are effective to build independent skills for the children. The skills they will
develop during the early education will help them to lead a healthy life in the future as
well.

EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTH AND SAFETY
b) There should be certain information discussed in the Sun Smart policies that clearly state
the responsibilities of the parents and the staff. They follow the instructions to
successfully implement the sun protection policies. It clearly should state that the staff
members of the educational institutions including the centre leader, principle, educators
are responsible for the implementation of the sun protection policies. Every education
centre must be engaged in the sun protection policies supported by the governmental sun
smart program. The sun protection policy set by the educational site should be aligned
with the government policies. Following the Education and Care Services National
Regulations the representative must monitor that the policies related to sun protection are
in place and active (Turner et al. 2014). For the Sun Protection Program to become
effective SunSmart Services the departmental staff must follow certain strategies. The
staff should monitor UV Alert on daily basis and they should take care of the children’s
use of clothing, shade, sunscreen, hats and sunglasses. The staff should consider the
allergic reactions related to use of certain sunscreens. The staff should consider
encouraging parents to give children with their own sunscreens. The policies should also
provide education related to role of vitamin D in cancer prevention and guide the parents
and children regarding maintaining vitamin D level. The safety and work health of the
staff should also be taken care of. Not just implementation, the policies must be reviewed
at regular intervals. The local communities must be involved in the policy development
and implementation in the educational site. The policies should be effective enough to
remind the staff, committees, school associations and communities of their roles and
responsibilities. Finally the policies and the activities must be documented through
newsletters, handbooks and social media sites.

EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTH AND SAFETY
c) The citizens of Australia suffer from skin cancer in alarming number. The over exposure
to the ultra violate rays has been causing such great number of skin cancer and other skin
diseases. Australia is one of the countries having large number of skin cancer victims
(Olsen et al. 2015). Because of the increasing exposure to the Sun the people are
suffering from skin damage and skin cancer. This is even more dangerous in case of the
children as during adolescence and childhood the damages get maximized. The babies
and young children have sensitive skin that raises the risk of sunburn and skin damage.
During the early childhood services the children get exposed to the UV radiation,
therefore the Sun Protection policies can prove to be effective here. It is noticeable that
most skin damages can be prevented with proper care and protection. The sun protection
policies play significant role in controlling the UV exposure of the children. The
inappropriate exposure to harmful sunrays increases the risk of skin cancer for the whole
life for boys and girls under the age of 18 years old (Wallingford et al. 2015). Therefore
the sun protection policy aims to develop their knowledge and skill at the early age. The
sun protection policies are required to remind the staff and communities about their
responsibilities to protect the children. Through the sun protection policies effective steps
can be taken to ensure safety of the children and staff from the harmful effects of the sun.
d) The two selected sun protection policies from two childcare centres are as follows:
1. Sun Protection Policy of Golden Square Kindergarten from Victoria
2. Sun Protection Policy of Diamond Creek East Preschool from Melbourne.
e) The Diamond Creek Preschool sun protection policy was developed with the association
of Victoria’s Cancer Council SunSmart Program. The policy was updated in 2016 and the
ELAA policy was also incorporated in it (Diamondcreekeastpreschool.com.au 2016). The

EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTH AND SAFETY
policies also provide a lot of importance to maintain the Vitamin D balance. The website
keeps the parents and staff updated about the times when the protection is required. The
policy keeps the children diversity in mind as they publish the Vitamin D information in
12 different languages. One big difference in its sun protection policy from others is that
it equally gives importance on when the protection is not required for the children, so that
the children get exposed to the natural sources of Vitamin D.
The policy is majorly focused in UV radiation protection. In the Golden Square
Kindergarten sun protection policies the UV exposure is also the main issue but here need
for Vitamin D is also discussed with great importance (Goldensquarekindergarten.com.au
2017). The policies clearly state that the local daily sun protection time should be
measured. The policies here also guide clearly the children and the staff regarding the sun
protected outdoor environment. The policies support the OHS strategies to ensure the
protection from the risks. The official service website keeps the sun protection activities
updated through the SunSmart Widget.
f) The seven recommendations for the sum smart program are:
1. Scheduling
2. Clothing
3. Shades
4. Sunscreen
5. Role Modelling

EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTH AND SAFETY
6. Information and Education.
7. Policy Availability
Part B
1. The children will be sitting surrounding the narrator. The narrator will be narrating
each chapter from the book “Magic Beach” by Alison Lester and take a pause at
every image. The narrator will tell them to notice the pictures on the next page. The
picture of sunny beach, waves will be shown and asked if they have ever been to any
beach. After finishing the story every child will be asked about his or her beach
experience. When a child talks about her experience, the narrator will ask if it was a
hot day or cold. Even if they do not remember the narrator will hold the picture of the
scary waves and tell them that it is not just the hungry tides that are dangerous for
them, but also the sun. The staff will again open the book “Magic Beach” and point
out that how in the first picture the parents are wearing hat, sunglass and sitting under
the big yellow-red umbrella. The staff will make them understand because they are
adults they know how to protect themselves from the invisible waves of harmful UV
rays and the children should also develop self skills. In the fourth picture the children
are playing for hours on the sand beach and some of them have built the shade and
others are wearing hats. The staff will explain how sun is the dragon that is splitting
the flames and if they don’t get protection they will be burnt. If they have any little
brother or sister they must protect them from the harmful flames of the sun. The
children should notice how the characters in the poem are wandering on the beach
when is cloudy because it is safer than the raging sun and raging sky.

EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTH AND SAFETY
2. Playing should be included in the activities in order to encourage the children to
follow the sun smart policy. Playing outside when the UV is under 3 would be a good
option for them. They should provide with lego blocks so that they could create sun
and a beach and create story with their created toys. They information and awareness
through playing can prove to be really effective to deliver the messages of sun smart
policy to the children.
PART C
1. I will make the sketch of the poster and then select few children to color the spaces. I
will select bright colors like yellow and red and guide them to color it. This way they
will get more involved with the poster. The children once the poster is complete I will
ask for suggestions from the students regarding where should I put it. My primary
plan is to engage the children with the poster as actively as possible. I will develop a
story for the poster which will include the sunflower as the central character and who
too much sunlight is causing it pain but at the same time it cannot live without
sunlight. Therefore it is wearing a sunglass and hat. The sunflower is telling the
students to go outside and play but make sure to have the protective elements like
sunscreen, sunglass, hat and clothing. As the central character on the poster looks like
a cartoon, the children will connect to the animations they watch. The narrative will
attract the children more and encourage them to get involved with a story that has the
sun protection information included in it. I will tell the children to draw similar

EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTH AND SAFETY
posters and which will tell their own stories. I will repeat the poster making process at
regular intervals. Thus the poster can be a great initiative to build their interest in the
sun protection program.
2. I will place the poster near the shelf we keep the toys. It is evident that the children
are most excited about the playing with the toys. Putting the poster near the shelf will
attract the children’s concentration most. The umbrellas, hats and sunscreen will be
kept on the shelf below the poster. Therefore the moment the poster will attract their
concentration, it will also remind them of the essential protective elements before
going outside. The poster will be big enough to attract the children. As the toy shelf is
just at the opposite of door, the children will notice the poster when they enter the
room.
3. There are many effective teaching aids for improving the children’s learning, colorful
poster is one of them. Educational posters are visually appealing and eye catching. I
believe the use of bright colors and bold texts are capable of grabbing children’s
attention. The character is at the central which appears to be funny and I assume that
the children will relate to the character easily. The poster will act as an effective
medium between the children and the messages. I engaged the children in the creative
process of making the poster. The children are most active during the creative play
and the interaction will enhance their imagination power. This can become a
successful strategy for delivering the sun smart message to the children. The poster
can be interactive as I can communicate to the children using the poster. I expect the
children to react to the poster actively rather than being passive recipients. Following
the poster creation the children developed their own creative posters. That helped

EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTH AND SAFETY
them to combine their knowledge and self skill. I have left a section empty in the
poster so that the students can express their feelings on them and reuse them. The
motivational poster regarding applying sun smart policy will help the students to gain
knowledge and develop self skills. The vibrant educational poster can become a
significant part of the learning process.

EARLY CHILDHOOD HEALTH AND SAFETY
Reference
Diamondcreekeastpreschool.com.au. (2016). SUN PROTECTION POLICY. [online] Available
at: https://diamondcreekeastpreschool.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/37-DCEPreSchool-
Sun-protection-policy-May2015.pdf [Accessed 1 Nov. 2017].
Goldensquarekindergarten.com.au. (2017). SUN PROTECTION POLICY. [online] Available at:
http://www.goldensquarekindergarten.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Sun-Protection.pdf
[Accessed 1 Nov. 2017].
Harrison, S.L., Garzón-Chavez, D.R. and Nikles, C.J., 2016. Sun protection policies of
Australian primary schools in a region of high sun exposure. Health education research, 31(3),
pp.416-428.
Kidshealth.org. (2017). Sun Safety. [online] Available at: http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/sun-
safety.html [Accessed 1 Nov. 2017].
Olsen, C.M., Wilson, L.F., Green, A.C., Bain, C.J., Fritschi, L., Neale, R.E. and Whiteman, D.C.,
2015. Cancers in Australia attributable to exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation and prevented by
regular sunscreen use. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 39(5), pp.471-476.
Raisingchildren.net.au. (2017). Sun Safety for Babies and Children. [online] Available at:
http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/safety_in_the_sun.html [Accessed 1 Nov. 2017].
Sunsmart.com.au. (2011). Be SunSmart, Play SunSmart. [online] Available at:
http://www.sunsmart.com.au/downloads/communities/early-childhood-primary-school/
resources/be-sunsmart-play-sunsmart.pdf [Accessed 1 Nov. 2017].

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Turner, D., Harrison, S.L., Buettner, P. and Nowak, M., 2014. School sun-protection policies—
does being SunSmart make a difference?. Health education research, 29(3), pp.367-377.
Wallingford, S.C., Iannacone, M.R., Youlden, D.R., Baade, P.D., Ives, A., Verne, J., Aitken, J.F.
and Green, A.C., 2015. Comparison of melanoma incidence and trends among youth under 25
years in Australia and England, 1990–2010. International journal of cancer, 137(9), pp.2227-
2233.
Who.int. (2003). Sun Protection: A Primary Teaching Resource. [online] Available at:
http://www.who.int/uv/publications/en/primaryteach.pdf [Accessed 1 Nov. 2017].