CHEEKY MONKEYS DAY NURSERYCompany Number 4911321

Sun Policy

Sun Cream:

In the summer months when the weather is very hot we do not take the children outside during the midday sun.

During the warm/hot weather we endeavour to apply sun cream to every child 20 minutes prior to going outside. Staff use their discretion as to whether they feel sun cream is necessary. It is applied to every exposed area on the child. A form is then completed by the staff applying the cream to show where and when it is applied.

Staff wash their hands between applications on children to avoid cross infection.

Children should bring their own sun cream, but we hold Tesco’s own brand of factor 30 + for cases whereby the child has none. (If Tesco’s own brand is not available then a reputable brand is used).

Sun cream is re –applied regularly throughout the day.

Parental permission is obtained before we apply sun cream.

Children are not permitted outside if they are not wearing sun cream when staff feel it is necessary. In the event of a parent refusing to allow their child to wear sun cream it may result in the child being sent home.

We have referred to the Guidelines provided by NICE and the World Health Organisation with regards to applying sun cream to children; Children are particularly at risk, as sun exposure during childhood appears to set the stage for the development of both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers later in life. They also have more time to develop diseases with long latency, more years of life to be lost, and more suffering to be endured as a result of impaired health and potential disfigurement as in many cases skin cancer treatment can involve the removal of facial lesions.

We recognise in accordance with the above mentioned guidelines that whilst darker skinned children have a lesser risk of sunburn and skin cancer we also acknowledge that skin cancers do occur in darker skinned people and are often detected at a later, more dangerous stage. In addition, the risk of other health effects related to sun exposure such as premature ageing of the skin, eye damage and immunosuppression* (immune system depression), is independent of skin colour/pigmentation.

Whilst it is for each setting to formulate their own policy with regards to administering sunscreen and staff are not legally obliged to administer sunscreen there is no legislation to prevent sunscreen being administered either, and it is done on a purely voluntary

basis. We are however expected to use our best endeavours at all times to secure the welfare of children in our care and the use of sunscreen is a preventative measure that would prevent the need for first aid treatment for sunburn. We see that it is our responsibility, therefore to ensure that adequate protection from sun exposure is provided to each child in our setting regardless of skin colour/pigmentation.

Sunhats:

Children must wear sunhats in the sun.

*Immunosuppresion – UV radiation exposure suppresses the human immune system, potentially increasing the risk of infection and reducing the efficacy of immunisation programmes.

Reviewed January 2017

All staff, parents and carers are included in the policy making process at Cheeky Monkeys Day Nursery. All policies are reviewed annually or in the event of any changes needing to be made.

Effective Early Learning Quality Assurance Award