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Sun Safety
We want to make sure that children are safe in all weathers. In the summer months there are a number of potential risks:
- Too much exposure to the sun (leading to sunburn and skin damage)
- Dehydration through drinking insufficient water
- Exhaustion through being in a hot place for too long (either outside or in a classroom)
At the bottom of the page you will find a link to our Risk Assessment for sun safety. In brief we aim to manage the risks in the following ways:
- Advise parents to send children in with a hat or cap, and wearing sunscreen that last all day - you may also send sunscreen in with your child but we would wish them ideally to put it on themselves.
- Ask parents to end in children with a water bottle - these are available all day in class, and teachers should be encouraging children to drink regularly (all of the cold taps in class are drinking water so bottles can easily be refilled).
- Encourage children to wear appropriate clothing: no jumpers or cardigans when hot, but conversely no flipflops or inappropriate footwear.
Lessons Inside and Outside
The main school building is cool throughout the day. The Elliott buildings get hotter, and they are equipped with fans. If any of the rooms become uncomfortably hot teachers may bring children to the main building, or go outside to work in a shady area of the school grounds.
PE lessons outside: if children do sport outside they will have regular breaks to sit in the shade, as well as taking water bottles outside.
Lunchtimes: Children having packed lunch outside will all sit in the shade. During lunchtime younger children will only be allowed to play in the sun for around 10 minutes before going into the shade.
Playtimes: If very hot, playtimes will be limited to 10 minutes.
Sports Day
We will adapt sports day as necessary to meet the weather conditions. If very hot, children will not sit on the edge of the track, but further away, in the shade. They will have water available at all times, and should wear hats and sun cream. Children will therefore only be exposed to the sun for brief periods of time. The event may also be shortened.
Provision of Shade
We are very fortunate to have lovely school grounds with lots of shady areas.
We have begun opening up more of our wooded areas for children to play in, and these are very popular areas.