Sunproofed: A mixed methods evaluation of sun safety policies in primary schools in Wales

Why this project:

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the world. In Wales, skin cancer rates have risen by 63% since 2005 and dermatologists now spend 50% of their time treating skin cancer.  This means they cannot spend as much time on other conditions and people with other skin diseases are suffering.

Skin cancers are divided into melanoma and keratinocyte (non-melanoma). For melanoma, 86% of cases can be prevented through less exposure to the sun’s ultra-violet radiation (UVR). Studies show that children who are badly sunburned are more likely to develop melanoma skin cancer when they are older.

With the Welsh Government recommending that people do more to prevent future health problems, preventing skin cancer is now more important than ever. Children spend almost half their time at school playing and learning outdoors, and one way to prevent skin cancer is to teach children at school how to protect themselves from UVR.

A sun safety policy is a programme or procedure that schools use that sets out how they will teach and protect children from the sun while at school. A policy may include how the school will provide shade or if teachers can help with sunscreen.

What we will do:

We want to understand how primary schools are responding to the growing problem of skin cancer (for example do they have a policy in place and what does it look like). We want to explore what is currently being taught in schools about sun safety and if this has any influence on knowledge and behaviours of children, teachers, staff and school managers.

One of the outcomes of this study will be for participants to work together to write an action plan for schools. This will help them to start using sun safe policies.

How we will do this:

Firstly, we will send out a questionnaire to all primary schools in Wales to discover if they have a sun safe policy in place. We will look at data on contacts with healthcare providers to understand the numbers of sunburn accidents. We will visit 7 schools -some with and some without a sun safety policy. During our visit, we will speak to children, parents, school staff and governors to find out what they know about sun safety. We will also invite them to help write a document that will guide schools on the best way to implement a sun safety policy. We will also ask people who have expertise in education and in skin cancer to help with this.

Who is involved:

It is very important that we have the involvement of schools including staff, parents and children. We have two teachers, (one of whom speaks Welsh and is also a parent governor) on our study team and they will give advice on how best to work with schools and how to design study paperwork suitable for children. We also have recruited two parents who will advise on what is important to them when considering sun safety. We have also met with the Headteacher of one school, who gave valuable input into the design of this study.

Who we will tell and how they will benefit:

Children should be free to enjoy the sun safely without the worry of developing future skin cancer. With this study we will better understand what schools in Wales are doing to help children protect themselves and how this can be improved. We will tell schools our findings and give them a copy of the guidance we produce. We will present findings at meetings for people with responsibility for education and health policies and will write up results for publication in academic journals.