Charity Petition to reduce Child Sunburn at Schools in England

Nurseries, primary schools and secondary schools in England currently have no standardised policies in terms of the responsibility of sunscreen re-application amongst staff, pupils and parents.

As it stands, each school or local education authority decides for themselves on an ad-hoc basis what they want to action – if anything – with regards to sunscreen re-application on children during school hours. In rare instances, schools have even banned sunscreen in schools, for fear of allergic reactions to the product.

The British Skin Foundation (BSF) is keen for the government to clarify the parameters of responsibility, so there is no confusion between parents, schools and local authorities as to which body is responsible for what aspect of a child's sun safety during school hours.

The decision to launch the online petition came as a result of an annual influx of phone calls to the charity in recent years from concerned parents, eager for advice on the best way to protect their children whilst they're at school.


The issue with children's sun safety in schools has previously been raised in the House of Commons as recently as 2009. What's more, a previous survey of 1,000 parents commissioned by MPs on the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Skin (APPGS), found almost 40 per cent of pupils have suffered sunburn while at school.

It is believed that about 80 per cent of damage to the skin caused by over exposure to the sun is achieved by the age of 20, and with two new cases of skin cancer diagnosed every day in the UK amongst 15 to 34-year-olds, the issue of skin cancer amongst the young is a growing problem.

Chief Executive of the British Skin Foundation, Matthew Patey says "Our biggest aim with the petition is to stop children from burning.

"We are not advocating sunscreen as the sole means of sun protection, but as an additional method of protecting the skin from burning – the first line of defence is always clothing. When responsible parents dress their child appropriately for the sunny weather and apply sunscreen, they are still faced with the conundrum of re-application later on in the day. With younger children especially, this will require adult supervision in the likely form of a teacher or school nurse. Until this issue is resolved, children will continue being hurt unnecessarily, so we're hoping this petition will mark a starting point for change."

Sign the petition and get this issue raised at the House of Commons.