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Sun Safety Program

Sun_Safety

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” Sounds terrific, doesn’t it? In Colorado, we are blessed with over 300 days of sunshine a year, which gives us little choice but to live in it…literally. That’s why the Administration, Staff and Governing Board at St. Philip Early Learning Center are excited to tell you about our newest program – Sun Safety!

We understand that the sun is necessary for life. It helps us grow, provides nourishment for our raised bed pumpkins in front of the school, and gives us a good excuse for Popsicle socials. Yet we also know that too much of it can be harmful, especially for young children. Overexposure can lead to sunburn, wrinkles, eye damage, and skin cancer. According to Healthy Childcare Consultants, Inc.…1.2 million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed annually. A child born today has a 1 in 5 chance of developing skin cancer in his or her lifetime. If there is any silver lining, it would be that 80 percent of skin cancers are preventable by practicing sun safe behaviors such as:

  • Stay in the shade
  • Wear cover up clothing, hats and UV protective sunglasses
  • Apply sunscreen
  • Avoid peak sun intensity hours
  • Check UV heat indexes
  • Drink water

We believe that introducing sun safe practices early can make a difference for the children in the long run, and SPELC has chosen to take a proactive stance on the issue. We began by assessing our sun safety in terms of shade provided, outdoor play times, sunscreen use policies, and staff and child sun safe clothing habits (hats, glasses, etc.). The assessment taught us that some of the policies we have encourage these behaviors, but that we have room for improvement in the following areas: staff and student sun safety and the school environment.

To address staff sun safety, we covered sun safety during our February in-service. SPELC SmallChildwSunglassesstaff and teachers reviewed statistics, visited sun safe practices in-depth, and practiced classroom curriculum ideas. One important learning point that emerged during the training was that sun safety in early childhood involves more than avoidance of harmful rays. It also includes protection from heat, avoiding sunburns and dehydration, and maintaining comfort.

The heart of the program is student sun safety. Given that many of our students are very young; this includes sun safety education for the whole family. Every month, we are committed to providing our families with information related to sun safety in our newsletter and on our website. You are also likely to see posters in the hallways and activities in your child’s backpack. Undoubtedly, you’ll be reminded to apply sunscreen on your children before dropping them off; to send them to school wearing a wide-brimmed hat, long-sleeved shirts and sunglasses; and to talk to them about playing in the shade.

In the classroom, our teachers will incorporate sun safety into the things they do every day – like talking about the weather.  If it’s sunny, the penguin gets a hat and sun glasses! All teachers have committed to spending classroom time promoting awareness of sun safe behaviors at least two times before the end of the school year. If you are interested, you are welcome to check out the Sun Safe Toolkit available to teachers to see what they might be planning.

We have scheduled a special “sun safety show” designed especially for our Ruby, Emerald and Pre-K children, for April 19th & 20th.  Watch for more information as the date gets closer.

Finally, our assessment showed that we have room for improvement within our school environment. Our first order of business was to purchase and install a shade structure on the newly designed toddler playground. The retractable awning is in and working great! Not only does it provide playground shade, it helps minimize sunlight shining through our Ruby classroom windows. Our next task will be to design shade structures into the soon-to-be-updated preschool playground. We hope to make enough money at this year’s Consignment Sale to begin implementing the Sun Safety improvements to our preschool playground………. please come shopping!

In closing, we are so excited about this program and ask for your support! If you have any questions or concerns, please stop by the office and visit. Stay Sun Safe!

Sun Safety Tips for our Students and Staff (PDF files):

 

Sun Shade Toddler Playground