Queensland schools failing to protect students from sun damage

LESS than half of Queensland schools are providing an important service to protect their students, the Cancer Council warns.

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MOST Queensland schools are failing to ensure children are adequately protected from the sun, the Cancer Council has warned.

Cancer Council Queensland chief executive Chris McMillan said schools needed to do better, with a new survey finding less than half of all schools in the state provided sunscreen in every classroom.

The 2017 National Primary School SunSmart survey found while 92 per cent of schools promoted the use of sunscreen, fewer than half actually had it available in the every classroom.

And although 99 per cent of Queensland schools required children to wear hats, only four per cent also encouraged them to wear sunglasses.

Ms McMillan called on all schools to write and implement a sun protection policy, after the survey found less than two-thirds of the state’s schools had done so.

Junction Park State School students Sam Windels, Edith O'Brien and Gianni Seminara apply sunscreen. Picture: Mark Calleja/AAP

She said children needed to be protected from skin cancer and eye damage, with 3650 melanomas diagnosed in Queensland every year.

“Sun-smart behaviours learned in childhood will help encourage sun safety well into their teenage and adult years,” she said.

Junction Park State School students Gianni Seminara, 8, Edith O’Brien, 7, and Sam Windels, 7, are well trained in the art of sunscreen application, which their principal Christine Wood said was available in every classroom.

Mrs Wood said the school also enforced a “no hat, no play” policy on the oval and tried to keep students out of the sun during the hottest part of the day.

A Department of Education and Training spokesman said the health and wellbeing of students was taken “very seriously”.

“The Department’s Sun Safety Strategy has been developed in consultation with Queensland Health,” he said.

“The strategy identifies best practice measures in reducing the effects of sun exposure for students.

“The strategy requires state school principals, in consultation with the school community, to adopt a wide variety of sun safety strategies.”

He said individual schools “localised” their own sun protection plans.