Nearly 800 Rotorua school will get sunhats to shade them from the harsh sun thanks to the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Cancer Society. Photo/Thinkstock
Nearly 800 Rotorua school will get sunhats to shade them from the harsh sun thanks to the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Cancer Society. Photo/Thinkstock
Almost 800 Rotorua school children are set to receive new sunhats from the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Cancer Society.
Western Heights Primary School and Kawaha Point School are among 25 schools across the region who have successfully applied for funding for new sunhats for their pupils.
The Cancer Society's SunSmart GrantScheme enabled schools to apply for funding to pay for sun protection resources, including SunSmart sunhats for each child enrolled at the school, shade trees, pop-up shade marquees, permanent shade structures or upgrades to existing shade in school grounds.
Skin cancer is New Zealand's most common form of cancer and evidence shows that overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun during childhood significantly increases the risk of developing skin cancers later in life.
Cancer Society spokeswoman Rachael Mounsey said schools could play an important role in helping to reduce these skin cancer statistics by practicing SunSmart behaviours with children while they are at school. "As students are at school when UV radiation levels are at their peak, schools are uniquely placed to provide a sun-safe environment. Schools often struggle to fund much-needed shade projects and that's where the SunSmart Grant Scheme comes in."
She said every school that received a grant would become part of the Cancer Society's SunSmart accreditation programme. Schools that are accredited to the programme have SunSmart policies and practices that ensure children are safe in the sun while at school. These include ensuring children wear SunSmart hats while outside during terms one and four, encouraging teachers to model sunsmart behaviours and offering SunSmart education programmes within their curriculum.
The delivery of sunhats will be followed by the delivery of pop-up shade structures and the permanent shade structures.
