Kids’ sunscreen row

Helen Reed hit the roof when she received a message from St Joseph’s School this week asking for sun cream to be applied to children before leaving home. Parents were also asked not to send lotion in to school.

Mrs Reed was especially upset as one of her sons was sunburnt on a school trip when staff did not apply lotion during the outing. “Before the trip, we were asked to put lotion in the children’s bags, which I did. But it was not applied and you can’t expect a very young child to do it,” she said.

Headteacher Maureen Fletcher said: “Staff do apply some medicines with written consent from parents. But it simply isn’t possible to apply different sunscreens to different children at various times of day.

“If we allowed various creams in various parts of the school and staff were unsure as to its whereabouts, children’s safety could be compromised. They could use it without supervision. Our request to parents was based entirely on the children’s welfare, which is paramount.”

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