Are Welsh primary schools Sunproofed? Results of a national survey Part 1: Scoping the landscape of sun safety policies in Wales.

BACKGROUND

Schools with formal sun safety polices generally show better sun safety practices than schools without.

OBJECTIVES

Understand the extent to which Welsh primary schools have sun safety policies; identify key characteristics of policies; assess whether policy adoption varies by school characteristics; and consider what support schools need to develop sun safety policies.

METHODS

An online multiple-choice survey distributed to all 1241 primary schools in Wales asking about sun safety.

RESULTS

In total, 471/1241 (38.0%) schools responded. Of these, 183 (39.0%) reported having a formal sun safety policy. Welsh medium schools (p=0.036) and schools in North Wales (p=0.008) were more likely to report having a policy. Schools with a higher percentage of pupils receiving free school meals (p=0.046) and with lower attendance rates (p=0.008) were less likely to report having a sun safety policy.Primary reasons for schools not having a policy included: 'unaware of the need' (34.6%); needing assistance with policy development (30.3%) and 'not got around to it' (26.8%).

CONCLUSION

With less than half of schools reporting a sun safety policy and variation in the presence/absence of a policy by school characteristics, our survey shows inconsistency in formal sun safety provision in Welsh schools. Findings also suggest that schools are unaware of the importance of sun safety and need support to develop and implement policies. This snapshot of the current situation in primary schools in Wales provides a basis upon which the comprehensiveness, effectiveness, and implementation of sun safety policies can be further evaluated.

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© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of British Association of Dermatologists.