Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps to encourage greater education about sun safety and skin cancer in schools.
Answered by Edward Timpson
We recognise the importance of teaching children and young people about the importance of sun safety and the risks of skin cancer. The primary science national curriculum emphasises the need for pupils to recognise the different ways in which light from the sun can be dangerous and how they should protect their eyes. Skin cancer and other health issues can also be covered in the key stage 4 science curriculum when pupils can be taught about the impact of lifestyle factors on the incidence of non-communicable diseases. Schools can choose to include cancer awareness in their Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education lessons. The non-statutory programme of study for PSHE education enables schools to teach young people about cancer prevention, checking for cancer and other illnesses, and how to overcome worries about seeking help.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance on “Skin Cancer Prevention” in January 2011.