Sun and heat exposure: the missing link in educational visit safety
Guest Article: Melanoma Fund
Educational visits are built on robust risk management. Weather, terrain, supervision and safeguarding are carefully planned. Yet one of the most consistent and preventable risks, sun and heat exposure, remains largely unmanaged.
The Melanoma Fund is supporting schools to address this gap by embedding practical sun and heat protection into existing planning and delivery.
UV exposure is not incidental, it is built into the structure of outdoor learning. Extended time outside, limited shade, physical activity and seasonal peaks combine to create sustained exposure for both pupils and staff.
Sun safety is acknowledged but not embedded. Responsibility is diffuse across school, staff, parents and pupils. The result is inconsistency, and avoidable risk, including reputational exposure.
Sunguarding® has been developed to address this.
The Sunguarding Course is a free, one-hour CPD module for staff leading outdoor activity. It provides a clear, practical framework that integrates sun and heat protection into existing duty-of-care processes without adding complexity.
The focus is behaviour:
Understanding when exposure risk is highest
Embedding protection into planning and delivery
Creating visible, repeatable actions that prompt use
This includes timing, shade, hydration, appropriate clothing and sunscreen, delivered within a structured approach rather than left to individual choice.
To support implementation, the Outdoor Kids Sun Safety Code (KS2) and Sunguarding Outdoors provide downloadable resources that can be applied immediately across school visits, trips and outdoor settings.
Alongside staff training, schools can extend this into education. The Sunguarding Schools PSHE lesson (KS2) introduces sun and heat protection as a life skill, enabling pupils to understand and take ownership of their behaviour.
This creates consistency: staff understand the risk → pupils understand the behaviour → protection becomes routine
With outdoor learning increasing, and UV and heat risks intensifying, this is no longer optional. It is a core duty-of-care requirement. Sunguarding offers a practical, scalable way to embed this across schools.
Access the free Sunguarding Course and resources: www.melanoma-fund.co.uk
by Michelle Baker
Melanoma Fund