School has shade needs covered

The odds were in favour of College Row School was randomly drawn from 182 SunSmart schools to receive a $10,000 grant to add shade on campus.

Principal Cale Begley hoped to have the shade installed for the start of the 2019 school year.

“Our upper secondary is a new area and we haven’t necessarily had the budget to finish it all off,” he said.

“Having that shade will make sure we can make it a much nicer space for our upper secondary students.

“Our kids are not always very good at keeping things on like hats and shoes, so having that extra protection from the sun will be very good for our kids.”

Cancer Council South West regional education officer Shenae Norris said College Row was helping to create a sun smart generation with a lower risk of skin cancer than past generations.

She said their program encouraged hat wearing, the use of minimum SPF 30 broad spectrum sunscreen, changes to school timetables and parents and teachers acting as positive role models.