A JOINT PUBLIC HEALTH SOUTH TE WAKAHAUORA AND UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO COLLEGE OF EDUCATION PROJECT

Whiringa ä Rangi – November 2011 – Term Four

Huna patiki, he puehu, he ahi, ka wero - a flounder hidden in the mud, is easily caught with a burning lamp

If we are seeking with a purpose, with the right tools, the cherished reward will eventually come to light.

www.mentalhealth.org.nz

CONTENTS

Taha Wairua 1 (tahi)

Mäori Focus 4 (whä)

How Health Promoting Schools can work 4 (whä)

What's Been Happening 5 (rima)

What's Been Happening 6 (ono)

Heart Foundation 7 (whetu)

Please Distribute to

Principal

Board of Trustees

Health & PE staff

Staffroom

School Community

THE FOCUS of this magazine is taha wairua – spiritual

well-being

Health Promoting SchoolsOtago Murihiku Wakatipu

The focus of this magazine is taha wairua – spiritual well-being

Ma tini ma mano ka rapa te whai

Public Health South(PHS) was referred by Sister Jan Ogilvy from the University of Otago College of Education to Trish Rodgers, a teacher from St Brigid’s school in Andersons Bay, Dunedin to gain a view from an integrated school on Taha Wairua. PHS was invited to a staff meeting to discuss how the St Brigid’s Religious Education (RE) programme supports health and well-being in their school community.

To begin the discussion Chris Hogue the principal emphasised that RE is not merely an add-on to the school curriculum but is in fact central to it. This is reflected in the schools Mission Statement:

‘Our school community provides an environment where gospel values are at the heart of our teaching and learning. We provide a Catholic education where, through teaching, providing a good example and having high expectations, children develop fully so that they are able to lead active and purposeful lives.’

The first point brought up in the discussion was ‘hope’. When things get tough we all have to have hope that life and things will get easier.

Prayer / karakia is a strand of RE curriculum. At St Brigid’s the day always begins with prayer/karakia. It is a time when the children and the teachers can share in a comfortable setting the good things that have happened that can be celebrated or harder things the children may have to deal with. In class time it is sometimes appropriate to have a quiet

time to reflect and pray. The children enjoy these quiet times.

Life at school highlights the school values: Acceptance and forgiveness are two of St Brigid’s school values. Acceptance is an important part of the school and parish community. This is demonstrated through the acceptance of individual differences and different cultures. The RE programme makes it easier for little people to understand values like forgiveness. Each term the school takes one school value so the children get to see what each value looks, feels and sounds like. A certificate for the best articulation and interpretation of the value is awarded to a child in every class.

The RE has a strand called ‘Myself and Others/Ko Au, Ko Ratou’. This strand teaches that the children are part of a family/

Ma tini ma mano ka rapa te whai. By many, by thousands, the work will be accomplished. Many hands make light work. Unity is strength.

The opening whakatauki is dedicated to all those who generously work to maximise the health and well-being of our schools, whänau and communities. We would like to thank those involved in health committees/school councils, classroom projects and parent groups for their work/mahi in promoting health and well-being. A special thanks to the schools in our region who took up the Hauora Challenge.

The kaupapa for the term 4 magazine is Taha Wairua. We would like to thank St Brigid’s

and St Joseph’s Invercargill for their feature articles on religious education and health and well-being in their school community and the schools in the Waitaki Valley for sharing their school values.

As this will be the last HPS issue for the year, we at Public Health South would like to thank all the schools we have worked with during the year and we look forward to working with you again next year. We wish you all the best for the remainder of the school year and wish you all a safe and stress-free Christmas.

Arohanui te whänau,

Nga mihi, Joyce, Ann-Maree, Marie

Religious Education and Health and Well-being at St Brigid’s

Chris Hogue(Principal), Deb Whitty, Carmel Wassell, Deb Charleson, Trish Rodgers, Lucy King, Michelle Purton.

Spirituality Survey at St Brigid’s School

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We are very proud to be St Joseph’s kids!

Here is an example of a survey given by St Brigid’s as part of their review of their Religious Education programme.

Year 4 Self-Review Survey

1) Circle 5 words that you think best describe spirituality.

Spirituality is about values and beliefs personal qualities who you are

prayer relationships searching for meaning

being aware religion a journey part of every human

2) Complete the sentencesa) My spirituality is mostly….b) I express my spiritually… c) People could recognise my spirituality… ….d) A spiritual experience I often have is … e) My spiritual qualities are…..f) People who talk to me about spiritual matters are… g) I often wonder about …

3) Circle True or Falsea) My spirituality is connected to my feelings ESLAF EURTb) Spirituality is about my relationship with God ESLAF EURTc) Some people are not spiritual ESLAF EURTd) My classroom is a spiritual place ESLAF EURTe) My teacher helps me to be spiritual ESLAF EURTf) My family helps me to be spiritual ESLAF EURTg) I express my spirituality through prayer ESLAF EURTh) I pray with my family ESLAF EURT

4) Answer the questionsa) How do you nurture your own spirituality?b) What would nurture your spirituality at school?

…… identity is a part of a school community’s spiritual well-being. At St Joseph’s School in Invercargill their school flag represents their school vision and identity.

At St Joseph’s School we value ALL people from all over the world. This can be seen in lots of places in our school especially in our school foyer area. Every child in our school will find their country’s flag hanging in our foyer for everyone to see. When a child arrives from a country where the flag is not yet hanging in our foyer we purchase it and present it to everyone with an explanation of the flag at a school assembly. The children also have their photo taken with their country’s flag and this is put on our photo wall in the foyer.

This respect for ALL peoples is visually represented in our school flag as this depicts what our school is all about. The Flag represents the children of St Joseph’s and what we regard as important in our lives and the Dominican Order which founded our school.

The Cross represents our Catholic heritage and our belief in Jesus.

Truth is the motto of our Dominican Founders.

The three Koru represent our Trinity Schools and that we are always striving for excellence and knowledge.

The circle is to remind us of God’s everlasting love with no beginning and no end.

The triple twist is people of all nations and cultures coming together and the background colour of our flag is green to represent Southland.

Our school flag was designed by the children of St Joseph’s in 2009. It was the end product of a years work on our school vision where the children, the staff and community shared our ideas on what we loved about our school and what we wanted our school to look like in three years time. We had to decide what made us a ‘St Joseph’s Kid’.

We believe that our work to represent our school vision is evident throughout our school. It is in what we say and what we do in our daily school life – both in the classroom and in the playground. We invite you to visit our school and see why we are so special.

We are very proud to be St Joseph’s kids!

Written by:

Janina Baldomar, Destiny Naunau, Maria Moeke, Daniel Easton, Caitlin Terry, Cheanna Henderson-Blair, Talia Rima, Aleki Saili, Riley Tipu, Xavier Thompson and Zax Marsden

whänau which is part of the school community and the St Brigid’s parish. The children have activity books. Some of the activities are for the children to do at school but some of the activities are for the children to share with their family/whänau. The family has an important role in RE.

The Church recognises the importance of the bi-cultural relationship between Mäori that flows from the Treaty of Waitangi:

‘Mäori Children have a right, supported by Church teaching, to have faith explained to them in ways which make sense in terms of their culture. This includes use of traditional Mäori ideas, beliefs and values which are still part of the life of Mäori today such as whänau, tapu and mana’ (Family-Whänau Book).

It is important that the RE programme has a multi-cultural dimension as the number of children from the Pacific islands, Asia and other cultures in

the community are growing. The RE programme encourages teachers to include children’s experiences of their culture.

Some topics in RE overlap with the Health and Physical Education curriculum, for example dealing with grief and loss. The ‘Myself and Others/ Mental Health from Ko Au, Ko Ratou’ strand also covers the importance of food and nutrition, physical activity and making good choices.

This year the school has just conducted a spirituality survey with the staff and children. The results of the spiritual review and observations are consistent with the St Brigid’s vision, principles and gospel values that “children demonstrate the school’s values and principles through their attitudes and behaviours towards other”.

Thank you to the staff of St Brigid’s for your time and contribution!

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Taha Wairua — Spiritual Well-being

Duntroon SchoolSport and physical activity are an important part of their school culture at Duntroon School. The children at Duntroon School are very much involved in sport and physical activity.

Bev Conlan, the principal of Duntroon School put into practice a school value for each term when she began in 2000. Duntroon’s school values are:

• co-operation and inclusion • courtesy

• respect • tolerance

• reliability • perseverance

• honesty • fairness

The teachers at Duntroon School worked hard to embed these values into the school culture and over time, these values have influenced daily behaviour in the classroom and playground. Awards are given out at school assemblies and in the classroom that recognise and promote behaviour based on these values.

Omarama SchoolWhen arriving at Omarama School everyone is struck by the beauty of the surroundings. Despite the isolation, students at Omarama do not miss out on educational opportunities. Barbara Moore, the principal says the school develops their values to meet the needs of their school. This year they have promoted respect and honesty as core values. The older children work with the younger children through working in house groups to develop ways to put these school values into practice. Plays and raps are developed by the children to promote the school values. The children then perform these plays and raps to parents at school assemblies.

Papakaio SchoolPapakaio School is very much a part of the local community. The school library and hall, which have been recently renovated, are used frequently by the community. Gary Shirley the principal of Papakaio School said the school has incorporated its values into the school vision. The included visual presentation of the school vision is a good way for the staff to check the relevance of any projects they might

embark on.

Does the project fit their Values of Respect for:

• oneself • others • environment

Does the project have the Wow factor?

• promote the well-being of their students?

• enable the students to take ownership?

• promote wonder amongst the students?

And then there are the 4 Ps? -Does it:

• meet the needs of their people?

• have a purpose?

• inspire passion?

• encourage students to meet their potential?

Waitaki Valley SchoolHelen Blick is the principal at Waitaki Valley School and has guided the development and building of the new school which was opened last year. The spaciousness of the classrooms as well as features such as the joining corridor which doubles as an extra work space reflects the advantages of the modern design of new schools. The acoustics of the school reflects the quietness of the children working.

As well as developing a new school, Helen has developed the school curriculum to meet the needs of the community. The school focuses on four main values:

• Respect • Integrity

• Innovation • Excellence

Respect relates to respect for yourself, others and property. The Bible in Schools programme supports developing respect. Integrity supports honesty and doing the right thing. Innovation related to the school’s mission statement “expanding horizons” and excellence is what all teachers hope for- students doing their very best. Helen sees all other values linking to these main values.

Values“Every school has a set of values. They are expressed in its philosophy, in the way it is organised, and in the interpersonal relationships at every level. Following discussion with their communities, many schools list their values in their charter.”

The New Zealand Curriculum identifies a number of values that have community support. These values are to be encouraged and

modelled, and they are to be explored by students. Schools need to consider how they can make the values an integral part of their curriculum and how they will monitor the effectiveness of the approach taken”. The New Zealand Curriculum.

The schools in the Waitaki Valley explain how they have implemented, encouraged and modelled values in their school communities.

Gary Shirley Bev Conlan Helen BlickBarbara Moore

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Ma–ori Focus

This year the Otago Early Childhood and Schools Mäori and Pacific Island Festival (Polyfest) at the Edgar Centre featured 1800 performers from 70 schools and child-care centres. The festival was founded in 1993 as a showcase for kapa haka and Pasifika cultural items by Dunedin primary schools. It is now a significant three-day festival, which celebrates the Mäori and Pacific Island communities through song, dance, speech and art.

Public Health South with the support of the Polyfest committee interviewed 20 visitors and asked them to become Health Champions and to share their views on what keeps them well and happy. These stories have been gifted to the Polyfest Committee and there are plans to develop Health Champion posters which will be displayed at the next Polyfest.

Here are some of the Health Champions from our Otago Schools

Girls just want to have Fun -Ariana, Autumn & Georgie (Balmacewen Intermediate School)

“We like living life to the fullest and the max doing sports and enjoying life. If we have a happy life we will live longer. Being with family – just being with them is important. Ariana comes from a big family so

there is always someone to hang out with and laugh with. For Autumn as a young Maori woman kapa haka is an important part of her life.”

Fabulous Friends -Samara, Jodie and Beki (Bayfield High School)

“Together we think that playing sport and keeping active is a part of being healthy. Maintaining positive friendships at school and outside school is also important. Then you have support from family and friends. We also think a healthy diet is important. “

Bringing Us TogetherKaiaia Elisara & Ioana Peni (Otago Girls’ High School)

“Health means a lot to us. Eating fruits and vegetables, drinking water, as well as limiting fatty foods like takeaways, helps us stay healthy. We always carry water bottles. Exercise is important too. We walk to school and go for runs after school. Healthy family relationships are important so we are able to talk about our problems. This is made easy when we trust each other enough to be open. Celebrating our culture is important too and for us regularly going to church brings our families together. “

Polyfest

Te Hautonga Captive’s Hokonui!

This year Gore High School hosted the Regional Te Hautonga Secondary Kapa Haka Competitions, attracting Kohanga reo, local primary schools, intermediate and high schools. This was the first time that Te Hautonga has ever been held in the Gore region. Te Hautonga is a biennial event which was hosted by Gore High School. The Gore Town and Country Club kindly sponsored the venue and it didn’t take long before the venue was over flowing with kuia, kaumatua, elderly, grandparents, parents, teachers, principals and competitors.

Kapa Haka is one of the many ways in which Southland and Otago rangatahi engage in disciplined choreography, combining hand eye co-ordination, exchanging leadership roles from kaea to kaea and balancing precision maurakau moves, not to mention the high levels of fitness that need to be acquired prior to the event. Mäori performing arts are a combination of physical, mental, spiritual, traditional and contemporary craft that are blended together with aroha, whakawhanaungatanga, ihi and wehi. This creates a 25 minute bracket that reflect political positions; what’s happening in Aotearoa and future concerns for rangatahi and their whänau, iwi, rohe and much more.

Students, kaiako and whänau spent endless hours preparing for a regional competition. This year’s winners were Te Wharekura O Arowhenua Invercargill, Waka Kotuia (Queen’s and King’s, Dunedin) and Tamariki O Nga Awa Ki Murihiku (South Otago, Gore, Catlins, Tapanui, Southland Girls High School). This year’s event hosted 800 plus people who gathered together to support our rangatahi. We were also blessed with performances from the following schools; Dunstan High School, Southland Boys’ and Girls’ High Schools, Aurora College, Otago Boys’ and Girls’ High Schools and Tokomairiro High School.

Te Hautonga Committee would like to thank Whaea Leoma and Matua Raniera for being our awesome MCs on the day, acknowledge our wonderful judges who travelled from as far away as Dunedin and Bluff, collation team members, Mäori Wardens, caterers, Matua Sonny and Whaea Georgina and the great work of Whaea Terri-Leigh and Mr Morrell for their dedication and support.

A massive thank you to Public Health South and Auahi Kore for sponsoring another successful event.

Näku Noa

Angela Mills-Gage

Te Hautonga

Ariana, Autumn and Georgie. Samaria, Jodie and Beki. Kaiaia and Ioana.

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Silverstream School

Portobello School

Brockville School Celebrates World Oral Health Day- September 12th 2011

Brockville School was a successful recipient of funding from the New Zealand Dental Association and the New Zealand Dental Health Foundation for a movie project for World Oral Health Day.

In collaboration with the Community Oral Health Service, Oral Health Promotion Advisors (OHPA’s), Kate Hall and Robyn Hammond, the project for the children was to make a movie to show to the whole school and the community covering all the key oral health messages.

Kate and Robyn visited the senior classes and gave them the information, in the form of a lesson, and provided some resources that could be used in the movie. The children then worked with Brian Filipo to produce an excellent movie that had a ‘premiere showing’ for a school and community assembly on World Oral Health Day. At this premiere event, all the children were given a cup of plain popcorn as a healthy snack while they watched the movie.

The movie was a real hit with all the children who seemed to learn and retain the key messages more readily when delivered by their peers in this format. During the rest of the week the OHPA’s visited each class and replayed the movie. They were really impressed at how much the children had learned. At the end of each class visit the children were given a new tooth brush and some fluoride toothpaste to use at home.

The following week the OHPA’s returned to the school to fit mouthguards for all children who play contact sports.

This was a very successful project that benefited all the children at the school who now have bright, shiny smiles that are well protected when playing sport!

Congratulations Brockville School- Well done!

Developing cooking skills and an interest in food.

Silverstream School through the Hauora Fund has been able to equip their school kitchen and provide some equipment for cooking to be a part of their classroom programme. On the morning of my visit the junior children had just made pikelets on a very efficient fry pan. The cooking room has been developed so that ten children – two groups of

five can cook at one time. The younger children begin by cooking small dishes and the older children cook meals. The special needs children have a buddy to assist them with their cooking. Once a week the kitchen doubles as a school canteen with foldout windows!

Whiti fitness ~ fitness trail development.

Students at Portobello School had reported to Awhina Atu (our student council) that their daily fitness runs were becoming boring. They noted that these runs were good for developing aerobic fitness but were not so good for building other fitness skills such as balance, dexterity, strength and stamina. Awhina Atu is now in the process of implementing a Hauora Challenge project to address this concern.

Using Kath Murdoch’s inquiry learning model, Awhina Atu students have been fully involved in the planning process. One student takes responsibility for regular reporting in Portobello Panui (our fortnightly student newsletter) about the progress of this project. Here is what Awhina Atu has managed to achieve so far.

Tuning inThe students created and conducted an on-line survey that was designed to gather base-line data about students’ attitudes to fitness and their current fitness levels.

Finding outStudents have visited other schools to find out about fitness trails.

A small group met with a company sales representative to find out about safe surface products.

Two students read the ‘Playground Safety Manual’ to find about health and safety requirements.

Other students were asked to submit suggestions about what they would like in a new fitness trail.

Meeting with Lynne Newell (Futureintech Facilitator) and Charlie Chai (Fisher and Paykel engineer) to find out about ground and equipment

stability, suitable materials, and building requirements.

Two students wrote to the Dunedin City Council to enquire about bylaws and local regulations.

We sought advice from our property advisor about drainage options.

Sorting outStudents have used ‘Google SketchUp 8’ to create draft plans.

Students are currently measuring distances between the site of each proposed structure because Charlie (our engineer) needs to be assured that the positioning will achieve our stated fitness and safety outcomes.

Students have contacted a parent to ask if he can assist with preparation of the ground before construction begins.

Awhina Atu anticipate having a final plan to submit to the Board of Trustees for approval by the end of Term 3.

What's been happening....

Brockville School

In term one Public Health South, through the Hauora Fund provided by Healthy Eating Healthy Action (HEHA) provided funding for health promotion projects. Here are how Portobello and Silverstream schools used this funding

Brockville School Oral Health Assembly

Kate Hall Oral Health Promotor

Portobello Children in a World Cup Assembly. Planning for the Fitness Trial.

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What's been happening.....

Ki-o-RahiPublic Health South has a partnership with the University Of Otago College Of Education, and as part of this relationship there are sometimes opportunities to advocate and promote hauora/ health. Whilst speaking to a group of second year students about Health Promoting Schools, Ki-o-Rahi was presented and showed how our traditional Mäori sport can be integrated throughout the curriculum and incorporate a holistic approach to well-being.

A lecturer from the Invercargill Campus – Pauline Smith indicated that Ki-o-Rahi would fit nicely with their Mäori component, hence a day and time was set and Ki-o-Rahi was taught to the students. Below is an article from one of the trainee teachers on how she and her class felt about playing Ki-o-Rahi.

Playing this game was totally awesome. None of us had played before, but we were able to have a quick demonstration and get into it. I thought it would be very hard to play something I’d never seen before and didn’t fully understand, but it wasn’t. It’s got elements of rugby, netball, basketball and ripper rugby in it and I can imagine students getting really involved. There was a bit of tackling and some pretty intense play.

We had a game inside which was good because later we played outside and the wonderful Southland wind blew the cones over!

I’m fairly sure we all had fun and I’d love to have another game at some stage. In fact, I have no idea who won, even though the score was being kept.

I like the fact that there are generic rules which can be added to and subtracted from as teams require. For example, teams are usually seven, we had nine, also we used a volleyball but you could use a smaller ball or hockey sticks.

A very cool game and one I would like to utilise when I’m in a school.

Julie Barney

…..at the Otago Secondary Schools Health Promotion Network-Rangatahi Röpü

At the final meetings of the Otago Secondary Schools Health Promotion Network-Rangatahi Röpü Penelope Scott from the Cancer Society and Richard Egan of the Social & Preventative Medicine University of Otago were asked to judge the best health promotion projects to receive the money donated by the Cancer Society and the University. The presentations were so good that Penelope and Richard decided to share the money between the secondary schools that presented.

All the student leaders were able to speak about the many health promotion initiatives in their school. They had been active in organising events, speaking at school assemblies, providing information for bulletin boards and highlighting health in their school community.

The projects the students this year had worked on varied from anti-bullying assemblies, breakfast clubs, cyber bullying, smokefree assemblies and mufti-days, establishing water fountains and promoting drinking water.

All Schools were Winners ……

Kaikorai Valley College Students.

Bayfield High School Students.

Queens High School Students.

Waitaki Girls High School Students.

Otago Girls High School.

Tokomairiro High School Students.

Kings High School Students.

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GREETINGS KIA ORA MALO LELEI TALOFA LAVA FAKAALOFA LAHI ATU KIA ORANA BULA VINAKA

Healthy Heart Award for Schools: Tohu Manawa Ora - Kura

Eating for success

Your local Health Promotion Coordinators are available to provide advice and resources to assist you in your work to improve heart health . Please contact Southland, 03 214 5444 or Camilla Gould in Otago, 03 477 3999 / camillag@heartfoundation.org.nz

www.heartfoundation.org.nz www.digivillage.org.nz

TIME TO CELEBRATE! It’s the last term of the year and we all know with that comes celebration! Celebrations are a great way for children to feel part of the school community, where the learning environment is made festive and where children, teachers and parents can come together to enjoy a break from the routine. Classroom celebrations don’t have to be a junk fest however, this is a great time to show children that healthy eating is an everyday, every occasion affair- and what a good time to promote healthy eating while everyone is having fun. No one feels like learning (or teaching) after a lunch of chips, biscuits, fizzy and lollies. With the incorporation of themes, colours and fun activities, class parties can be both healthy and fun!

Here are a few ideas to keep parties tasty and nutritious:

Pita pocket party - each child has to bring one ingredient to go in pita pockets- lettuce/cheese/carrot/hummus etc. Kids can help you make a list

and each child signs up for a different item.

Mexican themed lunch - the same as for the Pita pocket party but with tortillas or wraps!

Pizza party - kids bring toppings and make individual pizzas on muffin splits

Breakfast party - having a party like this can help show kids the variety of foods they can have for breakfast- fruit salad/smoothies/French toast

Non-packet party - this will encourage kids to get a bit creative as well

Healthy hangi - great way of getting some vegetables in at lunch time and learning about Maori culture

Colour party - with a emphasis on coloured fruits and veges (not food colouring!)

But it’s only a piece of cake!Childhood obesity is one of our nation’s leading threats. The results of the 2002 National Children’s Nutrition Survey (5-14 years of age) reported that 21% of New Zealand children were classified as overweight and 9.8% were obese. More children than ever before are developing conditions that you would normally see in adults, such as type-2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Constant exposure to low-nutrient foods makes it difficult for children to learn how to make healthy food choices. Once in awhile a piece of birthday cake can fit into a healthy diet.

However, if each student brings in cake for their birthday, eating cake becomes a regular occurrence. Keep cake a “sometimes” food by having all students with birthdays in the same month celebrate on one day. Try to limit parties with cake and other sugary or high fat foods to less than once per month.

HAPPY CELEBRATING And congratulations to Balfour School who achieved a Heart Start Award recently!

Other healthy party foods:

Fruit kebabs

Sandwiches

Bugs on a log

Pikelets

Popcorn/pretzels/scroggin

Mini fruit muffins

Fruit bread/crumpets/ fruit buns

Scones

Home made pizza

Vegetable sticks

Mouse traps

Sushi

Rice crackers and dip, salsa, hummus,

Corn fritters/ vege fritters

Muffin splits with beans, spaghetti, cheese

What about some party games as well?

Tug of War

Play “Mirror Image”

Freeze tag

Pass the “Hot Potato”

Simon Says

Keep the balloon in the air

Unravel the “human knot”

Hopscotch

Games using hula hoops

Limbo

Maramataka Health Promotion Calendar of Events 2011

November – December • Whirnga a Rangi – Hakihea

A JOINT PUBLIC HEALTH SOUTH TE WAKAHAUORA AND UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO COLLEGE OF EDUCATION PROJECT

Public Health South Health Promoting Schools TeamJoyce ManahiInvercargill92 Spey StreetPO Box 1601Invercargill 9840Ph (03) 211 0900Fax (03) 211 0899

Marie RoxburghAbove Noel LeemingRemarkables ParkPO Box 2180QueenstownPh (03) 450 9156Fax (03) 450 9169

Ann-Maree FoxWakari HospitalTaieri RoadWakariDunedin 9058Ph (03) 476 9800Fax (03) 476 9858

marie.roxburgh@southerndhb.govt.nz | joyce.manahi@southerndhb.govt.nz | ann-maree.fox@southerndhb.govt.nz

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Summer Sun SenseHow much sun is safe? Some sun exposure is essential for making Vitamin D which helps good bone development. Gentle sunlight is good for growing children and young people and can be achieved earlier in the morning and later in the afternoon from September until the end of March, and much of the day in the winter at lower altitudes. Individuals with darker skin need longer in the sun to make Vitamin D.

When do you need sun protection? Sun protection is recommended in Terms 4 and 1 when the Ultraviolet Index reaches 3 or above. The recommended time of day has recently been extended to especially between 10am and 4pm. It used to be 11am – 4pm. You cannot see or feel UVR (ultraviolet radiation) which causes sunburn. Infra red rays provide the heat you feel from the sun but do not cause sunburn. UVR can penetrate light cloud and can burn skin on overcast days. Sunburn causes damage which can lead to skin cancer, including melanoma, later in life. For more information about the UV Index please go to http://www.niwa.co.nz/our-services/online-services/uv-and-ozone/forecasts

Hats and clothing especially between 10am and 4pm The sunburn danger time is between 10 am and 4 pm in daylight saving months, although UVR can be intense for much of the day during summer.

What about sunscreen? For times of extended exposure to the sun e.g. sports days, picnics and schools trips, apply an SPF30+ broad spectrum sunscreen on areas of skin not covered by clothing. Sunscreen should be applied 15 minutes before going outside and reapplied every couple of hours. As with any products that are applied to the skin, the use of any sunscreen should stop immediately if any unusual reaction is seen.

We do not recommend that sunscreen is applied first thing in the morning as some sun exposure is needed for Vitamin D.

Which sunscreen is best? Use an SPF30+, broad spectrum sunscreen, without fragrance to help avoid skin irritations.

Useful websites www.cancernz.org.nz Reducing Your Risk -> Sunsmart -> Information sheets

Cancer Society Contacts: Otago ph 03 477 7447 Southland ph 03 218 4108 Central Otago ph 0278 225 825

November 1-30 5+ Aday National Fruit and Vegetables Month www.5aday.co.nz

November 1-30 Movember – Men’s Health Month www.cancernz.org.nz

November 1-7 Parkinson’s Awareness Month www.parkinsons.org.nz

November 4 Head Injury Appeal Day www.braininjury.org.nz

November 6 National Push Play Day www.sparc.org.nz

November 7-13 SPCA Paws Appeal Week www.rnzspca.org.nz

November 7-13 Food Safe Week www.foodsmart.govt.nz

November 14-20 Sunsmart Week www.sunsmart.org.nz

November 14 World Diabetes Day www.diabetes.org.nz

November 16-23 Diabetes NZ Awareness Week www.diabetes.org.nz

November 25 White Ribbon Day – Elimination of Violence Against Women www.whiteribbon.org.nz

December 1 Red Ribbon Day – Aids Foundation www.nzaf.org.nz

December 3 International Day of Disabled Persons www.enable.co.nz

December 5 World Volunteer Day www.worldvolunteerweb.org

December 10 World Human Rights Day www.hrc.co.nz

December 13/20 Term 4 ends