With temperatures heating up across the ACT this summer, shade is a highly sought after commodity for students at Canberra schools.
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Luckily for students at Telopea Park School, seeking relief from the sun during warmer days has become easier, thanks to a recent grant from The Cancer Council.
The Barton school received a $5000 grant from the organisation as part of their Shade for Secondary Schools Program, going towards four large, portable gazebos.
The gazebos will be used during sporting carnivals as well as community events at the school.
Executive teacher Ben Yuen said while the school previously had shade gazebos, the ones received as part of the grant are more effective.
“The school used to have a number of smaller ones, which would take extra man hours to set up,” Mr Yuen said.
“It’ll take less time to set up and they cover more space.”
Telopea Park initially applied for a large permanent shade structure as part of the grant program, but were unsuccessful.
However, Mr Yuen said there was enough funding left over for the school to get the gazebos.
“When we received that news, we asked if they can be done in house colours so they could be used for sports carnivals,” he said.
The gazebos got their first use last week during the school’s annual swimming carnival.
“They're especially useful on days like [those], where the UV index was quite high, and Australia is one of the leading nations when it comes to skin cancer,” Mr Yuen said.
“It’s important to promote whatever measures we can to promote sun safety.”
The other ACT school that received a grant as part of The Cancer Council’s program was Amaroo school.
The two Canberra high schools were among 18 schools across the country that received grants.
The 2016 program saw $250,000 in grants given to those schools.
Andrew Brown
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
I've been part of the Canberra Times since 2016, after reporting at local papers in Sydney's north-west. Since starting at the paper I've had stints on the Sunday Times, on the early morning breaking news round, and now as a general reporter, covering the ins and outs of anything and everything happening in Canberra, with a focus on health.
