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Young Carers
Welcome to the St Peters CofE Academy Young Carer page/section
What is a Young Carer
A young carer is a young person who cares, unpaid, for a person who has any type of physical or mental illness, physical and/or mental disability or misuses substances such as alcohol or drugs. The age of a young carer varies between 5 and 18 years
Young carers may find it more difficult to develop friendships outside school, as they may not find it easy to invite other children home or visit friends in their homes. As a result of financial pressure or caring responsibilities, they may also have restricted access to out of school clubs and activities that other children take for granted.
Young carers may need to carry out tasks for which they are physically ill equipped, which in turn may impact on their overall health. In addition to this, long term caring responsibilities can impact significantly on the mental health of young people. Both aspects can affect school attendance.
Caring responsibilities can impact on young people’s education in a number of ways.
Lateness- young carers may find it more difficult to be on time for school as a result of caring duties within the home or as a result of overtiredness causing them to oversleep.
Tiredness- many young carers will have interrupted sleep patterns or be over-tired as a result of having to complete household tasks.
Non-attendance- some carers may miss school because they are worried about the person they are caring for, or because they are carrying out caring tasks that prevent them attending at school.
Late/no submission of homework and assignments- young carers may find it more difficult to find time to complete school assignments and may not have support at home with more difficult assignments.
What we provide
A supportive environment for young carers with a whole school approach to the identification of their needs and to meeting the individual support needs of young people with caring responsibilities.
A named member of staff with responsibility for ensuring that carers are identified and their needs met and to link with the Young Carers Project (Miss Downing).
Contacts for support for young carers e.g. putting them in touch with the local Young Carers Service. We can also put families in touch with and signpost to other support services.
We respect families’ rights to privacy and will only share information about students and their family with people who need to know and who help.
Support for parents with mobility and/ or access issues to facilitate and maintain regular contact
with the school. We will also provide home visits if required.
Support for young people in maintaining telephone access to their families during the school day. Students can use the phone in the main office to contact home if they need to.
Personalised support and advice via Form Tutors and HOY to ensure all students have
opportunities and access to high quality education. We will offer students time to catch up on missed lessons or to go through or complete homework in school hours so as not to impact on their caring responsibilities.
Provide a confidential reporting system for carers to report concerns or ask for support.
Many young people in this situation don’t even realise that they are a Young Carer and that what they are doing is very special. Young Carers have rights too and deserve help and support to enable them to cope with their caring role.
If you are aged 5-18 and helping to look after a relative who has a long-term illness, disability, mental health condition, or substance misuse problem… Then you are a YOUNG CARER!
At St Peters C of E Academy we pride ourselves in creating a safe and nurturing environment for all our students. We also recognise Young Carers may need additional support and we want to be there for you.
Please contact us either by email ldowning”spa.woodard.co.uk or via our on line TEAMS form below
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Many young carers don’t even realise that they are a carer and so don’t know to
reach out for help and support. In fact, 39% of young carers said that nobody in
their school or College was even aware of their caring role.
North Staffs Carers
Young Carers: Who are They and Why do They Need Support? - Action for Children
A young carer is someone 18 years old or under who helps look after a relative with a disability, illness, mental health condition, or drug or alcohol problem. This could be a parent or a sibling. Some children begin giving care from a very young age, and others become carers overnight. Caring for someone can be very isolating, worrying, and stressful. For young carers, this can negatively impact their experience in education. Over a quarter of young carers aged 11-15 regularly miss school. This can have a lasting effect on their life chances. Action for Children have written an excellent article on this vital issue. If interested, please click on the link below:
https://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/blog/young-carers-who-are-they-and-how-are-they-impacted/
Useful contacts
https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/information/young-people/young-carers/local-service-finder
https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/information/young-people/young-carers
https://carers.org/young-carers-alliance/young-carers-alliance
https://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/our-work-and-impact/children-and-families/young-carers/
