Young Carers

Here at Richard Wakefield Academy we believe that all children and young people have the right to a Primary education regardless of their home circumstances. We acknowledge that there are likely to be young carers among our pupils and that being a young carer can have an adverse effect on a young person’s education. We have developed our practice to identify how we support pupils who help to look after someone at home and are committed to supporting young carers’ emotional, educational and personal development.

Our Young Carers team:

Jl.jpg

Mrs J Lowe

Young Carers’ Senior

Leadership Team Lead

Em

Mrs E Mulligan

Young Carers’ School

Operational Lead

 

 Young carers

Are you a Young Carer?

A Young Carer is someone under the age of 18 who has caring responsibilities for a family member at home.

They may have:

  • A serious or long-term illness
  • A physical disability
  • A mental health problem
  • Problems with drugs or alcohol
  • A learning disability
  • Difficulties in coping with being a parent or carer

 

As a Young Carer some of your responsibilities at home might be:

  • Emotional care – being compliant, monitoring the emotional state of the person cared for, listening, consoling
  • Domestic care – undertaking housework, cooking, shopping, cleaning, laundry etc
  • Nursing care – giving medication, injections, changing dressings, assisting with mobility etc
  • Personal intimate care – washing, dressing, feeding and helping with toilet requirements
  • Financial care – running the household, bill paying, benefit collection etc
  • Child care – taking responsibility for younger siblings in addition to their other caring responsibilities

Young Carers might experience barriers in learning such as:

  • Being late or absent because of responsibilities at home
  • Concentration problems, anxiety or worry in school
  • Emotional distress
  • Tiredness in school
  • Lack of time for homework
  • Poor attainment
  • Becoming angry or frustrated
  • Isolation-feeling no-one understands
  • Bullying
  • Low self-esteem

 

Therefore, at Richard Wakefield we understand that Young Carer can be dealing with a lot at home and that it is important for us to:

  • Acknowledge and respect the young person’s caring role
  • Provide young carers with social and emotional support
  • Engage with external agencies in facilitating family support
  • Follow child protection procedures regarding any young carer at risk of harm
  • Promote discussion and awareness
  • Make appropriate staff aware of the additional responsibilities that could affect their school life.
  • Seek feedback from pupils and families to shape and improve the support we provide
  • Use Pupil Premium funding to minimise any barriers to education and learning experienced by young carers

 

Young Carers Policy

More information can be found here on our de Ferrers Trust website:

https://deferrers.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/key_information/Young-carers-policy-2.pdf?t=1677507743

 

Further information on Young Carers

Ycarers

https://www.n-compass.org.uk/our-services/carers/staffordshire-together-for-carers-service

 

Yarers2

https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/our-work/supporting-young-carers