Who is a Young Carer?
A young carer is a child/young adult under 25 years of age who looks after a member of the family who is ill, disabled or has a mental illness. This may mean they do shopping, cleaning, washing, or cooking; it may mean they give support or help emotionally too.
At Ysgol Penglais School, we believe that each student has the right to achieve their full potential but recognise that without support, this can be a harder process for some students. We believe that Young Carers should be recognised, nurtured and cherished for the support that they give to others. We currently hold that Silver Award from Investors in Carers in recognition of out support system for carers across the school.
What might a Young Carer’s role involve?
The tasks and level of caring undertaken can vary according to the nature of the needs of those that they care for, the level and frequency of need for care and the support systems in place for the family.
Young carers can undertake a variety of tasks to support others. This can include both practical or emotional caring responsibilities. Tasks undertaken can include:
- Practical tasks such as cooking, housework and shopping
- Physical care such as supporting someone with mobility issues
- Personal Care – supporting someone to dress, wash or help with toileting needs
- Emotional support such as listening and reassuring someone
- Managing the family budget, collecting prescriptions
- Medication management
- Helping someone to communicate
- Looking after siblings
How does Ysgol Penglais School support Young Carers?
- All of our staff are trained to identify children who may be young carers
- We run a dedicated Hub to support potential young carers
- We ensure our young carers know where support is available to them in the school
- We are linked with Action for Children who hold a drop in session in the school every month and they come in to school to run assemblies to raise awareness regarding young carers.
- We help our students understand the challenges and rewards faced by young carers through ‘Feel Good Friday’ drop in sessions
- We have daily drop in sessions at the Young Carer Hub to allow young carers to share any worries or concerns or to share their news with us.
- We have a Young Carers noticeboard which contains information and signposts further support
- We have learning mentors and counselling available as appropriate
- We have useful information and links on our website
Research suggests that there are at least 700,000 young carers in the UK but many do not realise they are young carers.
We know that young carers may need a little extra support to feel happy and progress well in school. At Ysgol Penglais School we are committed to ensuring that all of our young carers are identified and supported effectively. If you think that you are a Young Carer you can contact us on:
If you think your child might be a young carer, or could be affected by any of the issues we’ve highlighted, please contact Mrs K Shaw, ALNCo, who is the designated Young Carer link teacher on kks@penglais.org.uk or the relevant Year Leader, who will be able to help you.
Please click here to download our Young Carer Protocol Policy