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Whole school approach to young carers in schools

Introduction

Click on the links to access information, guidance and resources that can be applied to a whole-school approach, including an audit tool and an action plan.

Very brief ideas

Try these 'quick wins' before thinking about anything else to get you started and see the difference you could make:

Review

Audit tool

Use the whole-school approach audit tool (Word doc) [921KB] to identify areas of good practice and identify areas for improvement.

The action plan will provide you with guidance and resources (Word doc) [943KB] for every area to ensure you achieve a measurable impact.

If you need any bespoke support and guidance, we are happy to help and can be contacted at inclusionandsend@norfolk.gov.uk.

How can we promote a more inclusive school ethos and environment?

Schools and settings play a vital role in supporting young carers' wellbeing and reducing barriers to their educational attainment. Achieving the Carer Friendly Tick Award for your school or setting means that you can embed a whole school / setting approach to supporting young carers.

A whole school / setting approach to young carers can:

  • Reduce stigma
    • Create a positive environment where all children and young people (CYP), including young carers and their families feel comfortable, safe and valued and where differences are celebrated and stigma is reduced.
    • Take opportunities for awareness raising among staff and other CYP of the issues that young carers may face. Awareness raising sessions can be booked through Caring Together (see Staff CPD section below) and you can find some top tips in Step 7 and Step 8 of the Carers Trust Young Carers in Schools guide.
    • Display positive images and information about disability, illness and young carers in the environment.
    • Celebrate young carers for the fantastic care they provide. Whether they're cooking, cleaning, shopping for food or administering medication, they are often a lifeline to loved ones at home and this should be recognised! In 2020, Carers Matter 'Heroes at Home' campaign recognised the fantastic work being done by young carers across Norfolk and some of the display resources linked to this campaign could still be utilised.

    Top tip!

    Increasing conversations around topics such as mental health, addiction and disability, alongside providing support in school for young carers will increase the chances of young carers coming forward for support.

  • Increase identification and self-identification
    • Support young carers and their families to feel safe to identify their situation and provide a discrete way in which they can do this.
    • Ensure staff are provided with the information they need to identify young carers. The sooner young carers are recognised, the easier it is to prevent them from taking on inappropriate levels of care and education staff can play a key role in this identification process.
    • Create a culture and ethos where CYP feel they can share worries with adults.
    • You can find best practice on how to take a proactive approach to identifying young carers on page 5 of the Young carers school policy checklist.

    Top tip!

    Awareness-raising activities with CYP can also help increase self-identification and identification of young carers by their friends.

  • Address needs in a holistic way
    • Consult and listen to young carers, ensuring they have time and space to talk.
    • Assign a member of staff as your 'Young Carers Champion' who leads and champions provision for young carers:
      • Some schools and settings have more than one champion, just in case of absence and to help ensure support is still available as the number of young carers identified inevitably increases. Some schools and settings have an operational champion and a senior leader champion - one providing the main support to the young carers, and the other ensuring that systems and processes are in place, and that data is being reviewed at a senior level.
      • If your champion is not in a position to make strategic decisions, then they need to have a way to escalate things to your senior leadership team (SLT).
      • Ensure young carers know how and when they can contact their champion.

      Young Carers Challenge

      Caring Together, Norfolk County Council and Young Carers Matter Norfolk, with the support of organisations across the county, have set a challenge to make sure every young carer in Norfolk has someone they can talk to in school and knows what support is available to help them.

    • Plan appropriate support for young carers and their families.
    • Embed support for young carers into existing systems - monitoring and tracking their attendance, attainment and wellbeing in the same way as other vulnerable CYP groups.
    • Keeping Children Safe in Education statutory guidance states that "all school and college staff should be alert to the potential need of early help for a child who ... is a young carer". Additionally, the guidance states that schools should be "alert to the specific needs of children in need, those with special education needs and disabilities (SEND), those with relevant health conditions and young carers".

Achieving the Carer Friendly Tick Award for your school or setting means that you can embed a whole school / setting approach to recognising, championing and supporting young carers with the aim of reducing stigma, increasing identification and addressing needs in a holistic way. If you would like to find out more, go to the Caring Together Charity website or contact Caring Together at carerfriendlytick@caringtogether.org.

What do leaders and school governors need to know?

Leaders and governors should be aware that many children and young people (CYP) attending their school will have caring responsibilities and will likely experience particular challenges in their education. As a result, these CYP will have specific needs which must be supported.

Many schools appoint a member of the Governing body as the young carers 'lead'.

Leaders and governors should:

  • Foster an inclusive environment where young carers and their families feel comfortable and safe to tell staff about their caring role and can access support.
  • Make sure there is a young carers policy, setting out what support is available to young carers in their school / setting. This policy should be designed with young carers and regularly reviewed.
  • Ensure that the school / setting has a young carers champion and that this person is given the necessary time to do the role.
  • Ensure through CPD that all staff know how to identify young carers and what action they can take within their everyday practice to support those CYP with caring responsibilities.
  • Set up appropriate protocols for sharing information between staff so that young carers only have to tell their story once.
  • Ensure appropriate timetabling of staff training and curriculum planning.
  • Provide regular updates on key data relating to young carers (e.g. attendance and attainment), alongside other groups of potentially vulnerable CYP.
  • Be aware of young carers' rights.
    • Young Carers' rights are outlined in the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Care Act 2014. Carers Trust's Know Your Rights Guide is a free guide that explains the rights that young carers have.
    • The Norfolk Carers' Charter has been produced by carers and councillors and outlines key principles and pledges towards carers, including young carers in education.

Please see guidance on the Young Carers in Schools website which outlines how to secure commitment from leadership teams and governing bodies and includes resources such as a template letter to governors, a responsibilities checklist and good practice guides on how to use Pupil Premium funding.

The Norfolk Governance Network (NGN) provides guidance and further signposting.

Policy considerations

Young carers must be acknowledged across key policies and documents. Key actions include:

  • Develop a young carers policy which specifies in detail how you will identify and address young carers' needs. This can either take the form of a new policy developed specifically for young carers, or the revision of an existing policy to include young carers, such as your inclusion policy.

    Top tip!

    Start by asking the child or young person (CYP) what challenges they face at school as a young carer, or what would make balancing school and their caring role easier and write this into policy!

  • Revise existing policy and documents to acknowledge and reflect young carers' needs explicitly:
    • Accessibility policy:
      • Demonstrate an understanding of the needs of families of young carers by ensuring the school is accessible and welcoming to parents with disabilities and/or illness, offering additional support to enable them to attend parent's evenings or other events.
      • Offer support to remove any communication barriers with families so they can fully engage with the education of their child.
      • Consider how best to support those families who find it difficult to escort younger children to their school or setting.
    • Anti-bullying policy:
      • Identify young carers as a group who may be more likely to experience bullying so that staff are aware and can offer support if they see a situation occurring.
      • Specify the actions that the school is taking to develop and maintain a positive ethos where young carers and their families are respected and valued.
      • The Anti-Bullying Alliance provides free online CPD and guidance on protecting young carers from bullying.
    • Attendance policy:
      • Acknowledge the impact that caring may have on attendance and the supportive actions that may be taken in these cases.
    • Behaviour / relationships policy:
      • Acknowledge that the responsibilities that a young carer has may impact on their feelings and therefore the behaviours they display at school.
      • If behaviours that challenge or harm occur, ensure needs, feelings and experiences linked to young carers' roles and responsibilities are considered when planning how to support.
    • Mobile phone policy:
      • Be flexible, where appropriate, for example allowing young carers to call home during breaks and lunchtimes so as to reduce any worry they may have about a family member.
  • Consider how you will build CYP voice into the development and review process of your policies!

Links to relevant guidance and legislation

The Department for Education offers this legislation that has relevance to young carers:

You should reflect on existing legislation, including but not limited to:

You also need to consider this guidance from the DfE:

How do we collect CYP voice and empower them to lead activities?

The child and young person (CYP) voice should be at the heart of everything we do and inform any decisions we make around how we support young carers.

Here are some questions you may want to use to collect CYP voice:

  • Do you feel you get the information and support you need from school as a young carer?
  • What is the school doing well to raise awareness in the school about young carers?
  • What would you like the school to do to raise awareness in a better way?
  • What is the school doing well to support young carers?
  • What would you like the school to do to support young carers better?

Remember:

Some CYP may not be able to verbalise their thoughts and feelings because of their age, stage, or additional needs. If this is a barrier to finding out how they feel, then other approaches can be used e.g. visuals/feelings faces/scaling charts/choice boards etc.

Utilising the information gained from young carers can help to improve provision and support to better meet the needs of your young carers. It is also a vital way of showing young carers that their wishes, feelings and views are valued and listened to.

Young Carers National Voice produced some guidance from young carers about what helps young carers at school.

Carers Trust share guidance on how to collect young carer's views about provision in Step 2 (tool 3).

It may feel difficult to start a conversation with a CYP about whether they are a young carer or about the challenges they are facing. This may be compounded by certain barriers to CYP accepting support such as worries about perceived stigma. Please see guidance from NSPCC about having difficult conversations with children.

Carers Trust have collected the stories of many young carers (and adult carers). If you have a young carer who would like to share their story, you can share it with them via web@carers.org.

What support can we signpost CYP to?

Please see signposting links for children and young people (CYP):

  • Young Carers Matter Norfolk offers support to young carers and their families.
  • Young Carers Support App provides online advice for young carers from Carers Matter Norfolk
  • Kooth provides anonymous and personalised emotional and mental health support for children and young people aged between 11 and 24.
  • Sense runs an online project focused on connecting siblings and young carers to develop meaningful friendships, providing opportunities to try new and fun activities, giving CYP respite from caring responsibilities and supporting their wellbeing.
  • The Matthew Project: Unity Service is a specialist drugs and alcohol service for CYP and their families.

If you need guidance about how to support an individual CYP who has just been identified as a young carer, then please see step by step guidance in this padlet.

What support can we signpost families to?

Ensure families have easily accessible information about the support available to them and their children and that this is communicated in several ways e.g. young carers noticeboard, school website, intranet, student planners.

Remember:

If you are facing difficulties with working with a family, speak to your pastoral or inclusion team. They may know the family well and have some helpful ideas!

Ensure you are actively engaging with young carers and their families to shape and improve provision for young carers. Informal events such as coffee mornings can be a great way of helping young carers and their families to build support networks and meet other families who have had similar experiences.

Note: If a family has English as an additional language (EAL), ensure you are aware of cultural differences and norms and use independent interpreters e.g. Language Line to support effective communication at least initially until strong relationships have been developed. Ensure the young carer is not used as an interpreter in discussions with family.

Please also refer to the Young Carers in Schools checklist of support for further examples of the support that families may value and benefit from.

What quick curriculum activities can we include?

Schools have a statutory duty to deliver Relationships, Sex and Health Education. There are many areas which relate directly to young carers' experiences as well as areas which all children and young people (CYP) should be aware of.

Teaching about families requires sensitive and well-judged teaching based on knowledge of CYP and their circumstances. Care needs to be taken to ensure that there is no stigmatisation of CYP based on their home circumstances and needs, to reflect sensitively that some CYP may have a different structure of support around them.

Have a look at our 'Dos and Don'ts' for teachers! (PDF) [142KB]

Primary school

By the end of primary school, students should know:

  • Relationships education:
    • That others' families, either in school or in the wider world, sometimes look different from their family, but that they should respect those differences and know that other children's families are also characterised by love and care.
    • How to recognise if family relationships are making them feel unhappy or unsafe, and how to seek help or advice from others if needed.
    • About different types of bullying (including cyberbullying), the impact of bullying, responsibilities of bystanders (primarily reporting bullying to an adult) and how to get help.
    • What a stereotype is, and how stereotypes can be unfair, negative or destructive.
    • How to ask for advice or help for themselves or others, and to keep trying until they are heard.
  • Health education:
    • Isolation and loneliness can affect children and that it is very important for children to discuss their feelings with an adult and seek support.
    • That bullying (including cyberbullying) has a negative and often lasting impact on mental wellbeing.
    • Where and how to seek support (including recognising the triggers for seeking support), including whom in school they should speak to if they are worried about their own or someone else's mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions (including issues arising online).
    • How to make a clear and efficient call to emergency services if necessary.

High quality resources - Primary

  • Caring Together has produced an animated film for CYP aged 4-8. This has been designed to raise awareness of young carers and can be used in assemblies or circle time. It is supported by a resource pack for schools (EYSF and Key Stage 1) to help CYP understand who young carers are and to encourage them to be more open about talking to someone if they have worries.
  • Carers Matter Norfolk provides a video for young 8-18 year olds, written by young carers themselves, entitled 'We Are Young Carers'.

Secondary school

By the end of secondary school, students should know:

  • Relationships and sex education:
    • How to determine whether other children, adults or sources of information are trustworthy, judge when a family, friend, intimate or other relationship is unsafe (and to recognise this in others' relationships), how to seek help or advice, including reporting concerns about others, if needed.
    • How stereotypes, in particular stereotypes based on sex, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability, can cause damage (for example, how they might normalise non-consensual behaviour or encourage prejudice).
    • About different types of bullying (including cyberbullying), the impact of bullying, responsibilities of bystanders to report bullying and how and where to get help.
  • Health education:
    • How to talk about their emotions accurately and sensitively, using appropriate vocabulary.
    • That happiness is linked to being connected to others.
    • How to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns.
    • Life-saving skills, including how to administer CPR (after aged 12).

High quality resources - Secondary

Teaching resources which show disability, ill-health and caring should be part of the environment and can be used in awareness raising assemblies.

Consider signing up to Young Carers Alliance to access up to date resources and information. Contact youngcarersalliance@carers.org to join the mailing list.

How can we support staff awareness, confidence and skills?

To be able to support children and young people (CYP) effectively, we as staff must feel confident in our knowledge and skills. Please see links to training and CPD below:

We must ensure that the needs of young carers are considered across all other relevant training e.g. anti-bullying and content is contextualised as necessary.

Safeguarding

All staff must receive up to date safeguarding training and be aware of how this links to their role in supporting young carers.

'Children should not undertake inappropriate or excessive caring roles that may have an impact on their development. A young carer becomes vulnerable when their caring role risks impacting upon their emotional or physical well-being and their prospects in education and life.' (Care and Support Statutory Guidance. Issued under the Care Act. DH 2014. Paragraph 2.50).

It is important to recognise that the reasons that CYP undertake inappropriate levels of care may be complex, and resolving them may require a multi-agency approach. The following list identifies some roles which may be considered inappropriate or excessive duties depending on the individual family situation and should be considered in terms of the impact on the CYP's emotional or physical wellbeing:

  • Intimate personal care
  • Strenuous physical activity such as lifting
  • Administering medication
  • Financial responsibility
  • Emotional support to the adult

If there are circumstances identified in which a young carer is suffering, or is likely to be suffering, harm through emotional abuse and / or neglect then a referral must be made following the appropriate safeguarding procedures immediately.

See further guidance in Keeping children safe in education.

What do I need to record and report?

The information we hold in schools can provide valuable insights and help us to refine provision and support for young carers. The attendance, attainment, progress and wellbeing of young carers should be monitored in the same ways as other vulnerable groups through effective use of pupil management systems.

January school census return

Since spring 2023, young carers are included on the January school census return. This provides a much better picture of the number of young carers in Norfolk schools.

Schools are able to record the information using the following codes:

  • N - Not declared
  • P - Identified as a young carer by parent or guardian
  • S - Identified as a young carer by school

In order for the school census return to provide an accurate representation of the number of young carers in schools, schools need to have systems and processes in place to: raise awareness of young carers with all staff and CYP, flag who the young carers in your school are and ensure that young carers who are identified are linked into available support, both within school and externally.

  • Ensure you have a flag on your pupil management system for young carers which is used consistently to raise awareness of young carers and to aid the monitoring of attendance, attainment and progress.
  • Use this flag to review attendance and attainment for young carers alongside other vulnerable groups. See guidance from Carers Trust's how-to guide, Step 2 - Tool 4.

Top tip!

Consider adding a question to your enrolment paperwork which asks if there is a parent(s), siblings or family members who have disabilities or other long-term physical or mental health conditions. Make clear why you're asking for the information.

Reflection point:

  • What are your key take-aways?
  • What will you do differently in your setting?
  • What impact do you hope this will have?

FAQs

Where can I sign up to the Carer Friendly Tick Award?

Caring Together can help you to create a whole-school or setting approach to identifying and supporting young carers through their Carer Friendly Tick Award programme.

How can we support young carers through transitions between year groups, schools and settings?

Young carers may need additional support during transitions as this can be an even more difficult time with the addition of a caring role. It is vital that they are supported to ensure a smooth transition and that relevant support is continued in their next setting.

Ensure you have reviewed your arrangements for transitions support to ensure they meet the needs of young carers, consider:

  • Have your young carers been able to visit their next setting? What adaptations may be needed e.g. additional visit dates?
  • Have you explained how the next setting will be - what might be the same as this year and what might be different?
  • Do they know what support is available at their next setting? Introduce young carers to the young carers champion in the new setting in the summer term and make sure they know how to access them. They can explain what support the school can offer the young carer and where to find them in school.
  • Does the new setting know what support you have provided? Ensure once you have consent that the secondary school knows who all the identified young carers are, their caring circumstances and what support they currently receive. Consider the wishes of the young carer and their family when informing the new setting of their caring role - what information would they like to be shared? How?
  • Offer to organise a visit for the young carers and parents/guardians to the secondary school in order to meet with the young carer lead/year head/pastoral lead to discuss family circumstances and give the young carer the opportunity to explain what it is like for them. (The young carer could have this information written down as they may find it difficult to talk about their caring role). Also if the family need to explain any special arrangements that are needed, for example in order to access parents' evening, etc.
  • In September arrange a meeting between the young carer champion and the young carers to remind them about who they are and where to find them if they are worried or need support

Caring Together have produced a Transition Booklet for year 6s.

Carers Trust provides practical tips, guidance and case studies to help staff in further education college settings and higher education to establish and embed support for young carers and young adult carers.

Are there any important dates we should be aware of?

Follow the Carers Trust website for more information about upcoming awareness raising dates!

What other information is out there?