Whole school approach to young carers in schools
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. |