This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Education Safeguarding Professional, Jatinder Matharu, on behalf of NHS Frimley for the attention of all professionals.
A carer is a person who looks after the physically and mentally ill members of their families. Many young people fill the roles of carers in their families, which adversely affects their own lives and prospects. The theme for 2023 Young Carers Action Day is Make Time for Young Carers and resources can be downloaded here: YCAD 2023 - Resources | Carers Trust
Schools have an important role to play in the lives of young carers, by supporting them and helping remove the barriers to educational and social attainment as well as assuring their wellbeing. Schools can do this by ensuring that the young carer is plugged into a local support group and by providing a confidential route for them to get help. Schools should also provide a safe and trusted environment where young carers can socialise with other children, communicate with peers, access support, and have fun.
- Young carers have significantly lower educational attainment at GCSE level – the difference between nine Cs and nine Ds (The Children’s Society, 2013).
- 42% of young carers or adult carers ‘always’ or ‘usually’ feel stressed (Carers Trust, 2022).
- 27% of young carers say that they struggle to balance caring with school or college work (Carers Trust, 2022).
- 52% said they do ‘not often’ or ‘never’ get help from school or college to balance their work (Carers Trust, 2022).
- 34% of young carers say their school or college ‘always’ or ‘usually’ understand about them being a young carer – this means around two-thirds of young carers are spending their days in environments where they don’t feel fully understood (Carers Trust, 2022).
- 40% said they ‘never’ or do ‘not often’ have someone at school to talk to about being a young carer or young adult carer (Carers Trust, 2022).
How can I help KS2 children learn about Young Carers Action Day?
Resource to help explain to KS2 children what the role of a young carer is, what they do and think about the challenges young carers face can be found here: Young Carers Assembly PowerPoint - Pastoral - Primary Resources - Twinkl
To get a local young carers assessment please contact: Slough Young Carers