Young Carers at Botwell House Catholic Primary School
At Botwell House -Catholic Primary school, we are committed to developing provision for Young Carers and their families, so that they can attend school, enjoy their learning and fully participate in all areas of school life. We are committed to overcoming barriers to learning and to help raise attendance and attainment of Young Carers.
In addition to this, we are also passionate that our Young Carers have the opportunity to find their own community within the school amongst their peers.
The school’s designated champions for young carers are Mrs Howard and Mrs Vass, who can be contacted via the school office.
Definition
A young carer is a child or young person who is helping to look after someone. Many young carers are of primary school age. We acknowledge that most are caring for a family member, but some may be taking responsibility for a sibling, often with special educational needs. In many instances, a young carer may care for more than one family member. Some young carers provide care for friends who live outside of the family home.
The person they look after or is prevalent in their family may have one or more of the following:
a) physical disability (including sensory disability)
b) learning disability
c) mental health difficulties
d) chronic illness
e) substance misuse problem.
Caring Tasks
A young carer will take on additional responsibilities to those appropriate to their age and development. A young carer might be providing the main care or share responsibilities with another family member. The caring tasks that a young carer has to deal with can include:
a) nursing care – giving medication, injections, changing dressings, assisting with mobility
b) personal intimate care – washing, dressing, feeding and helping with toilet requirements
c) emotional care – being compliant, monitoring the emotional state of the person cared for, listening, being a shoulder to cry on, supporting a parent through depression and trying to cheer them up
d) domestic care – doing a substantial amount of housework, cooking, shopping, cleaning, laundry
e) financial care – running the household, bill paying, benefit collection
f) child care – taking responsibility for younger siblings in addition to their other caring responsibilities.
g) missing out on opportunities due to the special needs of a family member
Statement of Intent
Research indicates that 10% of pupils in the UK are young carers, whether they are aware of this or not. This means that in the average classroom, three pupils will be young carers.
We believe that it is our duty at Botwell House Catholic Primary School to:
• Identify young carers
• Support young carers to access education, including enrichment activities
• Minimise the disadvantages that young carers face
• Have due regard to the impact of young carers’ responsibilities when considering the application of sanctions upon them
• Work with external agencies to help identify the needs of individuals who have caring responsibilities with the aim of increasing the support available to them and to their families.
Provide our Young Carers with weekly opportunities to meet with other young carers within the school so as to form a community
Potential effect on education
Botwell House Catholic Primary School acknowledges that there are young carers among its pupils, and that being a young carer can present the individual with additional challenges regarding:
a) getting to school on time and achieving good attendance
b) concentrating in lessons
c) managing anxiety, emotional distress and low self-esteem
d) getting sufficient rest at home
e) managing time for homework and extra-curricular activities
f) physical problems such as back pain from lifting
g) false signs of maturity, because of assuming adult roles
h) socialising with their peers due to additional responsibilities at home.
The Role of the Designated Champions
The designated champions for young carers will:
- liaise with relevant colleagues, and other relevant agencies regarding their caring responsibilities, with the consent of the young carer and their families. All pupils will be made aware of the designated professionals.
• work to identify young carers through activities such as, but not limited to:
- using transfer information e.g. from primary schools
- holding assemblies to raise awareness with pupils and staff
- working with the PSHE lead to ensure the curriculum in that subject helps to raise awareness
- Including a ‘flagging’ statement in the admission form
- Spreading awareness via the school website, coffee mornings and notice boards
Spreading Awareness
We believe that in order to achieve best practice, we must make a commitment to raising awareness of the young carer community within our school as well as upskilling all staff in the identification of young carers and approaches used within their support.
We will achieve this by:
• ensuring that in line with the Children’s Commissioner’s recommendations, the school’s records will include young carers and that they are identified as a vulnerable group within CPOMS and SIMS
• providing staff training annually and on a ‘drip-feed’ basis, about young carers as well as the responsibility upon all staff to ensure that they are fully supported
• ensuring that all relevant members of staff know the young carers in their classrooms, do all they reasonably can to identify the barriers they face and put in place any reasonable adjustments that they might require
• meeting with year leaders regularly during pupil progress meetings to discuss young carers’ attendance, behaviour, safety, progress and personal development and how any relevant barriers might be removed
• Providing a space and time for young carers to spend with their community across the school
• actively promoting the participation of young carers in enrichment activities that might promote their personal development
• working with relevant external agencies to ensure that the needs of individual young carers and their families are known
At Botwell House Catholic Primary school our Young Carers champions are Mrs Howard and Mrs Vass. If you think your child may be a young carer, please contact them via the school office to discuss any help or support we can offer our young carers and their families.
Young carer services | Carers Trust Hillingdon
Young Carers | Mental Health Advice | Young Minds