The Children’s Society
c/o Whitecross Studios
50 Banner Street
London
EC1Y 8ST
Supporting Young Carers in Schools
Step 5
Acknowledging Young Carers in Principal School Documents
Resource title: Supporting young Carers in School
Published: 2022 Author: Carers Trust
The Young Carers in Schools programme supports schools to adopt a whole school approach to identifying and supporting young carers (see Step 1: Gaining an understanding about young carers).
All schools should have a whole school commitment for young carers and their families in place that:
This commitment should be clear, engaging and succinct so that it can be:
When proactively communicated in these ways, it will:
The specific information that schools will need to capture in the commitment will depend on the extent of the school’s wider provision for young carers. See Step 5, Tool 1: Recommended points to include in a whole school commitment.
To meet young carers’ needs more effectively, schools should also have a policy in place that specifies in greater detail how the school 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 the school inclusion policy.
Developing a school policy, in addition to a whole school commitment to young carers, will provide greater clarity about:
The specific information that schools will need to capture in the commitment will depend on the extent of the school’s wider provision for young carers. Step 5, Tool 2: Young carers school policy checklist, sets out the points that should be covered in school policy.
To ensure a consistent approach to meeting the needs of this vulnerable pupil group across the whole school, you should also ensure young carers’ needs are reflected in a broader range of existing school policies and documents. (See Step 5, Tool 3: Checklist of other principal documents which should reference young carers.)
The Children’s Society
c/o Whitecross Studios
50 Banner Street
London
EC1Y 8ST
© 2022 Young Carers in Schools