Young carers in schools, colleges and universities
Life at school or college provides challenges for all young people, but for those with a caring role at home there are often additional difficulties with their education. Commonly there are issues with attendance, concentration, behaviour, achievement and home-school communication.
Teachers, lecturers and other education professionals can help by identifying, supporting and referring young carers to us, where they will be supported by our young carers team.
Now I’m at uni I’m heading into my third year studying costume design and making, which is very fun! And I’m really, really glad that I was a part of Young Carers because if it wasn’t for them, no way would I be at university now. More than likely I would be homeless or would have been homeless 100% at one point. And I would definitely be struggling a lot more with mental health and wellbeing issues.
In schools
On average, there are at least two young carers in every class. They often face challenges because of their caring role, meaning they can fall behind with work, suffer bullying and fail to meet their potential.
In addition to our direct support for young carers, our staff can also work with schools to help them identify and support young carers, so they can achieve the best possible outcomes.
The support we receive from ACS Young Carers is second to none. Not only do our students benefit from their compassion, understanding and expertise but also their family members.
We can help by:
- giving information and advice on the identification and support of young carers
- providing training to school staff in our regular sessions – more here
- liaising with Home School Link Workers and SENCOs
- assisting with establishing in-school support
- providing resources to deliver assemblies
- advising on setting up clubs for young carers
- giving consultations and briefings in INSET days and staff meetings
- providing 1-1 sessions on caring related issues
- assisting the school to work towards the Angel Award
Please get in touch, and we’d be delighted to provide you with our resources, and support.
Free, programmes, tools and materials
Angel Award
The Young Carers Angel Award is an accreditation scheme for Surrey schools, that shows your commitment to young carers, and on-going care and support. Find out more here.
Reception areas digital screen displays
We have (single slide) PDFs for use reception display screens. There are different versions for primary, secondary, sixth form/colleges. If you need in a different format or size, please just get in touch via email at [email protected]
Primary School
Secondary school / college
Assembly resources
We have adapted the national ‘Young Carers’ Poem’ into an animation, which schools are welcome to share with their pupils. It explains young carers lives and needs, and shows what support can help.
The original poem was written and created by Sheffield Young Carers. Please get in touch to find out more.
Tools and policies
We have a draft young carer policy for schools which you can adapt for your school.
We’ve worked with a number of other young carer groups from across England, to produce guidance on identifying and supporting young carers in school: Young carers identification guide – a tool for education staff
In colleges and universities: young adult carers
Colleges will have many young people juggling the dual roles of student and carer. Many carers don’t confide in their tutors about their caring role for fear of discrimination or of being viewed as different.
We have a team working solely with this group (aged 16-25), offering information and support, including in their education. We also offer some many events for this age group, which can be found on our Events listings.
If you know a young adult carer, please let them know about our support – or refer them to us: refer a carer.
