We are delighted that you are interested in supporting Young Carers at your school or college

Young Carers are children and young people aged under 18 who care for a family member who is physically or mentally ill,​ frail,​ elderly, disabled,​ or misuses alcohol or substances. ​

We have designed this webpage to help signpost you to the various resources available, and also to give you an overview of how our EyPIC project at Enfield Carers Centre can support Young Carers at your school.

Young Carers and Young Adult Carers need to be identified at an early stage so they are supported in trying to balance studying with their caring role. This is  just one of many issues they may face.

Carers Trust’s latest Young Carer and Young Adult Carer Survey found:

  • 40% of Young Carers  and Young Adult Carers don’t get the help they need to balance caring with their studies
  • As a result, one in three Young Carers and Young Adult Carers struggle to balance caring responsibilities with education
  • More  than one in four , do not have a staff member in their school, college or university (a Young Carers Lead) to whom they can turn when they are struggling with their caring role.

“There is no empathy or understanding towards Young Carers. I still get detention if I cannot finish my homework on time because my brother has had a seizure. They are really harsh when things go wrong.”

Take on the Young Carers Challenge.

The Young Carers Challenge is a really important step forward that will enable schools across England to continue to improve the ways in which they recognise Young Carers and give them the support they need to balance their school work with their caring responsibilities at home. It has been developed by leading charities, Carers Trust and The Children’s Society. 

Taking the Young Carers Challenge is easy and requires schools to take five simple steps to improve recognition of, and support for, Young Carers in schools.  the challenge will help schools to ensure that  Young Carers’ attendance and attainment is not being negatively impacted by their caring responsibilities.

In addition, Carers Trust have updated a wide range of resources  about supporting Young Carers ,which are freely available to schools via the Young Carers in Schools website.

Please click here to find out more about the Young Carers Challenge, to sign up for the Challenge and to receive regular updates, dates for webinars and other essential information.

The Late Crew for Schools

Rab Ferguson, is the author of The Late Crew, a story about Young Carers meeting aliens.

He has produced a video which he introduces with:

“I wrote The Late Crew because I wanted to create a series of children’s books where young carers could see themselves as the heroes. And not in a boring serious story – but in a SILLY and FUNNY adventure story, with sci-fi, and robots, and aliens!

Because young carers help look after family members (for example with disabilities, learning difficulties, long-term illnesses, mental health issues or addiction issues) they do so much, and deserve fun escapism – and deserve to see themselves in it.

And as other children read the books, they can learn a little bit more about what it means to be a young carer and understand their peers with these responsibilities a little more – some might even realise for the first time that they are a carer themselves.”

Watch the video to see Rab Ferguson explain his series of books for Young Carers – The Late Crew.

Supporting Young Carers in Schools

The Children’s Society and Carers Trust have released a guide on the YCiS website to make it as easy as possible for teachers and school staff to identify and support Young Carers. The guide was released ahead of January 2023, when schools were asked to include young carers in the school census.

In June 2024, the initial 2024 School Census results were released, including the prevalence of young carers for the first time.

Carers Trust has produced an insights briefing outlining the findings, which can be found on the Young Carers page on the Carers Trust website: https://carers.org/campaigning-for-change/young-carers-and-the-school-census

Supporting Young Carers at Your School or College

How to identify Young Carers in schools and colleges:

They may be a Young Carer if:

  • The pupil is often late or absent
  •  They are siblings of children with special educational needs or disabilities
  • The pupil is isolated, finds it hard to make friends and is being bullied or ostracised
  • The pupil often misses deadlines and seems unable to keep up with coursework etc
  • The pupil seems overly tired and distracted in class, lack of concentration  etc..
  • The pupil is unkempt, dirty uniform etc..
  • Parents are absent from parents evenings etc or do not engage or reply to contact with school

What can a school / college do to support Young Carers?

    • Have a specific email address that Young Carers can use if they are struggling to cope.
    • Have a named contact in the school the Young Carers can go to
    • Be aware if there is  illness, disability, mental ill health or has a history of substance misuse in the family
    •  Be aware if the parents often miss appointments with school/other professionals?
    • Have awareness raising assemblies or PSHE lessons through your local Carers Service
    • Incorporate Young Carer awareness into your school induction process for all new staff
    • Ask your local Carers Service to deliver staff training to all staff
    • Have posters and leaflets around the school encouraging Young Carers to come forward
    • Ask your local carers service to hold information stands in the playground

Please see our one-page guide to supporting Young Carers in Enfield (‘EyPIC How Schools Can Help’) – which you may want to email to your colleagues or put on a noticeboard at your school, college, or organisation.

Please also see this guide created by multiple organisations on top tips for identifying and supporting Young Carers in education. (Top tips)

The Children’s Commissioner’s website also includes helpful resources on supporting young carers – about halfway down this webpage:

https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/back-into-school/resources-for-schools/

Support from the EyPIC Young Carers Project for Young Carers

Please see this leaflet for an overview of our service. (EyPIC Services Leaflet)

To make a referral, please complete our ‘EyPIC Registration and Referral Form’.

The same form can be used by either professionals making a referral, or parents/guardians who would like to register their own children.

We have attached the EyPIC Registration and Referral Form as both a  PDF and an MS-Word document (download and remember to enable editing).

Support from the EyPIC Young Carers Project for Schools and Colleges

We can offer schools/colleges:

  • A Young Carers Awareness Assembly
  • Training to staff and governors on Young Carers (face-to-face or online)
  • A stall in the playground or hall after school
  • A session at a coffee morning or group for parents
  • Intensive support identifying Young Carers at your school for a half-term period with an allocated support worker
  • Information and guidance on identifying Young Carers

We are always happy to discuss potential referrals or raising awareness of Young Carers, so please contact us on 020 8366 3677 or youngcarers@enfieldcarers.org if you have any queries.

Carers Trust published these statistics which give an indication of the issues.

Carers Trust published this information about the results of Young carers and the school census