Young carers: Guidance for education staff

There are roughly 1200 young or young adult carers in South Tyneside.

All young carers have the right to a young carer assessment. 

Your support can help young carers make the most of their education.

Resources

The information can be downloaded as a PDF.

You can direct young carers to information for young carers..

You can also download a poster that explains how you can help young carers.

A young or young adult carer is anybody under the age of 25 who provides care to someone.

The person they are caring for could be a parent, sibling, grandparent or other family member who:

• is disabled
• has a chronic illness
• has a mental health problem
• has a substance misuse problem
• has a condition that they need care, support or supervision for

Types of care

This care might involve helping somebody with:

• getting dressed and washed
• housework, shopping and other everyday tasks
• collecting and giving medication
• communicating with others
• emotional support

Some young carers may have a young carers card.

Some young carers may not tell anybody that they have caring responsibilities.

You might have pupils who are:

• absent from lessons
• struggling to take part in after curricular activities or trips
• late with homework or coursework
• tired or distracted
• concerned about keeping their phone on them or staying in touch with a family member

If you recognise these signs in any of your pupils, they may be a young carer.

School, college or university can sometimes be one of the few places a young carer is away from their caring responsibilities.

You should try to understand that they might:

• find it difficult to:
  • arrive on time
  • stay late without earlier warning
  • finish homework or coursework on time
• need to carry a mobile phone to keep in contact with the person they care for
• need to leave early to collect their siblings from school
• prefer to speak to a staff member that they trust

They might need these adjustments every day, or they may only need them in times of crisis.

You could display a poster that tells young carers how they can get help or direct them to the information for young carers..

You could also refer them to the South Tyneside Young Carers service.

Sign up to the commitments to young carers

Your school or training provider can sign up to the commitments to young carers.

The commitments will help you to support young carers so that they aren't negatively affected by the impact of their caring responsibilities.