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Young Carers - Information for Parents and Carers

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Young Carers - Information for Parents and Carers

What is a Young Carer?

At Boswells we are very fortunate to work closely with Essex Young Carers, a service that provides valuable support to many of our families.

A young carer is a child or young person under the age of 18 who helps care for a family member who has a physical illness, mental health condition, disability, long-term health need, or difficulties with substance misuse. Many young people do not recognise themselves as young carers and may be unaware of the support available to them.

Young carers make an important contribution to their families and often take on responsibilities beyond those expected of children and young people their age.

What might a young carer do?

Young carers may provide support in a variety of ways, including:

Practical support, such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, and helping to manage household tasks.
Personal care, including assisting someone with dressing, bathing, mobility, or taking medication.
Emotional support, such as listening, providing reassurance, or helping a family member who may be experiencing mental health difficulties, including anxiety or depression.
Childcare responsibilities, including caring for younger siblings, helping with homework, preparing meals, taking them to and from school, or looking after them while parents attend appointments or receive treatment.
Communication and advocacy, such as accompanying family members to appointments, translating information, collecting prescriptions, managing correspondence, or helping with household finances and budgeting.

Some young carers have significant caring responsibilities, while others may undertake only a small amount of caring but are still affected by the circumstances at home. They may worry about a family member's wellbeing or need to take on additional responsibilities compared with their peers.

The Impact of Being a Young Carer

While many young carers develop valuable skills such as independence, empathy, resilience, and maturity, balancing caring responsibilities with school life can be challenging.

Young carers may:

Have less time to spend with friends or take part in hobbies and activities.
Feel isolated because they believe others do not understand their situation.
Experience feelings of stress, anxiety, sadness, guilt, frustration, or embarrassment.
Find it difficult to complete homework or keep up with schoolwork.
Worry about the health and wellbeing of family members.
Struggle to prioritise their own physical and emotional wellbeing.

It is important that young carers know they are not alone and that support is available.

How We Support Young Carers at Boswells

At Boswells, we are committed to ensuring that young carers receive the support they need to thrive both academically and personally.

Support available in school may include:

Emotional wellbeing and pastoral support
Academic mentoring and guidance
Access to counselling services
Assistance with applications for colleges, universities, apprenticeships, and employment
Liaison with subject teachers to ensure appropriate support is in place
Referral to external services where additional support may be beneficial

Many of these support systems are already available within school, and further personalised support can be accessed through a referral to Essex Young Carers.

Letting Us Know

It is very helpful for the school to know if a student has caring responsibilities so that we can ensure appropriate support is available.

If your child is a young carer and you would like us to be aware of this, please contact our Young Carers Champions:

Mrs Thorne
Assistant Headteacher
atn@boswells-school.com

Mrs Hepworth
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead and Pastoral Manager
ahh@boswells-school.com

Together, we aim to raise awareness among students, staff, and parents, helping to identify young carers and ensure they receive the support they deserve.

Useful Information and Support

Young Carers – Information for Parents

We are very lucky to work with Essex Young Carers who support many of our families. Young carers are children and young people under 18 years old who provide regular and on-going care to another person who is physically or mentally ill, disabled or misuses substances. Many young people don’t see themselves as carers and may not realise there is practical and emotional support available in Essex

Young carers provide a wide range of care including:

Practical care (e.g. washing, cooking, cleaning for the whole family)

Personal care (e.g. bathing, dressing)

Emotional support (e.g. listening, being present)

Childcare (e.g. caring for younger siblings, taking younger siblings to school)

Communication (e.g. translating at medical appointments, paying bills/dealing with finances)

• look after money or organise the family budget

• help anyone to take medication regularly

• collect prescriptions or benefits on behalf of someone else or go shopping for the family

• look after brothers or sisters, by taking them to school, doing their laundry, or cooking their meals.

Children can be young carers for lots of different reasons:

They might be providing physical support to a parent with a physical illness such as fibromyalgia or ME, such as cooking, fetching things or helping with things like putting shoes on or doing the shopping

They might be helping a parent with a disability who needs help with more personal tasks such as getting dressed, bathing or changing dressings

Or it could be more emotional support – like being there if their autistic sibling is upset, taking responsibility for young siblings whilst parents attend health appointments, or checking that a parent with depression/anxiety is ok.

Some young carers might be doing lots of caring, others just a small amount but are impacted by the situation at home for example by worrying about the person with the health condition, or needing to do more things for themselves compared to other students. Young carers provide valuable help and support to their families, and we are proud of them and the care they provide.

The effects of being a young carer:

Young carers have responsibilities at home that prevent them from spending time with their friends, or inviting them to their home. They can feel sad, angry, guilty or embarrassed about the situation they find themselves in. They can feel upset that friends don’t have the same responsibilities. They might avoid telling anyone outside the family about the home Situation.

However, it can be a difficult role to manage and young carers might encounter a range of difficulties such as completing homework, feeling isolated from other children their age because they feel others don’t understand their lives, having a lack of time for play, sport or leisure activities, or struggling to manage their own physical or mental health.

We want to ensure that our young carers are supported in the best way possible and our first steps are to raise awareness with staff, students and parents so that more young carers can be identified and directed towards appropriate support where necessary. Much of this support is already available in school and further, personalised support can be accessed by referring students in need to the Essex Young Carers Service (part of Essex County Council). We can provide the following types of support that students can opt into:

1. emotional and social well-being support

2. academic mentoring

3. counselling services

5. supporting applications to universities, apprenticeships or jobs

6. liaison with subject teachers to provide subject support.

It is useful for the school to be aware if a student is a Young Carer, so we can offer appropriate support. If your child is a Young Carer and you would like the school to know this, please contact our Young Carers Champions, Mrs Thorne (assistant Head) atn@boswells ans Mrs Hepworth (DDSL & pUpee school pastoral manger). Ahh@boswells-schol.com. Whose first steps are to raise awareness with staff, students and parents so that more Young Carers can be identified and directed towards appropriate support where necessary. Much of this support is available in school. Further, personalised support can be accessed by referring students to the Essex Young Carers Service (part of Essex County Council – See links below)

Some useful links:

Additional links:

Young Carers (essex.gov.uk)

Young Carers – Young Carers in Schools

Homepage - Carers Trust

Young Carers Support App - Expert Self Care

carers-trust-know-your-rights-support-for-young-carers.pdf (childrenscommissioner.gov.uk

https://www.expertselfcare.com/health-apps/young-carers-support-app/

NHS

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/support-and-benefits-for-carers/help-for-young-carers/

Youth Essex

https://youth.essex.gov.uk/young-people/young-carers/