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Welfare for students looking after others
There may be times that a pupil may be classed as a young carer, looking after another member of the family. At BSG we will work with health and social care professionals to ensure that young carers are appropriately supported in school.
If your daughter is a young carer and you are concerned that she is not coping well with her school work, please contact her form tutor or Head of House to see what other support may be available to her.
The NHS Choices website https://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/Pages/young-carers-rights.aspx has a helpful definition of a young carer:
A young carer is someone aged 18 or under who helps look after a relative who has a condition, such as a disability, illness, mental health condition, or a drug or alcohol problem.
Most young carers look after one of their parents or care for a brother or sister. Some children give a lot of physical help to a brother or sister who is disabled or ill.
Along with doing things to help your brother or sister, you may also be giving emotional support to both your sibling and your parents.
In addition to the NHS site, you may find the following websites helpful:
https://carers.org/what-we-do/introduction
http://www.barnardos.org.uk/what_we_do/our_work/young_carers.htm
Young Carers’ Rights
The law has changed for young carers, and from April 2015 a social worker from your local authority must visit to carry out a “young carers needs assessment” to decide what kind of help you and your family might need if you or your parents request this.
If the local authority has already carried out one of these assessments before, they must carry out another one if you or your parents feel that your needs or circumstances have changed.
A young carer’s needs assessment must decide whether it is appropriate for you to care for someone else – and this includes taking into account whether you want to be a carer. The local authority must also look at your education, training, leisure opportunities and your views about your future. When assessing a young carer they must always ask about your wishes and involve you, your parents and anyone else you or your parents want to be involved.”