Young Carers

What is a Young carer

Young carers are children and young people, aged 5 – 24 years, who provide regular and ongoing care to a family member who has a long-term illness, disability, mental health issue or misuses substances. The family member may be a parent, sibling or grandparent living with them. 

At Bridgtown Primary School, we are committed to developing provision for young carers and their families so that they can attend school, enjoy their learning and fully participate in all areas of school life. We are committed to overcoming barriers to learning and help raise attendance and attainment of young carers.

A young carer is any young person who helps look after someone in their family – this may be due to illness, disability, mental health problems or an addiction. Statistics show that there are likely to be young carers in every school; one in ten young carers are under ten years old.

At Bridgtown Primary School, we will capture the commitment by widening our provision, building on the needs of the young people and better meet young carers’ needs by reviewing our school’s provision for young carers, with a view to ultimately achieving best practice.

• The whole school is committed to meeting the needs of young carers so that they can attend and enjoy school in the same way as other pupils/students and achieve their potential.
• The school only shares information with professionals and agencies on a need to know basis in order to support pupils and their families.
• The school uses Pupil Premium funding to minimise any barriers to education and learning experienced by eligible young carers.
• The school has an effective referral system and strong partnership in place with relevant external agencies, including the school nurse and the local young carers’ service.
• The school takes a proactive approach to identifying young carers.
• The school reduces barriers to education and learning and supports the wellbeing of young carers.
• The school understands the needs of families of young carers.
• The school will actively seek feedback and ideas from young carers and their families to shape and improve support. 

We will strive to achieve best practice for pupils and families in our school in order to provide them with the best chance of success in their future