Young people with caring responsibilities and/or impacted by substance misuse in the family are a very hidden group and often experience many negative impacts on their education, health and development as a result of their caring responsibilities / family situation.
We coordinate two free education networks for settings that are keen to develop their identification and support for young carers and young people affected by familial substance misuse.
A Young Carers Schools Network (YCSN) for schools.
A Young Carers Post-16 Network for colleges and sixth forms.
Other services who work directly with children and young people are also welcome to join either network.
We hold termly meetings for each network. The meetings are a chance to share local and national developments and best practice, and also include interactive training for school staff to gain skills in delivering awareness-raising and support activities for pupils in their schools.
Meetings alternate between face to face and online. The days of meetings vary but they are usually 2 hours long, from 9.30-11.30am.
Alongside the meetings, being in the network gives you access to the members area of our website, which contains a wide range of resources and information, such as template assemblies, lesson plans, and identification tools. Our Education Development Worker, Shuna, is also available to answer ad-hoc queries and offer support.
The schools, colleges and services that are involved find the network really useful and their involvement has led to a vast increase in the number of young people identified whose family situation was previously unknown to the school, with targeted interventions leading to significant improvements in attendance and attainment.
What we ask of you: All we ask of you in return: to have a dedicated Young Carer Lead post with support from a member of the SLT; to complete our free e-learning module ‘Young Carers: Identifying and supporting young people with caring responsibilities in Sheffield’; and to make a whole-setting commitment to increasing your identification and support for young carers through the creation of a Young Carer Policy.
We hold online introduction sessions, termly or half-termly (depending on demand), for new Young Carer Leads to go through your role as a Young Carer Lead and what steps you can take to identify and support young carers in your setting and externally, and we can provide you with support for every step of your journey.
We can also support schools to achieve their own nationally-recognised ‘Young Carers in Schools’ Award which allows schools to gain recognition from leading charities for their good practice and ability to meet the needs of young carers. Using a comprehensive and accessible framework for developing a whole-school approach to identifying and supporting young carers, schools can access an online toolkit. The Award consists of two levels – an Award and Award Plus.
If you are a Sheffield Children’s University (CU) school, find out how to offer young carers in your school CU credits for their learning through caring here.
If you have any questions about any of this, please contact our Education Development Worker Shuna Beckett.
For more information about our network, view our ‘Join our Education Network’ leaflet, and to get access to free resources and training, meetings and updates, join our schools network by signing up below.