Note for presenters This slide pack includes a quick fire activity designed to explore briefly what young carers do and the impact this can have on their education and wellbeing. ITE Providers may like to use the activity as a starter to a discrete session on young carers or as part of a wider session on vulnerable pupils. This activity can also be incorporated into Tool 2: Power Point presentation and speaking notes of this Toolkit For this activity, presenters will also need to use and share Tool 3: Gingerbread man template with participants. It is suggested that participants work in groups of 4 and are provided with two copies of the template per group.

Gingerbread man starter activity Explain that through a quick fire activity we are going to explore briefly what young carers do and the impact this has on their education and wellbeing. Start the activity by reminding participants of the definition of a young carer: Young carers are children under 18 who care unpaid for a family member or friend who is ill, disabled or has mental health or addiction problems. Young carers often take on caring responsibilities that you would normally expect an adult to do. This can include: practical tasks like cooking, cleaning and shopping Physical care – lifting or helping someone use the stairs Personal care like dressing or washing, Emotional support – listening and calming someone down. Young carers also may have to help manage the family budget, help someone to take their medicine on time, look after brother or sisters and help someone communicate.

Watch this video about young carers Identify three things young carers may do before and after school to look after the person they care for. Share these things with the person sat next to you. You have 2 minutes Share this video, Daniel, a day in the life of a young carer, with participants. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHQTSCgz5gs) After watching, ask them to consider 3 things that young carers may do before or after school to help look after the person they care for. Get trainees to share and discuss these 3 things with the person sat next to them. Ask 3 people to share what they discussed. There are some important points that should be covered when taking feedback: things with the person sat next to you. You have 3 minutes Take feedback by asking 2 people to share an activity each. Make sure your audience know: 1) The tasks and level of caring undertaken by young carers can vary according to the nature of the illness or disability, the level and frequency of need for care, and the structure of the family as a whole. 2) Young carers often take on practical and/or emotional caring responsibilities that would normally be expected of an adult. These can include: Practical tasks – cooking, housework and shopping. Physical care – lifting or helping someone use the stairs. Personal care – dressing, washing, helping with toileting needs. Emotional support – listening, calming, being present. Managing the family budget, collecting benefits and prescriptions. Medication management. Looking after younger siblings. Helping someone communicate.

Write these down in the space inside your gingerbread man. In your pairs, identify three impacts these caring activities may have on their life at home. Write these down in the space inside your gingerbread man. You have 3 minutes Give each group 3 minutes to identify impacts that the caring activities they had just discussed may have on their life at home. Each group should write as many impacts as they can down on their activity sheet in the space inside their gingerbread man.  

Caring can affect a young person’s: Physical health Emotional wellbeing Socialisation Stable environment Take feedback by asking each group to share 1 impact. Make sure you explain that: Caring can affect a young person’s: Physical health: Young carers are often severely affected by caring through the night, repeatedly lifting a heavy adult, poor diet and lack of sleep. Emotional wellbeing: Stress, tiredness and mental ill-health are common for young carers. Socialisation: Young carers often feel different or isolated from their peers and have limited opportunities for socialising. Stable environment: Young carers can experience traumatic life changes such as bereavement, family break-up, losing income and housing, or seeing the effects of an illness or addiction on the person they care for.

Write these down in the space outside your gingerbread man. In your pairs, identify three impacts these caring activities may have on their life at school. Write these down in the space outside your gingerbread man. You have 3 minutes Give each group 3 minutes to identify impacts that the caring activities they had just discussed may have on their ability to attend, make good progress and socialise at schools. Each group should write as many impacts as they can down on their activity sheet in the space outside their gingerbread man.   Take feedback by asking each group to share 1 impact.

Evidence shows there being a young carer can impact on attendance, attainment, personal development and welfare. Over ¼ miss school or experience difficulty Significantly lower educational attainment at GCSE level On average young carers miss or cut short 48 school days a year ¼ said they were bullied More likely to be NEET 42% say there was not a particular person at school who recognised them as a carer Explain that evidence demonstrates young carers are a vulnerable and disadvantaged group, who often experience difficulties in their education.  Without support, they can struggle to attend school and make good progress. Research shows that: Over of quarter (27%) of young carers (aged 11–15) miss school or experience educational difficulties (40% where children care for a relative with drug or alcohol problems) (Dearden, C, Becker, S, 2004). Young carers have significantly lower attainment at GCSE level – the difference between nine Cs and nine Ds (The Children’s Society, 2013). On average young carers miss or cut short 48 school days a year. (Sempik, J & Becker, S, 2013) A quarter of young carers said they were bullied at school because of their caring role (Sempik, J & Becker, S, 2013). Young carers are more likely than the national average not to be in education, employment or training (NEET) between 16 and 19. If these, 75% had been NEET at least once (compared with 25% of all young people) and 42% had been NEET for six months or more (compared with 10% of all young people) (The Children’s Society, 2013). 42% said there was not a particular person at school who recognised them as a carer and helped them (Sempik, J & Becker, S, 2013). If your audience are interested they can find out more about these statistics by looking at: Dearden, C and Becker, S (2004), Young Carers in the UK: The 2004 Report (Carers UK and The Children’s Society). Sempik, J and Becker, S (2013), Young Adult Carers at Schools: Experiences and Perceptions of Caring and Education (Carers Trust). The Children’s Society (2013), Hidden from View: The Experiences of Young Carers in England (The Children’s Society). The Princess Royal Trust for Carers (2010), Supporting Young Carers – A Schools Resource Survey (The Princess Royal Trust for Carers).

Many young people with a caring role take great pride in their role, they feel they are an integral part of the family and enjoy helping and supporting their family. It is vital for teachers and schools to acknowledge and promote a balanced view of caring to tackle stigma surrounding young carers. It is also important to share with participants that: There are also positive impacts of caring. Many young people with a caring role take great pride in their role, they feel they are an integral part of the family and enjoy helping and supporting their family. However, the sooner young carers are recognised the easier it is to prevent them from taking on inappropriate levels of care and support must be available to avoid these responsibilities putting the individual’s emotional, physical, or personal, development at risk. It is vital for teachers and schools to acknowledge and promote a balanced view of caring to tackle stigma surrounding young carers. This is one of the key reasons why young carers say they do not want to be identified.