Note for presenters Welcome to the Young Carers in Schools slidepack “Key information about young carers”. What is the purpose of this slidepack? This slidepack has been provided as a helpful tool that young carers services and local authorities may wish to share with schools when promoting the programme, to raise their awareness about young carers, and the impact that caring roles can have on a child/young person’s education and wellbeing., and contains some key national statistics. Local authorities and services may, of course, wish to use locally developed resources instead, or use this slidepack alongside locally developed resources. What does this slidepack contain? Key information about who young carers are, and how many young carers there are likely to be at every school Video in which young carers talk about their own experiences National statistics about the impacts caring can have on outcomes and wellbeing – presented in the form of an interactive quiz Reasons why so many young carers are hidden Please note that all photos used within this resource are © Carers Trust and are posed by models.

Young Carers in Schools Key information about young carers

A young carer is someone under 18 who helps look after someone in their family, or a friend, who is ill, disabled or misuses drugs or alcohol. Do you know how many pupils are likely to young carers at this school? © Carers Trust

As many as 2 pupils in every class could be a young carer! The 2011 Census identified 166, 363 young carers in England – one in 8 was under the age of ten. BUT many young carers are hidden. BBC research suggests as many as one in 12 secondary aged pupils are young carers.BBC research 35% of young carers said that nobody in their school was aware of their caring role.

Young carers often take on practical and/or emotional caring responsibilities that would normally be expected of an adult.

Caring can affect a young person’s: Physical health Emotional wellbeing Socialisation Stable environment

Evidence shows that being a young carer can impact on attendance, attainment, personal development and welfare. True or False? 20% of young carers miss school True! Between 13 % of primary school age & 27% secondary age miss school or experience educational difficulties. 40% where children miss care for a relative with a substance misuse problem (Dearden and Becker, 2004 ).

False! If left unsupported, young carers can continue to struggle with school and have significantly lower educational attainment at GCSE level – the difference between nine Cs and nine Ds (The Children’s Society, 2013). Young carers attainment at GCSE level is the equivalent of 3 grades lower than their peers?

Ofsted’s Common Inspection Framework includes young carers as a group of pupils inspectors will pay particular attention to. One in eight young carers are bullied at school because of their caring role? False! One in four young carers responding to a recent survey said they were bullied at school because of their caring role (Carers Trust, 2013).

So why are so many young carers hidden? Lots of reasons, including: Young carers do not realise that they are a carer They don’t want to be any different from their peers so they don’t draw attention to their caring role. They want to keep their identity at school separate from their caring role. It’s not the sort of thing they feel they can discuss with their friends. There has been no opportunity to share their story. They are worried about bullying. They worry that the family will be split up and that they will be taken into care. They want to keep caring a secret and/or are embarrassed. They see no reason to tell their story