At Valley Gardens, we aim to offer a nurturing environment for every member of our school community to achieve their full potential and enjoy the experience. As part of this, we are committed to identifying the needs of Young Carers and supporting Young Carers’ access to a full education, working in partnership with their families.
A Young Carer is defined as someone who is under 18 years of age and provides regular and ongoing care to a family member who is physically or mentally ill, disabled, or misuses substances. They will take on additional responsibilities to those appropriate to their age and development. Young carers may be primary carers, such as caring for a parent, or a secondary carer, such as helping to care for a sibling.
A Young Carer may undertake some or all of the following:
- Practical tasks
- Physical care
- Personal and intimate care
- Emotional support
- Household management
- Looking after siblings
- Interpretation
- Administering medication
We offer lots of terms of support for Young Carers such as:
- A Young Carer peer support/drop in group
- A dedicated Young Carer Google Classroom for information sharing and for those Young Carer’s who prefer not to participate in groups to have the opportunity to talk to one another
- Applying for Ease Card holders to have their card upgraded to the Young Carer Scheme, or applying for a first Ease Card under the Young Carer Scheme. The card allows pupils to access junior activities at any North Tyneside leisure facility for free until their 25th birthday. In addition to this, pupils can take a buddy to accompany them at their activities free of charge.
- Support with homework and extra-curricular activities if required.
- Targeted intervention to support achievement where necessary.
- Supporting future career aspirations by signposting/supporting applications to the “Choices Together” Programme (Years 7 and above). The link to the Choices Together programme below gives more information.
A safe place to support mental health and well-being sessions on a drop in basis.
If you would like to talk to someone at Valley Gardens about your child being a Young Carer, please contact our designated Young Carers Champion, Mrs Miller, via the school office or email [email protected]
You can find more information about support for Young Carers in North Tyneside through the web links provided below.
Useful links
https://www.
https://
https://www.nerap.ac.uk/
https://carers.org/what-we-do/
