Toolkit

Supporting Young Carers in Schools: A Toolkit for Initial Teacher Education Providers

Resource title: Supporting Young Carers in Schools: A Toolkit for Initial Teacher Education Providers
Published: 2017    Author: Carers Trust

This toolkit provides essential tools, templates and guidance for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers who already include young carers as a key topic within their training programmes and ITE providers who are developing their training content regarding young carers.

Key points

  • Highlights the multiple reasons why it is essential to include young carers in ITE.
  • Sets out essential information that all providers need to know about young carers.
  • Provides a comprehensive package of teaching materials, tools and templates to aid this work.

As many as one in 12 pupils in England could be a young carer.

These children often care for relatives without their teacher’s knowledge, slipping through the net, undetected by support services. Research shows they experience unique challenges and demands that impact on their capacity to attend, enjoy and achieve at school.

It is vital that ITE providers give trainee teachers the knowledge, skills and strategies they need to support young carers. Doing so will help ensure trainee teachers meet the underlying principle of the Teachers’ Standards (Department for Education, 2013) to be able to meet the needs of all the pupils they teach.

This toolkit provides essential tools, templates and guidance for:

  • ITE providers who already include young carers as a key topic within their training programmes – enabling you to use the latest research findings, policy developments, and innovative practice to maximise the knowledge, capacity and impact of the trainee teachers you support.
  • ITE providers who are developing their training content regarding young carers – making it easier than ever for you to develop and deliver effective training to maximise the abilities of the trainee teachers at your institution.

This toolkit is part of the Young Carers in Schools programme. Run jointly by Carers Trust and The Children’s Society, YCiS is a free initiative making it easy for schools to support young carers.

Tools to accompany the Toolkit for Initial Teacher Education Providers

You will find all the tools in the Downloads column on the right of this page except for Tool 9 where you can follow the link below.

  • Tool 1 Key ways to refer to needs of young carers.
  • Tool 2 PowerPoint presentation.
  • Tool 3 Gingerbread man slide pack.
  • Tool 4 One in 12 activity.
  • Tool 5 Additional ideas for activities and lessons.
  • Tool 6 Young carer case studies.
  • Tool 7 Young carer key statistics.
  • Tool 8 Checklist of potential signs a pupil is a young carer.
  • Tool 9 Carers Trust Know Your Rights Guide.
  • Tool 10 Young Carers in Schools promotional leaflet
  • Tool 11 Case study of a school involved in Young Carers in Schools.
  • Tool 12 Infographic.
  • Tool 13 Placement school review checklist.
  • Tool 14 Lesson plan template.