Supporting Young Carers in Schools: A Step-by-step Guide for Leaders, Teachers and Non-teaching Staff Wales Edition

Designed with teachers and schools staff,  the Young Carers in Schools Step-by-step Guide for Leaders, Teachers and Non-teaching Staff, helps make the identification and support of young carers in schools in primary and secondary schools in Wales as easy as possible. The Guide and tools are available in English and Welsh.

Key points

• Set out in ten clear steps, the tools accompanying the guide are available for you to download and adapt to suit your school and purpose. Each step contains a range of tools including templates, proformas and exemplars.
• Not all schools will need to use all the tools included here. Some may find it more helpful to choose those that help enhance the support they already offer to young carers and their families while others will want to simply start to build their activities over a number of years. See related links for the Welsh versions.

The tools

Step 1 - Gaining an understanding about young carers

• Key information only. See the Young Carers in Schools Step-by-step Guide for Leaders, Teachers and Non-teaching Staff.

Step 2 - Reviewing your school's provision for young carers

• Tool 1: Baseline review
• Tool 2: A proforma for making recommendations to school leaders
• Tool 3: How to gather young carers' views about your school's provision
• Tool 4: Checklist for gathering attendance, attainment and progress data - primary schools
• Tool 5: Checklist for gathering attendance, attainment and progress data - secondary schools
• Tool 6: Survey to assess levels of school staff understanding and confidence in meeting young carers' needs

Step 3 - Securing commitment from school leaders

• Tool 1: Young Carers Senior Leadership Team Lead duties checklist
• Tool 2: Exemplar introductory letter to governors about young carers
• Tool 3: Role and responsibilities of a governing body
• Tool 4: Checklist to support governing bodies evaluating the effectiveness of their schools provision for young carers and their families
• Tool 5: Targeting Pupil Development Grant funding (if eligible) to support young carers

Step 4 - Introducing a Young Carers School Operational Lead

• Tool 1: Young Carers School Operational Lead duties checklist

Step 5 - Acknowledging young carers in principle school documents

• Tool 1: Recommended points to include in a whole school commitment
• Tool 2: Young carers school policy checklist
• Tool 3: Checklist of other principle documents which should reference young carers

Step 6 - Setting up systems to identify, assess and support young carers

• Tool 1: Checklist of support young carers may need
• Tool 2: Running a peer support group for young carers
• Tool 3: Exemplar handout for pupils to complete and post into a message box
• Tool 4: How to run a young carers forum
• Tool 5: Working with school nurses to support young carers and their families
• Tool 6: Working in partnership with young carers services
• Tool 7: Checklist for effective partnership working between schools and young carers services
• Tool 8: Exemplar working together agreement for use with young carers services
• Tool 9: Supporting young carers to participate post 16
• Tool 10: Supporting young carers to transition into adulthood
• Tool 11: Checklist of support that families of young carers may need

Step 7 - Raising awareness of school staff about young carers

• Tool 1: Checklist of signs a pupil is a young carer
• Tool 2: Exemplar staff noticeboard material
• Tool 3: How can school staff support young carers
• Tool 4: Staff training facilitator's guide
• Tool 5: Powerpoint for use in staff training
• Tool 6: Handouts for use in staff training
• Tool 7: Staff training evaluation forms

Step 8 - Raising awareness of pupils and families about young carers

• Tool 1: Exemplar noticeboard material for primary schools
• Tool 2: Exemplar noticeboard material for secondary schools
• Tool 3: Suggested assembly/tutor group activities
• Tool 4: Suggested lesson activities
• Tool 4: Suggested lesson activities Tool 4a: Suggested lesson activities continued
• Tool 5: Exemplar letter to parent)s)/guardian(s)
• Tool 6: Exemplar school newsletter article

Step 9 - Identifying, assessing and supporting young carers and their families

• Tool 1: Exemplar information sharing consent form
• Tool 2: The Multidimensional Assessment of Caring Activities (MACA)
• Tool 3: The Positive and Negatives Outcomes of Caring (PANOC)
• Tool 4: Well-being questionnaire
• Tool 5: Staff observational checklist

Step 10 - Sharing good pratice with others

• Tool 1: Sharing good practice - case study examples

Welsh language edition

Download the Welsh language edition of A Step-by-step Guide for Leaders, Teachers and Non-teaching Staff Wales Edition.