Young Carers at St Joseph's

At St Joseph's we are committed to developing our provision for Young Carers and their families.

Who is a young carer?

Young carers are children and young people under 18 years old who provide regular and on-going care to another person who is physically or mentally ill, disabled or misuses substances.
 

You may be a young carer if you:
• care for a family member, because of illness, disability or old age
• help someone with bathing or dressing, going to the toilet or getting into/out of bed
• need to cook for your family
• look after money or organise the family budget
• help anyone to take medication regularly
• collect prescriptions or benefits on behalf of someone else or go shopping for the family
• look after brothers or sisters, by taking them to school, doing their laundry, or cooking their meals
• take care of housework, such as dusting, hoovering, washing or ironing
• speak on behalf of someone who has difficulty speaking or communicating for themselves
• translate or interpret for someone at home

The effects of being a young carer:

• You have responsibilities at home that prevent you from spending time with your friends, or inviting them around your house.

• You feel sad, angry, guilty or embarrassed about the help you give to anyone at home.

• You feel upset that friends don’t have the same responsibilities.

• You avoid telling anyone outside the family about your home situation

In SMILE lessons all children learn about the role of The Young Carer. The learning is introduced by a whole school assembly with a guest speaker from Essex Youth Service. The children find out how they can self-refer or how referrals can be made and who to talk to in school if they think they may be a young carer.

We celebrate Young Carer's Day in school and our young carer's have hosted an afternoon tea with other other children from a local school who share this role. 

We understand that early identification is vital so that support can be offered to help children feel safe, well, able to attend school and achieve their potential.

Please speak to Mrs Dixon, our Pastoral Lead, for further information.