At St Julian’s we are aware that some of our pupils are young carers. 

A young carer is someone under 18 who is caring, unpaid, for a family member, or friend, who is mentally or physically unwell, frail, disabled or who misuses substances.
They often take on practical and/or emotional caring responsibilities that would normally be expected of an adult. 

Research suggests there are at least 800,000 young carers in the UK, but many do not realise they are a young carer. This means there could be 6 young carers in a class of 30.

We all have a responsibility for ensuring all Young Carers are able to enjoy school and make good progress. Young Carers in particular need that extra support to help them achieve their full potential.
As a school, we do our utmost to offer whatever help is required. There is no set criteria or remit, it is just about adapting what we can offer to each student.
 
Some examples of this are :

• Liaising with teaching, support staff and form tutors making them aware of the circumstances at home (if appropriate).
• Monitor attendance/achievement
• Time out cards / Young Carers Card
• Give them a safe place to use their mobile phones if needed.
• Helping with work deadlines.
• Making ourselves known to parents, carers, grandparents so that they know who to contact in school.
• Regular phone calls and/or emails home.
• Open door policy to access 1:1 time with us, if they need to speak about anything confidentially. 

Posters are all around the school to inform students who the school leads are and where they are based. 
 
Identifying Young Carers can be difficult as they often do not want anybody to know what they have to do. As staff, we look for any signs that a pupil has a caring responsibility and follow up as appropriate.