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Cirencester Deer Park School

Cirencester Deer Park School

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Young Carers

Young Carers Awareness Day, raising awareness of the challenges faced by young carers.

Would you know how to define a Young Carer? A young carer is someone under 18 who helps look after someone in their family, or a friend, who is ill, disabled or misuses drugs or alcohol.

Across the UK, as many as 1 in 5 children and young people are young carers.

Caring for someone can be isolating, worrying and stressful. For young carers this can negatively impact on their education.

All young carers should get the recognition, help and support they deserve. At lunchtime on Young Carers Awareness Day, Thursday 20 January 2020, we held an event in the PLC for our Young Carers.

Pupils were able to try out two easy to prepare recipes (Bang Bang Chicken and Chicken Couscous - download the recipes), chat to other young carers, talk with our welfare assistant about what to do if you need to call for an ambulance, do an online quiz and enjoy sugary treats!

It was so good to see some of our older boys working together to produce a meal, trying new flavours, using up left overs and learning some new skills.

There are all sorts of reasons why some of our young people have found themselves as carers. For example,

  • My brother has additional needs and I have to keep an eye on him sometimes, especially when mum is cooking tea!
     
  • I don’t always have time to do my homework. My mum is very poorly, I’m visiting her in hospital and I’m very worried about her. It’s hard to concentrate.

Pupils seemed to really enjoy the opportunity to learn some new skills and to ask questions.

"This event was really fun and got to eat sweets and doughnuts! We also learnt how to make easy healthy recipes."

"I tried some new food and although I didn't like all of it, I am going to adapt it and try it at home."

young carers awareness day

young carers awareness day

young carers awareness day

Mrs Hannis, Senior Year Leader and event organiser, commented "Today we learnt some facts about young carers, how to prepare some simple meals for our family, what to say if we need to call an ambulance for a family member, alongside how much our school can do to help us. We hope we’ve raised awareness within our school, that our pupils know there is a lot that we can do to support them and ultimately just how brilliant we think they are!"

Gloucestershire Young Carers are a local charitable organisation that provide support for young carers and their families.

Some of their recommended hints for young carers include:

gloucestershire young carers

  • Do homework at school – it might help if your teachers know your situation, doing your homework at school means you might miss some of your breaks but it will give you a bit more time when you get home and you might still get to sleep on time!
  • Always have a quiet place – it’s really important to have somewhere just for you where you can be just you!
  • Always have a loud place – letting off steam is a must! Make sure you’ve got a safe place where you can really let rip!
  • Know when to walk away – it’s not giving up, just coming back to it later, really good for everyone sometimes.
  • Always have someone you can trust – you don’t want everyone knowing all your secrets but someone you can talk to can really help.
  • Read more...

If you wish to talk with someone at Deer Park about Young Carers, please contact Senior Year Leader Mrs Hannis.


Useful links: