Young Carers at St Mary & St Thomas

At St Mary & St Thomas CE Primary School 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 ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or addiction problems. They often take on practical and/or emotional caring responsibilities that would normally be expected of an adult. Research suggests there are at least 700,000 young carers in the UK but many do not realise they are a Young Carer.

We know that Young Carers may need a little extra support to enjoy and do well at school. School are committed to ensuring that all pupils who are young carers are identified, and supported effectively.

Mrs Lewis is the Young Carers' Champion at St Mary & St Thomas and is responsible for ensuring all Young Carers are able to enjoy school and make good progress. If you think your child may be a Young Carer please let Mrs Lewis or your child's class teacher know.

As a school we have signed up to the Young Carers Schools Promise and this is displayed on our young carers notice board in our main corridor for all children to see. You can read this document in our 'Downloads' section on this page.

Mrs Lewis
Headteacher
Young Carers Champion

lyndsey.lewis@three-saints.org.uk

Miss Shields
Family Support Worker

nicola.shields@three-saints.org.uk

St Mary & St Thomas has an open door policy and should Mrs Lewis not be available pupils can speak to Miss Shields.

Arrangements to support Young Carers are put into place following assessment with parents as to the needs such as, breakfast and after school clubs including extracurricular clubs, study clubs and signposting to other agencies for support. Parents can arrange meetings with Mrs Lewis or Miss Shields.

Pupils can access Mrs Lewis and Miss Shields during the school day and communicate via the help boxes in class, or accessing the 'Need to Talk' button from the 'footer section' of this website below.

Downloads

Young Carers Promise

Child Friendly Young Carers Leaflet

There is an online chat facility on the Young Carers website

www.sthelensyoungcarers.org

From 10am until 3pm Monday through to Friday. A Young Carer staff member is available to chat online with Young Carers and families.

This is avialable to all Young Carers aged 6 and above

Useful Links

St Helens Young Carers

Carers Trust

Babble Carers

The Children's Society