Voice and Participation Service

Young Carers in Schools

Under the Voice and Participation Service, we are now committed to supporting all Secondary Schools in Wiltshire to work towards the Young Carers in School award. We have a dedicated schools worker who will be there to support schools to evidence their eligibility for the award.

What is the Young Carers in Schools (YCiS) Award

The YCiS Award is a UK national program that recognises schools for their efforts in identifying and supporting young carers. It aims to ensure that young carers receive the recognition, understanding, and support they need. So they can thrive both academically and personally. The award helps schools create strategies to remove barriers to education for young carers. It also encourages best practices in building a supportive and inclusive environment.

There are five areas that the YCiS Award focuses on:

Understand - committing time and staff to learn about the needs of young carers
Inform - raise awareness to staff and pupils about young carers 
Identify - ensure young carers are identified quickly and accurately in school
Listen - making sure that Young Carer Voice is being listened to
Support - young carers are supported well in school and are aware of services outside school that can help them

Find out more about the Young Carers in Schools Award (opens new window)

Support we provide

We have a dedicated Young Carers Schools' worker. They will be there to support secondary schools and colleges to evidence their eligibility for the award. They do this by ensuring they are able to meet all the standards. The Young Carers Schools worker will complete a baseline assessment of each school. By looking at their current provisions for young carers and then work on a plan to achieve the outstanding standards required.

This work could include:

Policy development - assistance in developing policies to support young carers
Assemblies and awareness - support for assemblies and awareness campaigns to raise visibility of young carers
Young Carers support groups - help in setting up or strengthening support groups for young carers
Staff training - provide resources and training support for teachers, school staff, and young carer leads to ensure appropriate support
Governor engagement - working with school governors to raise awareness and promote action on young carers
Targeted interventions - development of targeted support plans to meet the unique needs of each school and their young carers
Ongoing support - continued guidance and monitoring to maintain support for young carers beyond the award

Throughout the work, Young Carers Voice will be at heart of the resources and training offered to schools. There will be accessible Information centrally for teachers/school staff to refer and signpost young carers to young carer services.

Reasons for your school to get involved

The Young Carers in Schools Award is a recognition program that acknowledges schools in the UK for their support of young carers.

Schools gain significant benefits from completing this award, including:

improved support for Young Carers
enhanced Young Carers wellbeing, ensuring young carers feel valued, supported, and less isolated
positive impact on attendance and academic outcomes
staff training and development 
long-term cultural change
recognition of excellence.

Register your interest

Please complete Young Carers in School Support: Expression of Interest form (opens new window) to express your school's interest in participating.

A member of our Voice and Participation Service will contact you to arrange an introductory meeting and discuss the next steps. We look forward to working with you to support young carers in your school.