Young Carers Award

Coopers Lane wins award for young carer support

Hundreds of schools across England participate in the Young Carers in Schools Programme to improve their support systems, ensuring that no child need miss out on educational opportunities because they are a carer. The programme celebrates good practice through the Young Carers in Schools Award.

The young carers team at Coopers Lane School are happy to announce that they have received the Bronze level, Young Carers In Schools Award. Not only do they provide information about how to identify young carers, which is available on noticeboards and the school webpage, the young carers team have also demonstrated that they support young carers in many other ways. This includes helping with homework and providing a drop in session, which allows children to have a safe space to talk and for them to get individualised support.

Congratulating award winning schools, Giles Meyer, Chief Executive of Carers Trust says, “The Young Carers in Schools programme is helping to transform schools and support staff across England.”

Schools play a vital role in a young carer’s life, as many care for relatives without their teachers even knowing what they do.

On average young carers will miss a day of school each month as a result of their caring role, so the steps schools take to identify and support them can have a huge impact on their learning, wellbeing and life chances.

Research carried out by Carers Trust and The Children’s Society shows that, young carers miss or cut short 48 school days a year and often have lower levels of self-confidence, mental wellbeing and significantly lower educational attainment, especially when going on to GCSE level, because of their caring role.

The 2011 Census statistics revealed that there are just over 166,000 young carers in England, but research reveals that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The true figure could be closer to 700,000 young carers in England, equivalent to one in 12 school children, many of whom are unrecognised and unsupported.

“At Coopers Lane School it has taken a little while to identify and establish a young carers group, however, we hope to continue to provide the encouragement and support needed to enable every young carer in our school the time and space to flourish.” Paul, Operational School Lead

Two examples of what our young carers have said, when caring for a parent or sibling;

“I like helping out at home because I like making my parents proud”

And

“I don’t like being asked to do things, all the time, but I like being kind, helping my family and being responsible.”

Young carers are responsible for emotional, practical or physical care for a parent, sibling or other family member who has a physical disability, mental health issue or substance misuse issue.

Congratulations to the Coopers Lane Young Carers Team for achieving this award.

You can find out more information about our Young Carers Group here.

Young Carers in Schools Award Bronze Cert 2019

Contacting the School

Coopers Lane Primary School is situated in Grove Park in the borough of Lewisham. The entrance to the school is in Pragnell Road, SE12 0LF