Young Carers
A young carer is a student who helps to look after a family member; this may involve physical or emotional care, or taking responsibility for someone’s safety or well-being.
We are proud to have young people who have such high expectations in school, whilst caring for a parent or relative at home. It is challenging to balance personal and family responsibility with that of their studies and that is why we ensure our young carers gain qualifications and skills they need to be successful in the future
To support young carers, we work with Suffolk Young Carers to provide:
* Group drop-in sessions
* One-to-one sessions
* Open door policy for pastoral support
* Staff training for teachers and support staff
* Dedicated webpage on our website
* Suffolk Young Carers noticeboard
* Awareness-raising activities
* External activities such as cinema trips and afternoon tea
* A weekly lunchtime club
Our school policy also gives more details on our commitment to the young carers in our school community.
Bungay High School signed up to the Suffolk Young Carers Schools Award and we have been working very closely with the service to help identify young carers in our school and raise awareness of the great work all young carers do for their families. An important part of the ethos is to raise awareness in the community of the role of young carers though assemblies, staff training, and events such as celebrating National Young Carers Day all contribute to this. Through this work staff and students have been identified as demonstrating exemplary practice.
Suffolk Young Carers have a close working relationship with schools across Suffolk. The Support Worker linked to Bungay High School is Helen Blight who comes into the school to support young carers. Alternatively, students can contact either Miss Eaton or Ms Dunford, who are the leads for young carers in school. Please contact them if you have any concerns or would like to find out more.
Are you aged 5 - 24? Does a member of your household have a long term illness, a disability, mental health issues or drug/alcohol addiction? If you said ‘yes’ to these questions, Suffolk Young Carers is here to help.
Helen Blight is our Young Carers Support Worker
“I have been working in the Lowestoft and Waveney area since June 2015. There are many areas to my job, from doing assemblies to meeting young carers in school, but my favourite bit is taking the young carers out on activities, to give them a break form their caring role. Anything from shopping to cinema trips, or visiting places from London to Legoland – I love it all!”
Telephone: 01473 835430
Email: young.carers@suffolkfamilycarers.org
Website: www.suffolkfamilycarers.org/young-carers/
