Young Carers

We are proud to offer support to the members of the Beaumont community who are Young Carers.

Who is a Young Carer?

A child qualifies as a young carer if they are under 19 and helps to look after a relative with a disability, illness, mental health condition, or drug or alcohol problem. For some children this may mean providing practical and physical support for a family member with a disability, while for others it might be emotional support in the form of needing to be adaptable, understanding and supportive to the needs of an autistic sibling. There is a wide spectrum of caring and thus a wide variety of ways it can impact on a child’s life.

There are an estimated 1 million young carers across the UK. Assuming the same proportion applies at Beaumont, this equates to, on average, 2 children per tutor group, and identifying children who are young carers is really important to us so that we can ensure they get the support they need to ‘enjoy and excel’.

The experience of being a young carer is different for every child and, as such, the support needed is very personal and will vary significantly from young carer to young carer; some may want to join in organised activities, for others simply knowing that there are designated staff at school who are aware of their situation is comfort enough but ultimately if we do not know about these children then we cannot help.  Please rest assured that any information given will be dealt with discreetly and no communication will be made with any young carer at this stage, unless agreed otherwise.

How can Beaumont support our Young Carers?

As part of the strong and supportive pastoral care provided at Beaumont School, we offer a lunchtime drop in session, every Monday at 1.25 – 1.55pm in E2.  There is no expectation or pressure on your child to attend but please do encourage them to come along as it will be a good opportunity to meet other young carers and perhaps share experiences if they wish; we may also play some games to keep the session sociable and relaxed.  It could also be a good time for your child to talk about any concerns they might have with in-school and/or home learning.

We also have a young carers email address as another form of communication for your child.  This is youngcarers@beaumont.school, which you can pass onto them. The email is not checked outside school hours and there is an autoreply to this effect that your child will receive but we will respond to them as soon as we can.  Please note, this is just for their use and not for parents/carers and we kindly ask that all communications from you still come via admin@beaumont.school.

We want your child to feel supported in their role as a young carer so please reassure them that they can come to either Mrs J Shute, Mrs J King, or any member of staff, should they wish to discuss anything.