This course takes a strength-based approach: young carers often manage their responsibilities with real skill and maturity, and sessions aim to build on that rather than frame caring as purely a deficit. It reflects DfE's inclusion of young carers in the statutory school census since 2023 and the Young Carers in Schools programme, and supports Ofsted's Personal Development and Inclusion focus, which expects schools to identify and support pupils whose circumstances outside school affect engagement and attainment.
Objective: Pupil can describe the pupil's caring responsibilities in the pupil's own words and feel heard without judgement.
Check-in: 1. Open warmly and generally: 'tell me a bit about your week at home, if you'd like to.' 2. Accept whatever they give you, including very little. Home may be private for good reasons. 3. Say what happens to what they tell you, and who else would need to know. 4. Do not call them a young carer yet — they may not use that word for themselves. 5. Say what happens to what they tell you: you keep notes, and the plan at the end goes to staff they agree to. If something worries you about their safety you have to pass it on, and you would tell them who to.
Input: 1. Explain what a young carer is in plain terms: someone helping look after a family member. 2. Cover illness, disability, mental health and addiction, without dwelling on any one. 3. Ask: 'had you heard the phrase young carer before?' It is a recognised role, not a secret and not something to be ashamed of. 4. Say you will map out an ordinary day together — theirs, not a typical one.
Activity: 1. Get out the day timeline template. 2. Ask: 'can you talk me through a normal day, from waking up?' 3. Pupil fills in the day timeline as they go — school, caring, anything that is theirs. 4. Let them keep it vague if they want to. The detail matters less than being heard. 5. Ask: 'is that a normal day, or a good one?'
Reflect: 1. Ask: 'is there anything about what you do at home you're proud of?' 2. Nothing to do this week — say that plainly. Today was about being heard.
Watch for: Some pupils do not identify as a 'young carer' even when they clearly are, avoid pushing the label if it does not fit how the pupil sees the pupil's own situation yet.
Parent/carer take-home: No specific task this week, simply be aware that home routines may be more complex than usual, and keep communication with school open if anything changes.
You're seeing week 1 in full. The remaining 5 sessions, along with the printable resource packs, are available once you have an account.
Schools can start a free three-week pilot with up to 3 mentor seats and 10 pupils. No card required.