EDINBURGH YOUNG CARERS PROJECT Information

Edinburgh Young Carers Project has been delivering a Schools Awareness Raising Campaign in Edinburgh for five years. Our mission is to "raise awareness of, and support, young carers in primary and secondary schools across Edinburgh, in line with Getting it Right for Every Child". Our schools campaign aims to remove the barriers that young carers and hidden young carers face within school, ensuring they can enjoy their time within the classroom and achieve their full educational potential. Why Do We Work in Schools? We know that the likelihood is that there is a large population of hidden young carers, not identified in the UK. School staff have an opportunity to help identify these young carers that they are supporting on a day-to-day basis. Getting it Right for Young Carers, Scotland's national strategy for young carers provided the following action points for local authorities to promote this process of identification: Education Services will revisit policies, procedures and approaches for identifying young carers in schools Education Services will explore opportunities for developing partnership working with their local schools, parents and the third sector, including young carers' services, in order to improve identification of and support young carers Our Schools Awareness Raising Campaign delivers on all of these action points to work with schools and teachers to raise awareness of, identify and support young carers. When young carers are recognised in the school environment, work can be undertaken to ensure that any practical or psychological barriers their caring role may have on their education are removed or minimised - as required by the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, as amended by the 2009 Act. Recording of young carers within the school environment also allows information sharing between professionals - there is a need for this sharing of information, especially at times of transition between schools so that young carers do not slip through the support net. ...