Teachers’ Perceptions of Supporting Young Carers in Schools: Identifying Support Needs and the Importance of Home–School Relationships
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methodology
“1. Familiarizing yourself with your data. 2. Generating initial codes. 3. Searching for themes. 4. Reviewing themes. 5. Defining and naming themes. 6. Producing the report”.(p87)
3. Results and Interpretation
3.1. Theme 1: School Perceptions Regarding the Characteristics of Young Carers
3.1.1. Emotional Needs
“I mean, we are not an exam factory, we are about everyone trying to be equipped with what they need, to be the best possible adults they can”;(Jan)
“I think until a child is receiving the emotional support (they may even feel stable) that always accessing learning becomes a barrier if they have something emotionally that they’re dealing with”;(April)
“It means that went by the time he gets to school. Sometimes he’s just he’s overloaded and not ready to learn because he’s so overwhelmed by what’s happening at home… I think it’s just making sure that they have the time, whether that’s time to settle in the morning, time to off load, time to share, and then refocus”.(Chris)
3.1.2. Caring Duties
“Quite often they’re exhausted, they’re tired, they struggle to concentrate”;(Sandy)
“The loads that they carry is huge”;(Katrina)
“There’s an awful lot of thought within school of ‘I wonder what’s happening at home’, and then when they’re at home doing their caring, there may be the thought ‘Well, what are my friends doing? What are my peers doing? What am I missing out on?’ So there’s possibly an awful lot more … emotional working memory being used, so that impacts on their education, their ability to engage with education”;(Jenny)
“Attainment-wise children don’t make progress until their emotional needs are met … they’ve got to feel happy and happy in themselves… with the right mindset before they can do any learning whatsoever. Often, they worry about what they’ve left behind in the morning, you know, have they left their mum or their dad in a bit of a state because it’s time for school. …it’s so important, isn’t it, that gets sorted first”.(Sophie)
“And perhaps, particularly some of the younger ones, are having… to deal with things that are kind of beyond their chronological age, and it’s just a distraction from the business of learning and focusing on their own progress in school… it depends on how serious the situation is, but I think just getting through the school day, I’m aware that some of the young carers will be thinking about siblings or thinking about parents just as they go about everyday business”.(Hannah)
3.1.3. Academic Needs
“So the support plan goes through the impacts of being a young carer, the struggle to get homework done, low attendance and lateness, feeling guilty and a heavy burden of responsibility, strain on friendships, feeling anxious and worried all the time, impact on grades and GCSE results, and restricted childhood and opportunities”;(Cara)
“The impact for some of these students is utterly life changing. And we’re not just talking about attainment and progress grades, we’re talking about real life for real people”.(Harriet)
“Whenever we have one-to-one sessions with students… we are always aware that we don’t want to keep them out of lessons for too long. Especially if they are a young carer…they’re obviously low on attendance of their lessons, we don’t want to keep them out of their lessons where they miss out on their education. So, there is that time constraint of being able to put that support in place”;(Cara)
“Obviously we offer the support, we offer to catch up, fill in the gaps, bits they’ve missed. But then, for me dealing with the other side of it, is that too much pressure, is that putting even more on them? I honestly I don’t know”;(Sandy)
“Some students don’t want to miss the lesson, which is, again, absolutely fine”.(Anya)
“We offer lunchtime sessions for young carers here, but our lunch time here is only 30 min”;(Cara)
“Students can’t always stay after school, which is why we try and do it in lunchtimes”;(Anya)
“It’s quite difficult. We’ve tried lunchtime, but …they’re only half an hour, so by the time they get there, it’s nearly time to go. Again, it’s got to be stacked against the time that the young carers group can meet as well…we had to sort of almost fit it in around the key stage four timetabled lessons where they weren’t having an assessment in, so maybe a PE lesson or an enrichment lesson, because the school day is rammed”.(Jan)
“If you are a young carer you are trying to think about school, but you are also thinking about home. And I think the barrier is sometimes those children staying after school to be able to take part in things. Even down to the kind of more academic activities like revision classes, that might be more challenging for some of these children because they feel that they have to get home, that they have got a commitment and an obligation almost to getting home and focusing on whoever they’re caring for at the expense of their own education”;(Hannah)
“At home it may be difficult for them to join perhaps an after-school activity or club, because they may have to get home to cook the dinner or pick up a younger sibling from school and do whatever chores are needed. So, their lives are busier”.(Giulia)
“I think school for a young carer is harder, it’s a lot harder… With a lot of the home situations, obviously it does affect schooling, and it does affect attendance and whatnot.”;(Sandy)
“If you’ve got to stay in and look after a parent…it could effect things such as homework, reading, spelling, all these little things that you might expect to do at home, therefore [it] might have a knock-on effect in terms of how much progress they’re making”;(Chloe)
“I think that the availability from parents for schoolwork, for encouragement, for homework, those kind of things, I think it’s notable to me that isn’t quite so present for young carers.”.(Harriet)
“If there is a young carer who hasn’t done their homework, that we have that understanding and we don’t necessarily apply the normal sanctions that we would because we recognize that kind of vulnerability that they have”;(Jan)
“If they’re struggling to find a space to do their homework or they’re struggling to do their homework because of other responsibilities then some leniency, perhaps should be employed, so that they don’t feel so pressurized”;(Guilia)
“We will offer extra time at lunch and break for them to complete homework”.(Cara)
3.1.4. Social Needs
“I also think because of their commitment to caring they may not have such a full and active social life. The activities outside of school that are important for somebody’s personal development”;(Hannah)
“If your ability to socialize, meet up with your mates, going to parties or just to hang out at friends’ houses is limited or can’t always happen because parents can’t take you there, or you can’t take yourself [because] you’ve got responsibilities…it might affect those friendships in school. So, it might make those friendships a bit difficult”;(Chloe)
“They seem to miss out at each opportunity, so if there is an after-school event, or if there is a different sports events or whatever, it can be logistically really difficult”.(Katrina)
“I think the fact that they knew that there were others of their peer group [that were young carers], that it wasn’t just an adult saying, we respect what you’re doing and we notice what you’re doing, it was the fact that there was a group of them that could then have those conversations and then have the opportunity to talk and to offload themselves as a group”.(Sophie)
“I think to young carers, school is their time, where they play, they don’t have to think about looking after anybody else because they’re looked after and the roles in schools are very clearly marked…so they can relax and know their place as a child. Whereas actually outside of school, they’ve got a lot of different roles that they take on board”;(Katrina)
“And [school should be a place to] talk about your hopes and dreams for the future. So, there’s similarity there [with their peers] for sure, they’re still children, who enjoy playing and laughter and humour in all those different ways”.(Katrina)
3.1.5. Home/Family Circumstances
“We’ve got about 20 Young Carers within school at the minute who do an actual caring role for their parents where they help them out of bed and help them with daily things. And then I would say the rest of them are children whose parents might have mental health issues, or where they have a sibling who has needs”;(Chiara)
“Some of them have different, I suppose, levels of responsibility, from having a parent with mental health issues to having a parent who’s a quadriplegic and some other health issues in addition to that”;(Guilia)
“I know a number at the moment who are kids of terminal cancer patients. We’ve certainly got a handful of those who are really aware of, and they’re on the radar at the moment”;(Harriett)
“Some are children who maybe a parent has a mental illness, or substance misuse”.(Mia)
“The action plans are created separately because the circumstances around the individual families are vastly different… Sometimes the care becomes much more intense, and sometimes the care doesn’t need to be so intense. So at times when the child is, you know, fully involved it, You know, we have to be on it, straight, all the time, when other times it settles down and then we can step back a little bit”;(Sophie)
“Once you understand and you know what is going on with that family, you then action something to support that child or that family. But if you don’t know the details of it, then you can make assumptions that aren’t true, and that are actually inaccurate and that’s really unhelpful”;(Katrina)
“I think they face all of the challenges that teenagers growing up in 2021 face, but they’ve got kind of added levels based on their home circumstances which other children might not have. At the end of the day, they are young people growing up who share a lot of the challenges but there may not be the support or the resources to help them to meet those challenges because of the caring situation that they’re in”.(Hannah)
3.1.6. Resilience/Positive Gain
“I think a lot of them [YC] seem to be a lot more mature than their peers”;(Cara)
“And I’ve noticed that a lot of our young carers seem to be very mature for their age”;(Giulia)
“and they [the young carers] were pretty self-sufficient”.(Chloe)
“Their organization and coping skills are not adversely affected. In fact, in some cases are stronger. Similarly, their ability to empathise and show thoughtfulness I think are not diminished, and again, are often higher because of the needs they have…I guess in future life as well, it will make them more resilient and more able to cope with situations far more than a child who hasn’t been there, a young carer”.(Sophie)
3.2. Theme 2: School Perceptions Regarding Importance of the School-Family Relationship
3.2.1. Importance of Communication
“So if when talking to a student it’s clear that they are a young carer, then it’s about speaking with their parents to establish with the parent their feelings on it…We’ll have a discussion with the pupil, then make a call home to parents to discuss and whether they would like the referral to go through and if they want the support”;(Chiara)
“We try to involve the parents at sort of every step. So once we get a name, I would be phoning parents to discuss the difficulties within the home from a supportive standpoint…For example, “your son has told us that maybe you or another sibling is unwell and they need to do this, this and this, we have a young carers group, we can support them through” and starting those conversations”.(Amina)
“So I think for some parents, that conversation has to be really sensitively handled and the only downside is that sometimes parents feel very sad that one of their children is being affected in that way”;(Katrina)
“Sharing of information is the barrier. You know, um, I think sometimes with some families, um be concerned that they would be embarrassed, or you know feel that we may judge them for the fact that they are going through a difficult situation at home. I think therefore presents a difficulty with them sharing the information in the first place.”.(Chris)
“I suppose there is a barrier around trust a little bit, in that how do you definitely know that somebody is a young carer if we’re not making lots of contact with parents, there is that question mark to say we’re not entirely sure. There can be a bit of a difference between what students want to say and what parents want their children to say, or not say. I think there does seem to be a fair amount of sensitivity around some of these issues, especially I suppose around mental health more recently. It seems complicated to really get proof. Maybe that’s a barrier: How do I know for sure, even if a parent contacts me and says I’ve got mental health issues, without a doctor’s note or something you know we have to work on trust, I just don’t have the time or the resource to really make that one work [to check if child is a YC]”.(Harriet)
“Other good things, [about identifying YC] I think it brings families and school closer together, because actually the challenges mean you know and share an awful lot between home and school which you may not in another situation”;(Katrina)
“I will discuss with tutors, progress leader and then usually communication is made home and then you talk to the parent and find out what the situation is going on…But communication is kept open, they know the student services email, they know they can contact us if there’s any questions or if there’s anything they think we need to do or could do to help the student. It’s same as with the open-door policy with the students, we are here for the parents”.(Sandy)
“I think it’s all about the trusting relationship, and I think sometimes that takes time. But in general, in my experience, the more you put in, the more you get out. So, if we are regularly supporting and having open, supportive conversations that are non-judgmental and we’re ultra-clear about that, then that helps the relationship and that gets more productive involvement because they are more happier to share. I think there are times, as well, where you go to do something above and beyond or you do something a little bit extra or unexpected, that can really help”;(Chloe)
“And then good communication with parents. There was a census done…they estimated that there was 1 in 12 children would be young carers…but it doesn’t tell the whole story because a lot of parents won’t put down on that form that they have the disability they have, or that their child does do extra care responsibility. So yeah, good communication with parents and helping them understand that because we as a school consider their child to be a young carer, it doesn’t mean we are reflecting badly on their parenting, they’re not connected”;(Amina)
“Another issue is parental understanding. I understand some parents worry about what people might think or how it will look, or other people knowing their business…But I think that’s where we are. You know, picking up the phone and making those phone calls and trying to ease any worries that they might have”.(Anya)
3.2.2. Openness
“A plan would come about, I suppose, well, either somebody has arrived that’s been very open that they’re a Young Carer, or you’ve got suspicions that perhaps somebody is being a Young Carer and you want to investigate”;(Chloe)
“[for pastoral care] When I first start talking to a student, I always get them to do a sheet, I think the title is something along the lines of ‘A little bit about me’, and I always ask them to fill in information about their family and home life and siblings etc. So, I try and get a lot of information from them and then often from that once they start talking to me about the home life, they then identify to me as a young carer”;(Giulia)
“We have in the past got to year 11 and found out about kids that have been young carers for years and we never knew about because the family hold it very tightly and the kids don’t tell us”.(Amina)
“For example, we picked up issues with not having enough food, and you phone up and you say, ‘we just picked this up in school, do you need to have any support?’ Some people be like ‘oh actually yes, we are in this situation that would be lovely…’ and they’re happy for you to signpost them elsewhere, or send them out the free school meal forms… And some people are like super defensive, and they get affronted and then there’s a kind of sense of, you know, keep your nose out or sense of shame about the situation…It’s very rarely a neutral response in those situations, either kind of like ‘oh thank goodness somebody’s actually finally noticed somehow’ or like ‘who do you think you are… Stop’, you know, and you have to kind of walk quite carefully and think about how you phrase things”;(Chloe)
“Some parents are a bit disengaged with it, and others are really grateful”.(Maria)
3.2.3. Parental Permissions
“As soon as I’m made aware that someone is a young carer, and I’ve established that, I make contact with home to say that their son or daughter has been identified as a young carer at school, and send out the parental consent form”;(Cara)
“We’ve got access to lots of outside agencies if we needed it, but it depends on whether parents would want that support to be put in place.”;(Mia)
“We’ve had a couple of occasions where that’s happened and families wouldn’t consent, we can only provide support in school, with ELSA or they’re happy with pastoral support in school, but they wouldn’t consent to a referral to [young carers support organisation] for example.”.(Chris)
3.2.4. Trust
“Because obviously it’s important they feel safe and secure…if they just know that people care about them, and they’re interested in them, and they are there to allow them to talk, then that’s going to make the biggest impact on them, so they don’t feel that they are alone, and so that their mental health is therefore, you know, protected“;(Chloe)
“Even if it’s tiny, I think I’ve learned that young carers often just need somebody to give them a little nudge and say “Hey how you doing?”… “I understand, how are you getting on?” Even if it’s only something like that, I think that alone is just so important”;(Harriet)
“I think it comes down to having those really important, consistent relationships where the child realizes that you as the adult actually care, you’re not just passing the time of day. You actually care, you want to know and you want to support, and I think that’s what’s really beneficial with any child is those relationships”;(Jenny)
“But he [teacher] makes a phone call earlier in the morning, like before most of us are even at school, to alert that mum that it’s time to get up and the child needs to come into school. And I just think that’s amazing, that’s everyday a commitment that at that time he will make phone call to get that child up, you know, I just think that’s just amazing, because that’s added to every end of his day (.) it’s half seven every morning”;(Sophie)
“It’s turned into a really deep reflective conversation at half seven in the morning. So we’re talking about the fact that she [mum] can feel judged on the playground, and then she feels people have a perception of her and what can she do to change that, and is it right or wrong…from something which was initially kind of quite a tough check on what you’re doing, it’s turned into something where that relationship now is brilliant…Mum has told me she would be happy to share anything with us as a school and that she thinks the support we offer has been really helpful and fantastic”.(Sophie)
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A. Semi-Structured Interview Schedule
- Your experiences of Young Carers in school
- Have you ever known a pupil in your (current or previous) school who identified as a young carer? If yes, how many (approx.)? Can you tell me about them?
- If no—Do you have friends/colleagues with experience of YC in school? What have they said? If no—What knowledge/thoughts do they themselves have about YC in school?
- Does your school have a policy or action plan for young carers?
- Does anyone have responsibility for supporting young carers in your school?
- What do you think is different from their peers for YC regarding school/education?
- What do you think is the same as their peers for YC regarding school/education?
- Have you ever been part of the process of a pupil formally identifying (to the LA/GP/SWs etc.) as a Young Carer? If yes, please can you talk me through that process and your experiences of it—What do you think of it? Good/bad points? YC perspective? Family perspective? How other professionals engaged with the process/family/school etc.
- What support does your school currently offer to YC/would it offer if one were identified this year?
- Do you know of any other support available to YC in your area? Can you tell me about it please?
- How would you refer or signpost YC to support within your school/to external support?
- How would you involve the parents?
- Where would you signpost parents for support?
- 2.
- Magic wish question
- In an ideal World, what support would schools be able to offer to YC? Who else would offer support and what form would it take? What else would you change about the current YC support system/process of formally identifying YC?
- What else would make a difference to YC in terms of schooling and attainment?
- 3
- What barriers (if any) are there to identifying YC (not financial/resources)
- 4
- What barriers (if any) are there to supporting YC? (Not financial/resources)
- 5
- What CAN schools do to get around these barriers—Or despite these barriers—To support YC?
- Does your school manage to offer support despite these issues? If so, how? What support do you offer (repetition/overlap with Q.3F so be careful here)? Is there anything you would like to share with other schools that you think would help YC? Something they could try?
- Have you heard any good examples from elsewhere that you could share with me?
- Can you think of any ideas that schools could realistically do to increase the support for YCs?
- 6
- Who else supports YC—Who else should support YC?
- 7
- Additional questions:
- Is there something we have left out/some glaring omission about young carers, in your experience?
- What is the most important factor that influences what the school does for Young carers ?
- What do YOU think is most needed in order to identify young carers?
- What do YOU think is most needed in order to support YC?
- How many YCs do the school currently know about?
- When do you officially identify a young carer? Does anyone check it?
- How useful is the label of Young Carer, in your experience?
- 8
- Anything else?
- h
- Is there anything else you would like to say about YCs?
- i
- Is there anything you would like to say about the interview?
- 9
- Thank you.
References
- Becker, S.; Sempik, J. Young adult carers: The impact of caring on health and education. Child. Soc. 2019, 33, 377–386. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Aldridge, J.; Becker, S. Children as carers: The impact of parental illness and disability on children’s caring roles. J. Fam. Ther. 1999, 21, 303–320. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Dearden, C.; Becker, S. Young Carers–The Facts; Reed Business Publishing: Sutton, UK, 1995. [Google Scholar]
- Dearden, C.; Becker, S. Young Carers in the United Kingdom: A Profile; Carers National Association: London, UK, 1998. [Google Scholar]
- The Carers (Recognition and Services) Act. Available online: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/12/contents (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Children and Families Act. Available online: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/6/contents/enacted (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Care Act. UK Government. Available online: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/23/contents/enacted (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Phelps, D. What changes for young carers? A qualitative evaluation of the impact of dedicated support provision for young carers. Child Adolesc. Soc. Work. J. 2021, 38, 547–558. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Office for National Statistics. 2011 Census. Available online: https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011census (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Sempik, J.; Becker, S. Young Adult Carers at School: Experiences and Perceptions of Caring and Education. Available online: https://carers.org/downloads/resources-pdfs/young-adult-carers-at-school.pdf (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Doutre, G.; Green, R.; Knight-Elliott, A. Listening to the voices of young carers using interpretative phenomenological analysis and a strengths-based perspective. Educ. Child Psychol. 2013, 30, 30–43. [Google Scholar]
- Frank, J. Making it Work. Good Practice with Young Carers and Their Families; The Children’s Society and The Princess Royal Trust for Carers: London, UK, 2002. [Google Scholar]
- Andruske, C.L.; O’Connor, D. Family care across diverse cultures: Re-envisioning using a transnational lens. J. Ageing Stud. 2020, 55, 100892. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Nkau, I. Available online: https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/blogs/caring-culture-and-mental-health-being-young-carer-racialised-community (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Greenwood, N.; Habibi, R.; Smith, R.; Manthorpe, J. Barriers to access and minority ethnic carers’ satisfaction with social care services in the community: A systematic review of qualitative and quantitative literature. Health Soc. Care Community 2015, 23, 64–78. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wayman, S.; Raws, P.; Leadbitter, H. There’s Nobody Is There–No One Who Can Actually Help? The Challenges of Estimating the Number of Young Carers and Knowing How to Meet Their Needs; The Children’s Society: London, UK, 2016. [Google Scholar]
- The Children’s Society. Young Carers of Black and Minority Ethnic families. Available online: https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-10/young-carers-of-bame-families.pdf (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Mills, H. Meeting the Needs of Black and Minority Ethnic Young Carers: A Literature Review and Research Study for the Willow Young Carers Service. Barnados. Available online: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.619.4198&rep=rep1&type=pdf (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Alexander, C. Unequal conditions of care and the implications for social policies for young carers. Child Adolesc. Soc. Work. J. 2021, 38, 505–518. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Becker, S. Global Perspectives on Children’s Unpaid Caregiving in the Family. Glob. Soc. Policy 2007, 7, 23–50. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ireland, M.J.; Pakenham, K.I. The nature of youth care tasks in families experiencing chronic illness/disability: Development of the Youth Activities of Caregiving Scale (YACS). Psychol. Health 2010, 25, 713–731. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Aldridge, J. All work and no play? Understanding the needs of children with caring responsibilities. Child. Soc. 2008, 22, 253–264. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pakenham, K.I.; Bursnall, S.; Chiu, J.; Cannon, T.; Okochi, M. The psychosocial impact of caregiving on young people who have a parent with an illness or disability: Comparisons between young caregivers and noncaregivers. Rehabil. Psychol. 2006, 51, 113–126. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gough, G.; Gulliford, A. Resilience amongst young carers: Investigating protective factors and benefit-finding as perceived by young carers. Educ. Psychol. Pract. 2020, 36, 149–169. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pakenham, K.; Cox, S. The effects of parental illness and other ill family members on the adjustment of children. Ann. Behav. Medicat. 2014, 48, 424–437. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Dharampal, R.; Ani, C. The emotional and mental health needs of young carers: What psychiatry can do. Br. J. Psychiatry Bull. 2020, 44, 112–120. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Greene, J.; Cohen, D.; Siskowski, C.; Toyinbo, P. The relationship between family caregiving and the mental health of emerging young adult caregivers. J. Behav. Health Serv. Res. 2017, 44, 551–563. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Wepf, H.; Joseph, S.; Leu, A. Pathways to Mental Well-Being in Young Carers: The Role of Benefit Finding, Coping, Helplessness, and Caring Tasks. J. Youth Adolesc. 2021, 50, 1911–1924. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Collins, J.; Bayless, S. How caring for a parent affects the psychosocial development of the young. Nurs. Child. Young People 2013, 25, 18–21. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Barry, M. ‘I realised that I wasn’t alone’: The views and experiences of young carers from a social capital perspective. J. Youth Stud. 2011, 14, 523–539. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Moore, T.; McArthur, M.; Morrow, R. Attendance, achievement and participation: Young carers’ experiences of school in Australia. Aust. J. Educ. 2009, 53, 5–18. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- De Roos, S.A.; De Boer, A.H.; Bot, S.M. Well-being and need for support of adolescents with a chronically ill family member. J. Child Fam. Stud. 2017, 26, 405–415. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Dearden, C.; Becker, S. Growing up Caring: Vulnerability and Transition to Adulthood: Young Carers’ Experiences; Youth Work Press: Leicester, UK, 2000. [Google Scholar]
- UK Department of Health and Education. Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision: A Green Paper. Crown Copyright. Available online: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision-a-green-paper (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Lourie, I.S.; Hernandez, M. A historical perspective on national child mental health policy. J. Emot. Behav. Disord. 2003, 11, 5–19. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- James, E. Still Hidden, Still Ignored–Who Cares for Young Carers. 2017. Available online: https://www.barnardos.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/still-hidden-still-ignored.pdf (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Department for Education. The Lives of Young Carers in England. Crown Copyright. Available online: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/498116/DFE-RB499_The_lives_of_young_carers_in_England_brief.pdf (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Lloyd, K. Happiness and well-being of young carers: Extent, nature and correlates of caring among 10 and 11 year old school children. J. Happiness Stud. 2013, 14, 67–80. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kaiser, S.; Schulze, G.C. Between inclusion and participation: Young carers who are absent from school. J. Cogn. Educ. Psychol. 2015, 14, 314–328. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Stamatopoulos, V. The young carer penalty: Exploring the costs of caregiving among a sample of Canadian youth. Child Youth Serv. 2018, 39, 180–205. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Children’s Society. Hidden from View: The Experiences of Young Carers in England; The Children’s Society: Winchester, UK, 2013. [Google Scholar]
- Pakenham, K.I.; Cox, S. The effects of parental illness and other ill family members on youth caregiving experiences. Psychol. Health 2015, 30, 857–878. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Moran, T.P. Anxiety and working memory capacity: A meta-analysis and narrative review. Psychol. Bull. 2016, 142, 831–864. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sandi, C. Stress and cognition. Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Cogn. Sci. 2013, 4, 245–261. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ofsted. Available online: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/common-inspection-framework-education-skills-and-early-years-from-september-2015 (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- The Carers’ Trust and The Children’s Society. Young Carers in Schools Programme (YCiS). Available online: https://youngcarersinschools.com/about (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Moore, T.; McArthur, M. We’re all in it together: Supporting young carers and their families in Australia. Health Soc. Care Community 2007, 15, 561–568. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Braun, V.; Clarke, V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual. Res. Psychol. 2006, 3, 77–101. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Braun, V.; Clarke, V. Can I use TA? Should I use TA? Should I not use TA? Comparing reflexive thematic analysis and other pattern-based qualitative analytic approaches. Couns. Psychother. Res. 2021, 21, 37–47. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Braun, V.; Clarke, V. Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qual. Res. Sport Exerc. Health 2019, 11, 589–597. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Enari, D.; Rangiwai, B.W. Digital innovation and funeral practices: Māori and Samoan perspectives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Altern. Int. J. Indig. Peoples 2021, 17, 346–351. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Maynard, E.; Warhurst, A.; Fairchild, N. Covid-19 and the lost hidden curriculum: Locating an evolving narrative ecology of Schools-in-Covid. Pastor. Care Educ. 2022. epub ahead of print. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zarrella, I.; Lonigro, A.; Perrella, R.; Caviglia, G.; Laghi, F. Social Behaviour, Socio-Cognitive Skills and Attachment Style in School-Aged Children: What Is the Relation with Academic Outcomes? Early Child Dev. Care 2018, 188, 1442–1453. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Banerjee, R.; Weare, K.; Farr, W. Working with ‘Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning’ (SEAL): Associations with school ethos, pupil social experiences, attendance, and attainment. Br. Educ. Res. J. 2014, 40, 718–742. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Van der Linden, D.; Eling, P. Mental fatigue disturbs local processing more than global processing. Psychol. Res. 2006, 70, 395–402. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Smyth, C.; Blaxland, M.; Cass, B. ‘So that’s how I found out I was a young carer and that I actually had been a carer most of my life’. Identifying and supporting hidden young carers. J. Youth Stud. 2011, 14, 145–160. Available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13676261.2010.506524 (accessed on 15 August 2022). [CrossRef]
- The Children’s Society. Every Young Person Deserves a Good Childhood. Available online: https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/information/young-people/young-carers/local-service-finder (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Dabell, J. How Can Schools Support Young Carers? Available online: https://www.thesafeguardingcompany.com (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Institute of Student Employers. Student Recruitment Survey 2020. Challenge and Resilience in the Year of Covid19; Institute of Student Employers: London, UK, 2020. [Google Scholar]
- Kallander, E.K.; Weimand, B.M.; Hanssen-Bauer, K.; Van Roy, B.; Ruud, T. Factors associated with quality of life for children affected by parental illness or substance abuse. Scand. J. Caring Sci. 2021, 35, 405–419. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Aldridge, J. Where are we now? Twenty-five years of research, policy and practice on young carers. Crit. Soc. Policy 2018, 38, 155–165. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Justin, P.; Dorard, G.; Vioulac, C.; Leu, A.; Untas, A. What do French school staff know about young carers? A qualitative study about their perceptions. Psychol. Sch. 2021, 58, 1531–1544. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sapungan, G.M.; Sapungan, R.M. Parental involvement in child’s education: Importance, barriers and benefits. Asian J. Manag. Sci. Educ. 2014, 3, 42–48. [Google Scholar]
- Littlecott, H.J.; Moore, G.F.; Murphy, S.M. Student health and well-being in secondary schools: The role of school support staff alongside teaching staff. Pastor. Care Educ. 2018, 36, 297–312. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Baeva, I.A.; Bordovskaia, N.V. The psychological safety of the educational environment and the psychological well-being of Russian secondary school pupils and teachers. Psychol. Russ. State Art 2015, 8, 86–99. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pham, Y.K.; Murray, C.; Gau, J. The inventory of teacher-student relationships: Factor structure and associations with school engagement among high-risk youth. Psychol. Sch. 2022, 59, 413–429. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Coram. A Better Relationship with Learning: An Evaluation of the Young Carers in Schools Programme; Coram: London, UK, 2018. [Google Scholar]
- Action for Carers. Identifying Hidden and New Young Carers: A Tool for Education Providers. Available online: https://www.actionforcarers.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Young-Carers-Identification-Guide-a-tool-for-education-staff.pdf (accessed on 15 August 2022).
- Penna, S. The Children Act 2004: Child protection and social surveillance. J. Soc. Welf. Fam. Law 2005, 27, 143–157. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Watt, L. Engaging hard to reach families: Learning from five ‘outstanding’ schools. Education 3–13 2016, 44, 32–43. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sutton, A. Living the good life: A meta-analysis of authenticity, well-being and engagement. Personal. Individ. Differ. 2020, 153, 109645. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Job Role | Primary | Secondary |
---|---|---|
Head Teacher | 3 (Mia; Katrina; Sophie) | 0 |
SENCo | 2 (Jenny; Chris) | 2 (Cara; Anya) |
ELSA | 1 (Chris) | 1 (Francis) |
Student Services/Pastoral | 0 | 4 (Giulia; Hannah; Maria; Sandy) |
Inclusion/YC Lead | 2 (Chiara; April) | 3 (Harriet; Amina; Jan) |
School Perceptions Regarding the Characteristics of Young Carers | School Perceptions Regarding the Importance of the School–Family Relationship |
---|---|
Home/family circumstances | Importance of communication |
Caring Duties | Openness (of parents/young carers) |
Academic Needs | Parental Permission |
Emotional Needs | Trust |
Social Needs | |
Resilience/positive gain |
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. |
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Warhurst, A.; Bayless, S.; Maynard, E. Teachers’ Perceptions of Supporting Young Carers in Schools: Identifying Support Needs and the Importance of Home–School Relationships. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 10755. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710755
Warhurst A, Bayless S, Maynard E. Teachers’ Perceptions of Supporting Young Carers in Schools: Identifying Support Needs and the Importance of Home–School Relationships. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(17):10755. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710755
Chicago/Turabian StyleWarhurst, Amy, Sarah Bayless, and Emma Maynard. 2022. "Teachers’ Perceptions of Supporting Young Carers in Schools: Identifying Support Needs and the Importance of Home–School Relationships" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 17: 10755. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710755