Young Carers

Support for Young Carers

Support for Young Carers

At The Stonehenge School, we are committed to recognising, valuing and supporting students who have caring responsibilities at home. We understand that being a young carer can bring additional challenges, and we work closely with students and families to ensure young carers feel included, supported and able to achieve their full potential.

A young carer is a child or young person who helps to look after a family member who may have a physical or mental illness, disability, or issues with substance misuse. This care may include practical tasks, emotional support, or helping to look after siblings. Young carers may not always identify themselves as such, so we encourage parents and carers to get in touch if they feel their child may have caring responsibilities at home.

Our dedicated Young Carers Lead provides a key point of contact for students and families and coordinates personalised academic, pastoral and emotional support. If you think your child may be a young carer or would like to discuss the support available, please contact the school and ask to speak to the Young Carers Lead. All conversations will be handled sensitively and confidentially.

Young Carers Award

The Stonehenge School is celebrating after achieving the prestigious Young Carers in Schools Award, recognising the school’s commitment to identifying, supporting and championing young carers.
The award, presented through the Young Carers in Schools programme run jointly by Carers Trust and The Children’s Society, recognises schools that go beyond simply identifying young carers by embedding meaningful support into everyday school life.
At The Stonehenge School, this has become much more than a project. Over the past two years, the school has developed a culture where young carers are recognised, understood and supported so that their caring responsibilities do not become a barrier to achieving their potential.
A huge amount of the work has been led by Pastoral Manager, Mrs Hooper, whose passion and determination have been instrumental in securing the award. More importantly, she has ensured that support for young carers is now woven into the fabric of the school. Through improved identification, staff training, stronger partnerships with families and external agencies, tailored pastoral support and greater awareness across the whole community, Mrs Hooper has helped create lasting, systematic change in the way The Stonehenge School supports some of its most vulnerable students.
The quality of the school’s work was recognised as going well beyond the requirements of the award itself. As a result, Headteacher Carole Dean was invited to share The Stonehenge School’s approach with other headteachers across Wiltshire, showcasing the school’s work as an example of best practice and helping other schools strengthen their own provision for young carers.
Further resources for support