Young Carers at Victory

Some young people help to look after someone at home. This might be a parent, brother, sister or another family member who is ill, disabled, has a mental health difficulty, or needs extra help for another reason.

If you do this, you may be a Young Carer.

You might not use that name yourself. Helping at home may just feel like a normal part of family life. That is okay.

Could this be you?

A Young Carer might:

help with cooking, cleaning or shopping
look after younger brothers or sisters
help someone take medicine or move around
help someone communicate or understand information
comfort or support someone who is upset or worried
spend a lot of time thinking or worrying about someone at home

You do not have to do all these things to be a Young Carer.

You do not need to be sure that you are a Young Carer before talking to us.

We want to understand

Caring for someone can be an important part of family life. But sometimes it can make school harder.

You might feel tired, arrive late, miss homework, find it hard to concentrate, or worry about the person you care for.

If something at home is making school more difficult, we want you to feel able to tell us.

We will listen first.

We will not assume that every Young Carer needs the same help. You might need some support, or you might just want us to understand what life is like for you.

Tell us

If any of this sounds like your life, you can talk to us.

You can:

speak to your trusted adult
speak to your form tutor or year team
contact our Young Carers Lead
use our short Young Carers form

You do not need to explain everything straight away. The form is simply a way to start a conversation:

Young Carers self-referral form

What happens if I tell you?

We will start by talking to you.

We will listen to what is happening at home and ask whether anything is making school more difficult. We will then talk with you about whether any support would help.

We will not assume that you need help just because you are a Young Carer.

We will treat what you tell us with care. We will share information to support you or when we are worried about someone’s safety or wellbeing.

How can we help?

The right support will be different for each student.
We may be able to help by:

giving you someone in school to talk to
providing support with homework, attendance and punctuality
helping to explain your situation to teachers
helping you keep up with schoolwork
helping you find other support if you need it

Sometimes you may not need any extra help at all. It may simply help if we understand what is happening at home.

For Parents and Carers

Families do not always use the words “Young Carer”. A child may simply see helping someone at home as part of everyday family life.

If your child regularly helps to care for or support someone at home, please let us know.

Knowing about their situation can help us understand if they become tired, miss homework, struggle with attendance or find school more difficult.

Telling us is not a judgement on your family. We simply want to understand your child’s situation and make sure they know where to get help if they need it.

Parents and carers can contact our Young Carers Lead or complete the Young Carers self-referral form:

Young Carers self-referral form.

What we will do

We want Young Carers at Victory to enjoy school, make progress and take part in the same opportunities as other students.

We will:

listen to Young Carers
remember that every family is different
look at what support might help each student
be flexible where it is reasonable to do so
help staff understand the needs of Young Carers
treat information about families with care

More help

If you would like more information or support outside school, we can help you find the right service.

Talk to us

Young Carers Lead:

Mr A. Butcher

Email: [email protected]

Senior Safeguarding Officer:

Ms J. Atkinson

Email: [email protected]

Students can also speak to their trusted adult. You do not need to find the “right” person before asking for help.

Last reviewed: September 2026