Young Carers

Young Carers’ Charter

We are tremendously proud of all of our students’ achievements at Victory. Above all, we are committed to ensuring every Victory student is motivated, ready to learn independently and enthusiastically and make valuable contributions to their community and the wider world.

Our academy’s values are represented by the names of our four colleges: Courage, Discovery, Endeavour and Enterprise. These are 4 key traits we want our students to embrace as learners and as adults.

To ensure everyone has the opportunity to meet these aims, the academy is committed to listening to and supporting any student who has a caring role or responsibilities for others at home. In doing this, we hope this will ultimately improve the educational experiences and achievements of our Young Carers and empower them to seek help and support when necessary. Many Young Carers shoulder responsibilities well beyond their years, and our academy is committed to working hard to support these students to become the best that they can be, despite the additional pressures they face.

Our commitment to our Young Carers:

  1. There will be no assumptions about the needs of Young Carers. Instead we will listen to the Young Carers’ voices, involve them fully in decisions about their education, allow them to inform us of the support they require to fulfil their full potential and support their additional needs as a Young Carer.
  2. We commit to supporting any student who has caring responsibilities at home eg. providing a degree of flexibility with homework deadlines, unavoidable lateness/leaving early & communication
    with home (these will be agreed on an individual basis with Young Carers according to need).
  3. We will keep up to date with national and local developments and with legislation and guidance affecting young carers and their families.
  4. We are committed to meeting the needs of our Young Carers so that they are enabled and encouraged to attend and enjoy school and have equal access to education and additional enrichment opportunities as their peers.
  5. Training on Young Carer issues will be embedded in ongoing professional development for all staff and pupils.
  6. We are committed to offering support to improve the attendance and well-being of our Young Carers when necessary.
  7. Information about support available for Young Carers and how to access it will be available to both pupils and families, clearly signposted on our website.
  8. The academy recognises that Young Carers and their families need to receive a coordinated approach to support, with the academy working in partnership, where appropriate, with general practitioners, Young Carers services and other relevant organisations.
  9. The academy respects the rights of our Young Carers to privacy and confidentiality.

We will also ask our Young Carers to make a commitment to the academy as follows:
We are children and young people who are also carers. We are fully committed to doing everything we possibly can to achieve our full potential at school, while trying to balance the additional responsibilities associated with being a Young Carer.

  1. We commit to attending school regularly and on time wherever possible. If circumstances arise
    which cause us a problem with this, we will let someone at the academy know as soon as possible.
  2. We commit to meeting academy deadlines for completing and handing in homework wherever
    possible. If we are unable to meet a deadline for reasons beyond our control, we will speak to the
    subject teacher to discuss a way forward and negotiate an extension were possible.
  3. If we are having problems or struggling with something either in or outside of school, we will try
    our best to speak to someone at school so that plans can be put in place to ensure we are supported as
    much as possible.

Our Young Carers Champions are:

P. Harris: [email protected]

J. Atkinson: [email protected]

The designated link member of the Senior Leadership Team is:

M. Youngman: [email protected]