Education staff in Gloucestershire now have a concise yet comprehensive e-learning course to enable them to become ‘young carer aware’.

GYC has developed an interactive 30-minute course that can be completed online (with help from local specialist company Nimble eLearning). After completing the course, participants should then be able to:

UNDERSTAND

• List the reasons that a child or young person may become a carer
• State the legal protections that young carers have
• Describe the key issues that young carers face in schools

IDENTIFY

• Identify the possible signs or indicators of being a young carer
• Describe the challenges and barriers that prevent young carers being identified

SUPPORT

• Develop ideas on how to improve support for young carers in their setting

The course has many interactive elements to help make the learning experience better, and as our audience is mostly teachers we needed to make sure we gave them a good learning experience! Our target is to get 50 key school and college staff to complete the course in year one of its launch.  

We know that there are many young carers in the county who are ‘hidden’ and not yet known to the GYC or their school and therefore unable to access support.  One of the best ways to ensure that hidden young carers are identified is through raising awareness in schools and ensuring teachers and pastoral staff are confident to look for possible indicators and ask the right questions.  We hope this course will help in this mission and that it will be an easy and convenient way for busy school staff to become ‘young carer aware’.   The course can be used as part of their CPD (Continual Professional Development) and course completers are emailed a certificate to show thy have passed the course.

If are interested in completing the course or know someone who would be - please email Hana Gill hana@glosyoungcarers.org.uk with your name, job title and email address and and we would be happy to enrol you onto it!

GYC would like to thank Deb Jorden at Severn Vale Academy and Andrea Hannis at Chosen Hill for road testing the course for us and giving some valuable feedback.  We would also like to thank the staff at Nimble for working with us to get this course completed and live!