School wins national young carers award
CROSSGATES Primary has been announced as the first school in Fife to win a national young carers support prize.
The Recognising We Care Award highlights the progress of the school in providing help for youngsters who take on a caring role at home.
Jemma Thomas, principal teacher and young carers champion, explained: “It is through Edinburgh young carers to make sure there is consistency in schools.
“All of our staff are up-skilled and retrained by Fife Young Carers on how to spot young carers.
“The last few years have been difficult for young carers, we have a club for them all to get together, it can often feel for them as if they are the only person in that situation.”
Ms Thomas said that the award had helped the school to organise their approach, and that on top of other support, they also have funding available for pupils affected to go on school camps and take part in extra-curricular clubs which may need equipment.
She says there are currently five pupils who are ‘official’ young carers in the school, while six or seven others have been identified by staff and receive extra considerations and universal support.
“They’re already doing so much at home,” she added.
“In school they could be exhausted by the afternoon – but for them that’s normal.
“The fact that all of our staff have been up-skilled means that reception staff can see if a child is regularly coming in late, or that playground staff, who have more one-on-one time than others, can spot the signs. It just happened by chance for us, the more schools that do it the better, it helped us to structure support.”