We Care Awards
Rewarding good practice for supporting young carers’ in schools
What is We Care?
The We Care Schools for Young Carers Award recognises and rewards good practice around identifying and supporting young carers in schools across Scotland.
Run by Edinburgh Young Carers, but with support from young carer services across the country, We Care aims to encourage schools to develop their skills and experience in working with young carers. By developing approaches, policies and regular self-evaluation, schools taking part in We Care will ensure that young carers are supported in achieving their identified personal outcomes and the barriers they may be facing to accessing a full education will be reduced or removed.
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Registration & Login
Follow the links below to either register with We Care or login to your account.
Award Themes
The We Care Schools for Young Carers Award encompasses five themes which encourage schools to evaluate and develop their practice and policy in working for, and with, young carers and their families:
- Awareness and Understanding
- Identifying and Assessing
- Supporting
- Listening and Involving
- Working Together (Policy Development and Partnership Working)
Award Levels
We Care is a flexible and personalised programme which recognises that each school is on a different journey to supporting young carers, and so there are three different award levels that you can achieve. Each level will provide opportunities to challenge and further your school’s practice in each of the themes above.
Why take part in We Care?
By taking part in this award, you will expand your policy and practice with regards to young carers, and be celebrated and rewarded for your achievements in the following areas:
- You will raise awareness of young carers and remove the stigma associated with caring roles at home, illness and disability
- Hidden young carers will be identified in schools at the earliest possibly opportunity
- Young carers will receive appropriate assessment and support planning, following the requirements of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016
- Young carers will receive appropriate support from school staff, including support to remove any barriers they may be facing to accessing a full education, and from partnerships with other statutory, community and voluntary organisations
- You will develop a whole-school, sustainable approach to identifying, assessing and supporting young carers, and continuing to evaluate and analyse policies and practice through regular self-evaluation during and after award achievement
The We Care Award will support schools to fulfil their requirements to identify and support young carers under the following programmes, policies and legislation:
- Carers (Scotland) Act 2016
- Edinburgh Joint Carers Strategy
- Curriculum for Excellence – Health and Wellbeing as a “responsibility for all”
- Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, as amended by the 2009 Act
- Scottish Attainment Challenge
- Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child