Ormiston Victory Academy has once again been awarded Caring Together’s Carer Friendly Tick Award (Education), in recognition of their continued work to identify and support carers.
Ange Water, assistant principal for SEND and Inclusion, Ormiston Victory Academy in Costessey, Norwich, said the award was a “public nod to our young carers to let them know we acknowledge, understand and support them in ways which may need to be different to other students in the Academy”.
She added, “It is our public declaration to let them know they will be seen and cared for by the Academy and that they are not alone in their carer’s journey.”
The school received the Carer Friendly Tick Award for reasons including how staff responsible for supporting young carers take time to build relationships with young carers and ask them whether they need additional support. The school also has a good understanding of the young carers in their school and offer them leeway based on their personal situation. This can make a real difference to the experience young carers have in school.
Andy McGowan, head of carer services at Caring Together, said: “We know that young carers found it particularly hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. They told us that their education and mental health had been negatively impacted during the various lockdowns and restrictions. Schools and colleges taking the initiative to identify and support their pupils who are young carers is hugely important and makes a real difference.
“Therefore, we are very pleased to see Ormiston Victory Academy having their work to identify and support young carers recognised by the Carer Friendly Tick Award. We want to congratulate them on this and to thank them for the work that they are doing which brings real benefits to young carers and their families.”
Caring Together works to help raise the awareness of carers in the community with health, social care and education professionals, and employers.
The Carer Friendly Tick Award was originally developed for education by young carers from Caring Together’s Norfolk Young Carers Forum (NYCF) project. The success of this meant the awards have been rolled out across Norfolk, Peterborough and Cambridgeshire to now include community, health and employer awards.
These recognise the valuable work done in identifying and supporting carers carried out by each type of organisations. The Carer Friendly Tick is a set of standards which were designed with carers, and which are assessed entirely by carers.
For more information about the Carer Friendly Tick Award please visit caringtogether.org/carer-friendly-tick or email [email protected]
