Young Carer - Grammar School admission

[busySunflower]

My elder son who is a young carer has qualified for grammar school, the admission criteria says:
"Children who have exceptional medical or social needs (e.g. registered young carers), which can be met only at this school, supported by written evidence from a doctor, social worker, educational welfare officer or other appropriate person. "
Can some here guide me how do we mention that this school can only met the needs ?
Has anyone been through this journey, do we need to fill EMSAR ? EMSAR considers only one grammar school and it has to be top preference, our 3rd preference specifically prioratise young carer but we realised this very late.

This is for Bucks

I think I'll reach out to young carer agencies instead of the school they would know much better

TBH OP, the way you’ve described your son’s “caring” responsibilities sounds a lot like just being a big brother.
is he in sole care of someone at any times during the week? Does he have so do all the cooking and cleaning because a parent is disabled? That’s the kind of thing that qualifies someone as a carer.

He really shouldn’t be doing that. That’s your job (along with any other parent who may be around) not his…. I’m not saying he shouldn’t be playing with his brother, obviously not! But going as far as registering him as a young carer when you’re present, is ten different kinds of wrong. I mean unless it’s just being said on his school application but actually he isn’t doing it, then fair enough but if that’s actually what’s happening then I really do feel for the boy. Regardless of whether he is ‘choosing’ to do so or not; Children of 10/11 don’t have the ability to choose what is best for them, after all.

i thought all kids with a disabled family member could legitimately be described as carers. The term simply recognises that the family’s time and resources will be focussed on the disabled person, and as such non-disabled children will often miss out and receive far less attention as a result.

Also OP, you would need to provide proof via a social worker that your son does all of the things you’ve listed. Your other child with the disabilities, does he have an EHCP and is your ‘caring’ son listed on that EHCP as having been witnessed by a social worker to have been providing all of this care that you’ve mentioned? If not then as far as I’m aware, you cannot register him as a young carer to a child. In my area at least, it’s a totally different kettle of fish if it’s a child who is receiving the care than if it’s an adult.

Varies massively depending on the NHS trust and also county to county

This isn't right. Why comment if you don't know?

Join the SEND carers Facebook group and ask the same questions on there you’ll get more help and also help for you to manage your child with sen better so their sibling is their sibling not their carer

Why does your DS have to do all those things for his sibling? Surely that’s a parents job?

In Bucks, everyone is in catchment for a grammar. The dc might find the grammar is further away from home than the non grammar and parents need to look at transport arrangements and costs. Parents should always apply for the catchment grammar (or grammars if there’s more than one) and then one more. Each grammar has its admissions criteria and it’s important you read these. However dc will get an amazing school whichever one is allocated and don’t hold dc back based on caring for you or admissions favouring caring dc. Go for the grammars.

Can some here guide me how do we mention that this school can only met the needs ?

On the application form there will be a section where you can talk about other needs. In there you need to very specifically link how being a young carer means this school would be better for him. Being a young carer isn't a priority criterion for school applications generally though, so you need to link being a young carer and this school particularly. Just saying "he is a young carer" won't work in the same way as "having siblings at the school" or being a "looked after child".

thank you this has been already, we entered the reasons in the free text box while submitting the CAF, we do have evidences supporting letters from docters

AGS and RLS are quite a long way from each other?

Is your son in year 6? Has he qualified for a place already?

yes qualified with a very high score

The score doesn’t make any difference in Bucks, But I think your thoughts are right in finding out from something like Young Carers UK if each school is part of a the scheme.

No, it's not.

Young carers are those children and young people who live in a household where someone, (parent/grandparent/sibling) has a disability, which impacts the child/YP. Even though they might 'just be being a big brother', it is likely that the role will continue in that form for longer than it would if the sibling weren't disabled.
Or it could be that the younger sibling is the carer while the older one has developmental difficulties.
Caring could involve pushing a wheelchair, or otherwise facilitating mobility.
Or it could entail trying to do his homework while an autistic, non-verbal sibling is having a meltdown.
There is plenty of research which shows that Young Carers benefit from targeted support.

Presumably this is a 10/11 year old child. The priority should not be ‘caring needs’. If a child is expected to be able to get home from school asap to care for a parent then something has gone very wrong in this situation. The child should be able to go to Macdonalds with his mates after school, to join the school chess club that meets for an hour at the end of the day, to stay in the school library to do his homework.

Surprised by how many posters on this thread don’t know what a young carer is.

It’s not about priority it’s about making the life of a young person less challenging than it already is. It’s anout given them more time for themsleves.

The OP wants her son to be able to be at a school where he can get home asap to carry out his caring duties.

Look at the school prospectus and their most recent OFSTED report and see if they say anything that claims this school has a strength in something you can prove your son needs.

If you can identify what specific support your child needs from his school, then you can ask them if they provide it.

Then you may or may not end up with evidence that your child needs to be prioritised for their chosen school on account of being a young carer.

appologies, if it was read in that way, thats wrong, I would like my son to get into the best place for his acedmic advancement be succesfully, his sibling care should not implact his aspiration

You're getting criticism on the thread because people think you're using his status as a young carer to get him in to a better school.

I don't think you are. You're right to look at whether they have any peer support groups for young carers. Many schools did previously but this is less of a thing now due to ongoing budget squeezes. If none of the schools do, or they all do, you don't really have a reason to prioritize any one school.

It's likely that you won't have anything to write in that box, and that's ok.

I have no idea of the answers to your questions, @busySunflower but wanted to congratulate your son on qualifying. I really hope he is able to get to whichever school best helps him realise his potential.

It's frustrating how many people cba to read the thread but jump on to comment without understanding the full picture. And quicker to judge than to help! Makes me wonder how many have DC also hoping for places at the same schools 🤔