Groby & Field Head Spotlight • MID-AUGUST 2017 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk
from Andrew Pridmore, Headteacher
15
Letter
No time off for carers is unacceptable! MILLIONS of people across the UK are unpaid carers, 6.8 million in fact. When Carers UK’s recent State of Caring report highlighted the plight of unpaid carers, the findings, although astonishing, painted a sadly familiar picture.
Dear Dinosaur In English, Year 1 have been creating some dinosaurific master pieces using the book Dear Dinosaur by Chae Strathie. We began the unit by using our imaginative language to describe dinosaurs in our table groups and then wrote out own. We then moved onto writing a letter to our favourite dinosaurs before creating our own dinosaur to write a non-chronological report.
Are We There Yet? Foundation had a fantastic time carrying out their own transport survey. As the children walked around Groby they recorded the type of transport and how many of each vehicle we saw on a tally chart. When we arrived back at school we discussed our findings and tracked the route we had travelled on Google maps. Everyone then had a go at drawing their own maps including the different types of transport that they had seen! Throughout this topic, we have explored a variety of stories based on transport and holiday destinations. The children designed their own holiday postcards, putting their phonic knowledge into good use by producing some amazing story recounts that included adjectives and conjunctions.
In agreement with Carers UK, our own research found that many carers maintain their role for long periods of time with little or no time off. A third of carers said they had not had any significant time off since they started caring, with 90% not able to access proper holidays away from caring. With such little access to time away it’s unsurprising that many carers begin to feel the pressure. In a separate study, 60% of carers we asked admitted that they felt unable to ‘switch off ’ from their caring role, with over 6 out of 10 saying that they felt mentally exhausted and over half saying they didn’t know how they would be able to cope if things continued the way they were. I work for Revitalise – an incredible national charity that provides respite holidays for disabled people and carers. We see everyday how vitally important respite is in enabling carers to continue coping and caring for their loved ones. That’s why, we’re showing our support for unpaid carers all across the UK, calling for immediate action and greater statutory support for social care services, particularly respite. If your readers would like more information about Revitalise, our breaks, or would like to support our vital work, please visit www.revitalise.org.uk or call us on 0303 303 0145.
Stephanie Stone, Revitalise www.revitalise.org.uk
Anything is a boomerang if you throw it straight up.