Welcome to Section 4 of the Carer Aware at University course. This final section focuses on the Going Higher for Student Carers: Recognition Award. It is split into two parts – for those whose university has achieved the award, and for those that are working towards it.
You will be asked to complete an activity after you have looked at the Going Higher for Student Carers: Recognition Award webpage and discovered where your university is on its journey towards gaining the award.
On completing this section, you will be able to:
Articulate how your role may contribute to achieving the Going Higher for Student Carers: Recognition Award or build on an existing award.
Demonstrate how your university is progressing towards gaining the Going Higher Award.
Gather evidence for the Going Higher Award.
Now go to 4.1 Getting started with Going Higher.
The Going Higher for Student Carers: Recognition Award encourages universities to adopt a sustainable, whole-institution approach to identify, support and report on student carers. The award is currently funded by the Scottish Funding Council and, as we saw in Section 1, they have built the award into their Outcome Agreements with universities.
In this video we meet Steven, Student Success Advisor at Heriot Watt University, who talks about the benefits of the Going Higher process and the partnerships they developed as a result. He also suggests using your best asset: student carers.
2) Where is your university on the journey to gaining the award?
Click where your university is in the progress table below to reveal advice for next steps to take.
Go back to the Resources for College and University Staff (Supporting Student Carers) webpage you have just viewed and scroll down to the Guidance on developing a Student Carer Support Policy. Read through the guidance then complete Activity 4.2.
From what you know about student carers from the earlier sections of the course, what kind of practical, pastoral and academic processes would support student carers towards success in your university?
Write around six bullet points that would be useful to have in your university’s Student Carer Policy. Use the text box below or your learning journal if you’re using one.
Congratulations if your university has already achieved the award. Complete this part of the section by finding and reading one of the following:
Using the information you have found, complete Activity 4.3.
1) Based on what you’ve learned in the course so far, can you identify any gaps in the information above? Is there anything missing that you think would make the life of a student carer easier in your university? If so, make a note in the box below or in your learning journal.
Well done, you’ve completed the final section of the Carer Aware at University course! You should now be more aware of:
The Carers Trust Scotland Going Higher for Student Carers: Recognition Award.
How your university is progressing towards the award, who the lead for this is in your university and how your role can contribute to this.
If your university already has the award this has been an opportunity to review existing support and how you could further contribute to improving the experience of student carers.
Complete the Going Higher quiz to gain your Going Higher digital badge.
For useful websites, further information for carers and research paper links visit the Resources page.