- Children’s Commissioner warns of a crisis in childhood and calls for radical reforms to make England the best place to grow up
- Dame Rachel de Souza uses first Festival of Childhood at Young V&A to urge decision makers to consult children and include their voices in solutions
- Priorities for the next business year unveiled, including upcoming findings on mobile phones in schools, the use of ‘deepfake’ apps and the latest data on mental health
- Early results from landmark school survey revealed, with responses from 90 per cent of schools
Children are facing a ‘crisis in childhood’, the Children’s Commissioner will warn in a speech this morning, with many turning to the online world for answers as they feel increasingly ‘disconnected’ from society.
Speaking at her inaugural Festival of Childhood: Our Future, Our Voice, hosted at Young V&A, Dame Rachel de Souza will urge adult decision makers to connect with children by listening to them and acting on what they say as the antidote to this disconnect – and making decisions about their futures that match the ‘height of their aspirations’.
In her speech, Dame Rachel will present her vision for positively shaping childhood in England to make it the best place to grow up, by reimagining support for children with additional needs of all kinds.
Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza will say:
“Children want to be listened to. They want to be heard. They want to work hard and do not expect things to come without effort. They understand that they have a part to play in shaping society.
“But some of these foundations of childhood are cracking. A different version of childhood is playing out – one that we are struggling to be honest about. A crisis developing in childhood.
“There is a risk of inaction, of apathy – and the antidote to this is listening. Connecting. That is why we must listen to children, to engage them on the decisions about their lives.
“Childhood is short and precious – and we must not conflate it with adulthood because to do so abdicates us of our responsibility to making sure every child has all the things they should always have, and no child experiences the things they never should. That, to me, is what we mean when we talk about rights.
“We need to be willing to accept failures of the past and do better. That means not just papering over those cracking foundations – but fixing them for childhoods being lived right now – and for the ones to come.
“If we want children to experience the vivid technicolour of life, the joy of childhood, the innocence of youth, we have to prove that we will respond more quickly to them than Chat GPT.”
The Children’s Commissioner will be joined by young delegates aged 14-18 for a full day of panel sessions, workshops and creative activities, beginning with other keynote speeches from Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson MP, V&A Director Tristram Hunt, and Hughie Higginson, a Sky FYI young reporter.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:
“When I came into office, I said this would be child-centred government. This is exactly what we are delivering: better life chances for every child, wherever they live and whatever their background, putting their best interests at the heart of everything we do.
“It’s why children’s development and giving every child the best start in life is absolutely central to our Plan for Change, and why improving early education is my number one priority as Education Secretary.
“Just yesterday we announced thousands of new high quality nursery places in schools, and free breakfast clubs up and down the country will start rolling out in a matter of weeks, alongside our further plans for improved mental health support. Taken together, these measures will finally help break the link between a child’s background and what they can go on to achieve.”
Dame Rachel will also today publish her plan for 2025-26, setting out her priority areas and projects for the next 12 months. This will include her annual briefing on access to children’s mental health services, work exploring why children are losing trust in the police, including continued scrutiny of the use of strip search powers, the harm of ‘deepfake’ technology on children and the use of mobile phone policies in schools, using unique data gathered from her recent School and College Survey.
The survey is the biggest of its kind, marking the first time the Commissioner used her statutory data powers on schools and colleges, providing responses from around 19,000 schools and colleges – representing nearly 90% of schools in England.
Early findings from the School and College Survey reflect similar themes to children’s responses to the Commissioner’s previous surveys, The Big Ask and The Big Ambition, about lack of mental health services, the cost of living and lack of support for those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
Asked about their concerns for children in their communities beyond education:
- 71% of schools and colleges were concerned about children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS);
- 55% of schools and colleges were concerned about online safety;
- 51% of schools and colleges were concerned about early help services; and
- 46% of schools and colleges were concerned about the impact of poverty.
Today’s Festival of Childhood, hosted at Young V&A in Bethnal Green, marks the beginning of Dame Rachel’s penultimate year as Children’s Commissioner. It will bring young people together with politicians and decision makers to prioritise the joy and importance of childhood, discuss the most important issues in children’s lives, and shine a light on why having their voices reflected in policy making is so important.
Young V&A Director of Learning & National Programmes Dr Helen Charman said:
“Young V&A is delighted to host the Children Commissioner’s inaugural Festival of Childhood. Since opening in July 2023, to a brief set by children to be ‘the world’s most joyful museum’, Young V&A has celebrated the role of creativity and play from early years onwards, as vital ingredients for a flourishing childhood and in strong alignment with the Children’s Commission. We are excited to welcome young people to the museum to give their voices agency in exploring how to build the best possible childhood for all.”
Young delegates, including the Commissioner’s SEND Panel and 33 Young Ambassadors, will join a diverse audience of adult decision makers – politicians, educationalists, voluntary-sector leaders and academics to discuss the most pressing issues in their lives, representing organisation such as the Scouts, London Wildlife Trust and the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Last year, in responding to the Commissioner’s Big Ambition survey, just one in five children said they thought leaders listened to their views. The Commissioner has made it her mission to change that finding and to create opportunities for children to bring their voices directly to decision makers from across society.
The Festival of Childhood will also feature two panel discussions aimed at young delegates. The first, “Building the Foundations”, will be chaired by Young V&A Director Dr Helen Charman, with panellists including Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell Boyce, early years educator and author Jamel C. Campbell, and Artistic Director of Unicorn Theatre Rachel Bagshaw, to reflect on the importance of instilling creative confidence in the early years as a foundation for childhood and later life.
The second panel, “Facing the Future”, will be chaired by the Children’s Commissioner, with panellists Chief Scout Dwayne Fields, housing campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa, and TV personality Phoenix Brown, will focus on the challenges that young people experience as they enter their teenage years and how to build the resilience and confidence they need.
Running across Young V&A, the Festival of Childhood will also include performances and creative sessions giving young people the opportunity to express their ideas and learn new creative skills. Activities include a reading in the Imagination Gallery’s ‘The Stage’ space, and an Open Studio workshop in the Design Gallery, creating patterns and slogans to turn into risograph prints and badges to take away. A collaborative Build It session using Imagination Playground blue blocks in the Play Gallery will also take place, before the Festival of Childhood closes out with a live performance from Walthamstow School for Girls’ Steel Pan Band.
