As Dame Rachel de Souza begins her final year as Children’s Commissioner, we’re reflecting on what’s been achieved in the past 12 months and looking ahead to the work that still needs to be done to make England the best place to grow up.
In April last year, we hosted the inaugural Festival of Childhood, where over 100 young people joined decision makers at Young V&A in London for performances, workshops and keynote speeches from V&A Director Tristram Hunt, Hughie Higginson, a young presenter from Sky FYI, and the Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson MP.
At the Festival, our second cohort of Youth Ambassadors were officially launched. Their voices have been valuable in shaping the office’s work – during their time as Ambassadors they have joined Dame Rachel on multiple occasions including speaking to Health Minister Ashley Dalton (pictured above) about the NHS 10 Year Plan and challenging representatives from tech firms about the online harms they continue to see online (pictured below).
Too often, young people’s voices are not heard on crucial issues. So in order for young people’s views to be heard on the ongoing debate on assisted dying, Dame Rachel spoke to children about how this generational policy shift might impact them – you can read what they said in their own words.
Later, to give more young people an opportunity to be heard, we launched the Youth Voices Forum. The Forum – and accompanying Big Conversation survey open to children all year round – is a chance to hear from more children across England, share opportunities to shape change and give them a chance to voice their views on important issues.
We launched Screen Free Summer, a campaign encouraging young people to have a digital detox and connect with the world around them with advice from experts, tips and practical ideas for young people. Catch up on what the Youth Ambassadors got up to this summer as they went Screen Free.
Our landmark publication, The Children’s Plan, set out our ambitious reforms for every child, reshaping how schools should support children’s wider additional needs – providing a vision for the government’s School’s White Paper. Joining the launch event were State for Education Bridget Phillipson MP, Baroness Hilary Cass, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burham, Managing Director of Reach Foundation Ed Vainker, and Youth Ambassadors Annabel, who shared the positive experiences she had with her school following her cancer diagnosis, and Tamar, who shared the challenges she faced while in care before accepting a place at the Oxford University.
We returned to the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, where The Big Conversation panel asked how we can listen to children’s voices to shape education and wider services to better support their needs. Panel speakers included Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, housing campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa, National Mission Champion for the Opportunity Mission Sarah Smith MP and Chair of the Education Select Committee Helen Hayes MP – alongside Youth Ambassadors Emma, Valerie and Stanley, who later shared thoughts on their experiences of speaking to decision makers and having their voices heard.
In November, Dame Rachel was honoured to deliver the Longford Lecture “Guilty until Proven Innocent” on children’s experience of custodial remand, serving as a voice for children in the justice system so often written off by society.
We invited children from across England to Parliament to share how the cost of living impacted their childhood and family life. Many of their ideas were reflected in our research, helping to bring about the removal of the two-child benefit cap.
Dame Rachel spoke with Sixth Formers from Harris Westminster about what it is like to grow up online today and what they want their parents to know about the online world. We later published our guide for parents and carers on navigating the online world, offering advice, tips and conversation starters.
As we head into this important final year for Dame Rachel, we will bring together all our evidence, highlight progress and set out where work remains to improve children’s lives. We will survey children in England one more time, asking how their lives have changed, the skills they need for the future, as well as their hopes and fears. We will host our second Festival of Childhood in May and will continue to visit children all over the country to ensure their voices are heard.
