Spotlight on: children with SEND & Mental Health missing from education
The latest attendance marks a worrying pattern – school absences are getting worse rather than better and children’s engagement with school has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. The most recent figures suggest that around one in five children were persistently absent last year, up from one in ten in 2019. I wanted to understand what […]
Spotlight on: looked after children missing from education
Since starting as Children’s Commissioner, I have made it my mission to find England’s missing children and to put together a plan to get them back to school. Children who are regularly absent or missing education altogether are much more likely to come from disadvantaged backgrounds or to be vulnerable. Schools play a vital role […]
The importance of attendance
As the final few days of summer come to a close, it’s time to get ready for the return to school. I know that so much work goes in to make the first week a success. Teachers are completing inset days, parents are buying pencil cases, and children up and down the country are rushing […]
A fun summer holiday for every child
The summer holidays can be such a fun and well-needed break for many children. However, for some children, there aren’t always inclusive and accessible activities on offer, and the holidays can be lonely. This is particularly the case when children have impairments or additional needs which are not supported in mainstream summer camps and playschemes, […]
Spend over £25,000: 2023 – 2024
We publish details of all spending over £25,000 on a quarterly basis. 1 April 2023 – 30 June 2023 Nil 1 July 2023 – 30 September 2023 1 October 2023 – 31 December 2023 1 January 2024 – 31 March 2024 All figures shown are gross amounts paid inclusive of VAT (where applicable).
GPC spend over £500: 2023 – 2024
1 April 2023 – 30 June 2023 Transaction date Merchant name Transaction amount Entity Details 05/05/2023 The Guardian £750.00 OCC Recruitment advertising 30/05/2023 Hootsuite £588.99 OCC Social Media Services 17/06/2023 Posit Software £887.68 OCC Rstudio Computer and Data Processing Service 30/06/2023 Media Training £1339.20 OCC Training for Communications Team 1 July 2023 – 30 September […]
Increasing advocacy for children in homes or residential schools that have a provisional rating of inadequate
Help at Hand’s efforts to increase access to advocacy for children in homes or residential schools that have a provisional rating of inadequate Help at Hand is the Children’s Commissioner’s advice and representation service for children in care, children living away from home, children working with social services and care leavers. On 1st April 2023 […]
Spend over £25,000: 2022 – 2023
We publish details of all spending over £25,000 on a quarterly basis. 1 April 2022 – 30 June 2022 Nil 1 July 2022 – 30 September 2022 Transaction date Merchant name Transaction amount Entity Details 06/07/2022 Government Property Agency £32,952.80 OCC Rent and Facilities Management Charges 25/08/2022 Government Property Agency £25,321.32 OCC Rent and Facilities […]
Guest blog: Top tips for starting a new job as a care leaver.
The Children’s Commissioner has a specific responsibility to protect the rights of all children and young people who are living away from home or receiving social care support. Social care is important because it aims to help people be independent, safe, and well so they can live the lives they want to. As a care […]
GCSE results day
GSCE results day is just around the corner! With only a couple of days to go, I wanted to take this chance to say good luck to everyone who will be receiving their results this week. I want to wish you every success. I hope it’s going to be a day to celebrate! You might […]
Engaging parents in education
Last month, I met with Minister Coutinho and a range of brilliant charities supporting parents to talk about how schools and local government can better support parents to engage with children’s education. This is a topic very close to my heart, as both a parent and a former teacher. Parents are so fundamentally important to […]
A brilliant early education offer
The Government has recently set out a hugely ambitious expansion of early childcare. From 2025 they have committed to providing 30 hours of free childcare for children from nine months to five years old. This will be enormously welcome to many families. When I carried out my independent Family Review, and spoke to parents and […]
Archived Content
Pass the parcel: children posted around the care system
“I feel like a parcel getting moved around all the time, getting opened up and sent back and moved on to somewhere else.” Teenage girl, in care over 100 miles from home There are over 30,000 looked after children living ‘out of area’ in England. This is 41% of all children in care and has […]
Thousands of children in care passed around the system like parcels and living miles away from family and friends
Shining a light on the experiences of children in care who are moved ‘out of area’ – away from their home boroughs where family and friends live.
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Sign up to receive our latest vacancies by email We will send you an email each Friday if we publish any new vacancies during that week. If we don’t publish any new vacancies, you won’t get an email. Email address Email preferences As well as receiving our latest vacancies, you can also receive our regular […]
Marking 30 years of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child with call on political parties to put the spotlight on children during election campaign
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, is calling on the political parties fighting the General Election to put the spotlight on children’s issues, as she joins the Children’s Commissioners for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in publishing an assessment of the UK’s progress on children’s rights. This month marks the 30th anniversary of the UN […]
UK Children’s Commissioners’ UNCRC mid-term review
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a landmark agreement by governments around the world on the rights of children. As Children’s Commissioners it is central to our mission to make sure that those rights are made a reality for all children. The United Nations […]
Response to the Home and Foreign Secretaries regarding British children in Syria
Earlier this year Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, wrote to the Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary regarding the safety and welfare of British children who have become involved in the conflict in Syria. The following is the Children Commissioner for England’s latest response to Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Office […]
Nurture with nature: Why environmental engagement is imperative for children
We know that the health of the environment is one of children’s greatest concerns, as outlined in Issue 1 of our Children’s Insights reports. The word ‘environment’ is likely to stir a very different reaction amongst children than it used to. Many children face the incompatible situation of a lifestyle divorced from nature, and mounting […]
EU children in Britain
This page was published in 2019 and may contain out of date information. Know your rights to stay in Britain If you are an EU citizen living in Britain, Brexit will affect your rights. This means you will need to apply for what the Government calls ‘settled status’ in Britain. What is settled status? Settled […]
Children’s insights
This is the first issue in our regular series of insights into the views and experiences of children in England.
Changes to gambling laws needed as our report into online gaming reveals children’s gambling fears
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, has published a report, “Gaming the system’’ which looks at the experiences of children who play games online. The Children’s Commissioner’s Office commissioned the research company Revealing Reality to speak to groups of children who play online games like FIFA, Fortnite and Roblox about what they love and what […]
