Amid the coronavirus uncertainty, millions of children are back in school
Now is a good time to reflect on the progress that has been made as children have returned to school after so many months out of the classroom. Schools, teachers and children themselves have worked so hard to adapt to a new normal, from one-way hallways to staggered drop-offs, from classroom bubbles to shorter lunch […]
How lockdown affected children’s stress and anxiety
Children’s lives changed beyond recognition when full lockdown began on 23rd March. With schools shut to the majority of pupils, the regular rhythms of childhood and adolescence – from school runs and playtime, to exams, celebrations and graduation – were put on indefinite hold. Anecdotally, we know that many children struggled with the demands of […]
Help at Hand spotlight: championing the rights of children in care under Covid-19
There are more than 75,000 children in care in England. Although most spent the national Covid-19 lockdown in a place of safety, this stretch of time was not without difficulty. Our ‘Childhood in the time of Covid’ report published on 29th September outlines the many new pressures on social care services during this unprecedented time […]
Childhood in the time of Covid
Six months have passed since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in this country and we entered an unprecedented lockdown. During this time, I have made it my Office’s mission to highlight the risks to children caused by the pandemic and the measures to contain it, particularly the most vulnerable, and push for their interests to […]
A comprehensive recovery package is needed to tackle rising tide of childhood vulnerability caused by the Covid crisis
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, has publishing a major new report examining the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on children. The report, ‘Childhood in the time of Covid’ calls for a comprehensive recovery package for children and provides a roadmap for what should be done to help children to recover from their experiences of […]
Stress among children in England during the coronavirus lockdown
A look at what children are worrying about both before, and during lockdown
Post-lockdown experiences: Returning to school life
Now most children are back at school after 6 months at home, we spoke to children aged 6-13 across England to hear what their experiences have been like. Without exception, every child we spoke to was enjoying the social aspect of returning to school. Sofia, aged 6 told us, “I like seeing my friends and […]
Post-lockdown experiences
How children are adjusting to life after lockdown in a Covid-19 world
Mental health and wellbeing
We hear from children all the time who tell us they are having difficulties accessing mental health services, with referrals only made when a child is at crisis point. They also talk about the lack of information available for them online; a sign of a service not designed around user needs. We are continuing our work to […]
Post-lockdown experiences: Living with autism during Covid-19
Throughout lockdown we have been speaking to Ted (10), Robyn (16) and Lily (14) about how their lives have changed. They each have autism and were home schooled by their mum during lockdown. They coped with this well and now they are back at school. We caught up with them to hear how they’re getting […]
Expenses and hospitality policy
Our expenses and hospitality policy
Unregulated
Children in care living in semi-independent accommodation
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.
Receive our vacancies by email
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 […]