Celebrating the RE Council’s 50th Anniversary
Draft speaking notes – speech to the RE Council Speech 3rd May 2023 Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure to be here with you today to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the RE Council. I qualified as an RE teacher in 1991, after my degree in Theology and Philosophy at Heythrop College, University of London […]
The year ahead for Education
I recently set out my areas of focus on education in our 2023-24 Business Plan. My ambition is to make schools places where children want to be, and a site of wider support. For those with additional needs or at risk of falling behind, support needs to accessible in every school across the country and […]
Back to School
This week children across the country will be returning to school for the summer term. I hope that all students and teachers enjoyed a well-deserved rest and are feeling energised and ready to learn, catch up with friends, get back to extra-curricular activities and sports, and take on summer exams. I would like to extend […]
Business plan 2023-24
Looking to a new business year, I have been reflecting on children and young people’s lives over the last couple of years and thinking about everything they have told me since I have become Children’s Commissioner. When I started in role, the impact of Covid and children’s lives returning to normal was at the forefront […]
What does the Spring Budget mean for children & young people?
Earlier this week, the Government set out spending measures in its spring Budget, which contained a number of commitments targeted specifically at children and young people: Childcare The Government has announced that £4.1 billion will be made available by 2027-2028 to deliver 30 hours of free childcare for eligible working parents of children aged from […]
Children’s Commissioner’s speech to the National Association of Virtual School Heads
Good morning everyone – thank you for inviting me today. I am delighted to be speaking to you all for the second year in a row. Virtual School Heads are immensely important, and I want to thank all of you for your commitment to making sure children receive the best possible education. As Children’s Commissioner […]
Speech
Children’s mental health services 2021-2022
When I became Children’s Commissioner, one of my first actions was to carry out The Big Ask survey. I wanted to understand, as we were emerging from the shadow of the pandemic, what children wanted for their futures, and what worries were holding them back. It was clear from the responses to that survey, as […]
Statement from the Children’s Commissioner in response to the SEND Improvement Plan
The Department for Education (DfE) has today published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan (hereafter the Plan). The Plan sets out how DfE intends to deliver ‘a single national system that delivers consistently for every child and young person with SEND and in alternative provision’. The review of the […]
Celebrating two years as Children’s Commissioner
Today marks the second anniversary of my appointment as Children’s Commissioner for England, and what a two years it has been! What began with The Big Ask, which received over half a million responses (making it the largest ever survey of children and young people in the country), has led to a vision for supporting […]
“Listen to us” – young people’s views of the SEND system
This week I was fortunate to meet and talk to four teenagers representing the Disabled Children’s Partnership’s Youth Advisory Group: Harshi, Amber, Sam and Udi. These four articulate young people have a range of learning support needs, disabilities and long-term health needs, and have had experience of both the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) […]
School
In The Big Ask, children told me how important teachers are. They also told me that school is the place they want to receive support if they need it. Children explained the importance of being in a nurturing and supportive environment for them to thrive in future. I really want to learn even if it’s […]
The Children’s Commissioner speech at the Church of England Education Office and Foundation for Educational Leadership National Conference 2023
Good morning everyone and thank you so much for that introduction and to Waddesdon School and all the schools who performed today, you are amazing. Now there’s a bit of a theme going on today. I was taught by nuns too, Gillian. My nuns were at St Bede’s Comprehensive, Scunthorpe, I’ll never forget them, they’ve […]
Speech
Archived Content
School attendance since September
In March 2020 schools across England closed for nearly all pupils. Those allowed to attend rarely did, and even a partial re-opening of schools in July saw a peak school attendance of just 17.5%. By the time schools re-opened in September, 575 million days of school had been missed by children in England. The impact […]
School return: Covid-19 and school attendance
Examining school attendance rates during and after lockdown
Roadmap to reopening schools
Policy briefing Ever since last August, the Children’s Commissioner has said “Schools must be the last to close and the first to reopen.” This is now a well-used phrase as parents, teachers, scientists, politicians and the media all recognise the massive impact that the lockdowns are having on children’s education, and even more importantly, on […]
Requesting details on Government plans to minimise learning loss during lockdown and support for reopening of schools
The Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield has today (6th January) sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson, following the start of the new national lockdown, to request further details on the Government’s plans to minimise learning loss during the national lockdown and support schools to reopen as soon as possible. The […]
Lockdown school closures mean we need to act now to save children’s education and wellbeing
Since the start of the pandemic, I have pushed again and again for schools to be the last to close and the first to open in any lockdown. Yet something that seemed unthinkable only a month ago – a national closure of schools – is now happening as a result of the new, more transmissible […]
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 […]
Children’s Commissioner warns 420,000 children in England are at risk of eviction unless Government acts
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, is today warning that hundreds of thousands of children will return to school in two weeks with the threat of housing eviction hanging over their families, unless the Government changes its mind and extends its ban on evictions. Her intervention comes as the Children’s Commissioner’s Office publishes a new […]
Children and schools must come before pubs and shops in planning for future Covid-19 lockdowns
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, has published a new briefing setting out the key actions needed to ensure children are at the heart of planning for any future coronavirus lockdowns, including making sure all children are back in school in September. The Children’s Commissioner argues that if any local or national lockdown takes place, schools […]
Children’s Commissioner for England creates local area profiles of child vulnerability during Covid-19
Analysis of the extent of child vulnerability around the country, much of which is hidden from sight under lockdown.
How young people are gaining valuable life skills with the police
The relationship between the police and teenagers can be fraught and complex. We often hear from some children that they don’t trust the police. They tell us they feel there is a “them against us” attitude. But at the same time, they also tell us they would like more police visibility to make them feel […]
