The road to no more children missing from education
This week I co-chaired a roundtable with the Minister of State for Schools where we were joined by representatives from leading local authorities and Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) who are all working to identify children missing from education (CME) and get them back into education. Every child has a right to an education and yet every […]
Using data on previous absence to predict current absence
Last term I published Education history and attendance, which found that previous absence was a strong predictor of current absence. Among pupils who had previously been persistently absent, the rate of persistent absence in autumn and spring of academic year 2021-2022 was 51%, over three times higher than the rate of persistent absence among pupils […]
It’s important to listen to children this year
Almost 20 years ago, in 2004, the Children Act 2004 set out the Children’s Commissioner’s primary function: to promote and protect the rights of children in England, including promoting awareness of their views and interests. Since starting my post as Children’s Commissioner in March 2021 I have put children’s voices at the heart of everything […]
Children’s Voices: Views on family from students at Ark Boulton Academy
As part of my independent Family Review – a Review into contemporary family life commissioned by Government – I visited Ark Boulton Academy. I wanted to hear from looked after children and children in temporary housing their thoughts on what is good about family, what issues there might be and how they think Government should […]
Health: Annual roundup
‘How far does it have to get? Sometimes to you sit there and you think what do I have to actually do to get the support, how far do I have to go?’ – Girl, 15, in focus group. England’s children told me in The Big Ask, the largest ever survey of children with over […]
School: Annual roundup
I started this year setting out a bold plan for what England’s education system should be delivering for children. The Big Ask survey, the largest ever of children with over 550,000 responses demonstrated the extent of the aspirations held by this generation. So this year I have worked to imagine an education system which can […]
The Children’s Commissioner’s submission to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child
‘The fact that some adults don’t believe in children’s rights, and we have those rights, so we need the Government to speak about rights for kids so that we have a life of some sort of freedom. And that we have respect for adults so adults should have at least some respect for kids around […]
New NHS Data shows school absence rates are higher in children with a probable mental health disorder
‘The lack of help with mental health has been the biggest thing that has stopped me and my friends from achieving what we want. It is difficult to access as we are not taken seriously, and when we are, waiting lists are so long’ – Girl, 17. In The Big Ask, the largest ever survey […]
How Help at Hand helps children get back into education
My recent reports on attendance and SEND have highlighted that despite the requirement that all children in care have a clear plan, including education, of how a local authority will best look after them and outlining the individuals with responsibility for the welfare of the young person, this does not happen every time. When it […]
What children need from an integrated alternative provision system
In The Big Ask, the largest survey of its kind in the world, over 500,000 children told me how much they love school.[i] They love learning. The pandemic re-set the relationship between children and school. After a tough two years of mainly online learning, children missed their teachers, their friends, their activities, and real classroom learning. […]
An integrated AP system designed by the children who use it
It has been my long-held belief that if we get education right, regardless of where a child lives, where they are in the country or what their additional need, we can help every child achieve their ambitions. In The Big Ask, children told me how much they loved school. In fact, school and education were […]
Out of sight, out of mind?
This year I have focused relentlessly on children’s right to education and addressing the severe evidence gaps across government concerning children missing from education. Every child has the right to receive a suitable education and yet thousands of children every year fall out of education and out of sight all together. Recently, the Centre for […]
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 […]
