How do we better support vulnerable children and young people?
I was happy to be able to provide a written submission to an evidence session of the Public Accounts Committee discussing the recent National Audit Office (NAO) report on Supporting Vulnerable Adolescents. “As Children’s Commissioner, I and my office, are able to represent and support vulnerable children and young people holistically, putting the child’s needs […]
Beyond the Labels: A SEND system which works for every child, every time
Foreword by Dame Rachel de Souza “People with disabilities are very intelligent in their own way, we all have a voice if it’s by iPad or by mobile phone or eye gaze or a communication book” – Boy, 17, The Big Ask. This paper is dedicated to all children growing up in England with additional […]
Family Review Part II: Bringing family services together through better data practices
Whatever form home life takes, it is a fundamental pillar of children’s lives, and supports their happiness. In The Big Ask, children told me that if they were unhappy at home, they were far more likely to be unhappy in general. This is why, when I was commissioned by the Government to undertake an independent […]
Focusing on Children’s Health
“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. “There needs to be more of a push […]
Latest statistics on Children in Need in England
Children in Need (CIN) are a group of children assessed as needing help and protection because of risks to their health or development. The latest Department for Education (DfE) figures on CIN show that there were 404,310 children in need as of March 31st 2022. This represents 3.3% of all children, a slightly higher rate […]
Children’s Commissioner’s information request
The Children’s Commissioner for England has written to all Directors of Children’s Services (DCSs) to request information about the education status of children who were looked after by the local authority as of 31 March 2022. The deadline for providing this information is 9 December 2022. The following questions have been submitted by local authorities. […]
Identifying the looked after children missing from education
My Attendance Audit so far has included surveying all local authorities, carrying out a deep-dive in 10 local authorities to get to the root of school absence and a detailed investigation of the daily attendance patterns in autumn 2021. A consistent finding from all this research was that there are children who are known to […]
Publishing our first set of Family Profiles
Tomorrow, we will be publishing Part I of our independent Family Review – a review into contemporary family life in the UK. We asked families to contribute to our research by sharing their Family Profile – a snapshot of what families means to them, their strengths, the challenges they may have experienced, how they like […]
Young Carers Festival 2022
Family life, and what can be done to support families, is a core pillar of my work as Children’s Commissioner. That’s why I was delighted to be commissioned by the Government to undertake an Independent Review of contemporary family life. The Family Review will seek to understand children and families’ perspectives on modern family life […]
All schools should be schools for children with Special Educational Needs
My Attendance Audit so far has included surveying all local authorities, carrying out a deep-dive in 10 local authorities to get to the root of school absence and a detailed investigation of the daily attendance patterns in autumn 2021. A consistent finding from this research was that children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disability (SEND) […]
School – the Children’s Commissioner’s view
 All children deserve an education system that matches their ambitions for the future, no matter what support they need and where they are in the country. What children say about School “People don’t realise how much education is important for life in general. […] if they don’t learn in school, they might not be […]
How we can support children and their mental health to attend school regularly
In The Big Ask, children told us about how much they care about feeling happy and well. They were articulate about their awareness of the artificial dichotomy between mental and physical health. In my visits across England, mental health, wellbeing and how we can support children better with their mental health is a subject that […]
Archived Content
What’s it like to be a child growing up with HIV?
There are 801 children living with HIV in the UK. The charity Children’s HIV association (CHIVA) works to ensure young people living with HIV have the knowledge, skills and support needed to live well and to achieve their greatest potential. To mark World AIDS Day on December 1st, we spoke to members of CHIVA’S youth committee about […]
Growing up North: Creating better outcomes for children and young people
Author: Cllr Judith Blake, Leeds City Council Our ambition is for Leeds to be the best city for children and young people to grow up in – a crucial element of Leeds City Council’s work to become the best city in the UK by 2030. Child Friendly Leeds is the thread that brings together all […]
Shining a light on the experiences of children excluded from schools and in alternative provision
My ‘Children’s Voices’ report looks at findings from an evidence review of the views, perspectives and experiences of children who have been or at risk of being excluded from school and children in alternative provision.
Letter from Anne Longfield to Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England
Over the last year, the issue most often raised with me has been children’s mental health, and it was the top of the list in my consultation with children about my priorities for this year.