Children’s commissioner begins major consultation to shape post-covid future for children
Neil Puffett
Monday, April 19, 2021
Millions of children in England have been invited to set their priorities for improving childhood as part of a major consultation being conducted by the children’s commissioner for England.
Dame Rachel de Souza, who took over from Anne Longfield as children’s commissioner last month wants the results from the survey, called “The Big Ask”, to feed into her Childhood Commission – due to be published later this year.
-
Opinion: Longfield has set high bar for commissioners
-
From Crisis in the Early Years to a Fairer Start: Could We Close the School Readiness Gap By 2030?
She has described the report as a once in a generation review of the future of childhood, inspired by the ambition of William Beveridge’s pioneering 1940s report, which laid the foundations of the post-War social security system.
The survey, which will run for one month, from today (19 April) until 19 May, will be made available to every school in England, with schools encouraged to use it during classes and assemblies. It will be accompanied by an online assembly introduced by England international footballer Marcus Rashford.
To ensure that the experiences of babies and pre-school children are captured, the children’s commissioner will be running focus groups with different communities and groups of children, which will include talking to parents and carers. There will also be focus groups for children with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities or other complex needs.
Meanwhile, de Souza will be visiting schools to speak with children about their experiences of the pandemic and to hear about their hopes for the future, with the tour including visits to schools in Bedfordshire, Cumbria, Yorkshire, Norfolk, the Midlands, the South West and London.
De Souza said: “It is time to give something back to children after the huge sacrifices they have made during the Covid pandemic. The Big Ask will ask millions of children in England to tell us what life is like for them, what their hopes and ambitions are, and what is holding them back.
“I hope that every parent and carer, every teacher and anyone who works with children will encourage children to take part in this big, exciting opportunity. I want The Big Ask to be the biggest survey of children ever carried out in this country so that we can better understand what children want from the people in power and those who make decisions about their lives.
“What children tell us will be at the heart of my Childhood Commission and ‘Beveridge-style’ blueprint for government and others to tackle some of the generational problems that have held back too many children for decades.”