The FED Learners Council invited members of youth advisory groups from the FEA, The Edge and The Careers and Enterprise Company to join them in meeting with the Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza. Kerrie Portman is one such Learner and in this thinkpiece Kerrie reflects on the meeting.
Kerrie Portman – Reflections on meeting the Children’s Commissioner
I am currently studying HSPS at the University of Cambridge. Due to being disabled and in Care, I’ve had a very unconventional educational route and wasn’t consistently enrolled in education until I was around nineteen. The education system and those who work in it need to be more aware of the realities, needs, wishes, goals and voices of students in order to fit the education system around children- not force children to fit into an education system that doesn’t work for them. Alongside my studies, I am a writer, researcher and activist.
On July 11th 2024 members from the FED Learners Council and related organisations met with the Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, to discuss the topic of maximising the potential of youth voice. The meeting was chaired by Adeola Gbakinro of the FED Learners Council, who asked participants to share their perspectives on good practice in youth voice; how to build a more holistic education system with children and young people seen as equal partners; what more can be done to ensure the Learner voice is best represented in high-level discussions; how can the Children’s Commissioner support efforts to advocate for child-entered policies across government; and people’s hopes for the future of youth voice with a new government. The first half of the meeting was with the Children’s Commissioner, before her Executive Director continued the conversation. After the meeting, the FED Learner’s Council carried on the conversation with the other invited young people.
The Children’s Commissioner began by speaking about her work on The Big Ambition survey, which received 253,000 responses from children, young people and adults on behalf of children between September 2023 and January 2024, covering themes of education, youth work, family, children’s social care, health, safety from crime, online safety, skills and jobs, unaccompanied children seeking asylum and ideas for ‘a better world.’ Dame Rachel then pledged to put young people’s voices at the centre of government and gave the example of how she and her team have recently asked the Ofcom Chief Executive to write a young people’s version for the Children’s Code of the new Online Safety Act.
“Take your own filter off and listen” – Dame Rachel de Souza
As the discussion began, FED Learners raised the importance of including young people in discussions but ensuring this isn’t done in a tokenistic way. Suggestions to counteract this included updating participants on how their voices were used, involving them in the implementation of the rest of the project and explaining the project in a meaningful way. Two examples of good practice offered by one young member were Youth Voice Observatory in Essex and the Essex Safeguarding Board trying to set up a youth advisory panel. Another pitfall of youth voice inclusion was said to be when professionals confused including a young person’s voice with expecting that young person to do their job for them, such as during the creation of EHCPs when the student is unlikely to be able to know the full support options available to them. Dame Rachel spoke of her and her team’s efforts to reach all children during The Big Ambition survey, including all children in mental health hospitals and Young Offender Institutions. She further mentioned that members of her research team were looking at how to include the perspectives of even younger people – right the way through to babies who’ve not yet learned to speak!
When speaking about education, FED Learners raised their concerns over the increasingly reduced autonomy for children in the education system, in which young people live a large portion of their day-to-day lives. This includes being denied the ability to use the toilet when needed or take a break when unwell. Dame Rachel commented how easy it is to lose the attention of students and how hard it is to get back, as well as noting that students have fed back to her that PHSE and relationship and sex education classes are the most important lessons, but that some students felt these subjects were not always prioritised within the school or by those teaching them. Other FED Learners expressed concerns over the disparity within school hierarchies, especially those from ethnic minority backgrounds, leaving students without teachers or other school staff who represented their lived experience, resulting in these students being treated unfairly. The Care System was brought up as a system that felt impossible to navigate even for adults who worked in these systems and entirely overwhelming and ill designed for children to navigate. One Learner raised the lack of meaningful research into meaningful co-production and the different ways young people versus adults can be heard in discussions, whilst another raised that even within the category of ‘young person’ there is still a big age range.
“Our challenge to the new government is listen […] you’ve got a great opportunity with this huge mandate to do some listening and thinking and get this right again” – Dame Rachel de Souza
The meeting concluded with a discussion of hopes for the future of youth voice within the new Labour government. FED Learners shared hopes that the inclusion of youth voices would bring with it a diverse range of perspectives and lived experiences that would lead to a more intersectional approach to tackling issues within the education system and other topics disproportionately affecting young people. It was hoped that work would continue being done to include the voices of those who cannot speak up for themselves and voices outside the bias of a self-selected group. It was hoped that the new government would include and take on board the views of younger people, which is easier than ever with technological developments.
“I got a little bit emotional hearing from her…I really love that she gets it and that she genuinely wants to incorporate youth voice and make it have an impact!” – Naomi B., FED Learners Council Member
I am very glad that Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, took the time to listen to listen and speak with members from the FED Learners Council about maximising the potential of youth voice. I hope that she will genuinely take on board what we, and the other young people she speaks to, say.
If you or someone you know would be interested in hearing more about the FED Learners Council, or are considering joining the council, head over to The FED Leaners Council.
