The Children’s Commissioner yesterday published a landmark School Census, drawing responses from 86% of state-funded schools and colleges. It’s the clearest national snapshot yet of the needs children bring to school, how schools are responding, and where support systems are struggling.
Five headline findings for schools
Hidden needs are widespread — and often unknown
Schools reported, among their pupils: 24% FSM, ~3% bereavement, ~3% living in unsuitable accommodation, ~2% on CAMHS waiting lists, 1% young carers, and smaller cohorts with a parent in prison or in kinship care. Yet many schools couldn’t give exact numbers for these vulnerabilities (e.g., 60% couldn’t give an exact bereavement count).
Top concerns sit beyond the school gate
CAMHS access is a top-four worry for 70% of primaries and 78% of secondaries; attendance is the #1 secondary concern (63%), with 39,000 children missing education and nearly 1 in 5 persistently absent. Notably, more secondaries worry about funding for wider services (59%) than their own funding (51%).
Provision varies sharply by phase, region and deprivation
Mental health counsellors are present in 42% of primaries vs 82% of secondaries; school nurses in 44% of primaries vs 68% of secondaries; Family Hubs on-site in ~10% of primaries and ~5% of secondaries. London secondaries tend to have more specialist roles; more deprived schools more often host family/community support.
Capacity and money are the biggest blockers
95% of primaries and 94% of secondaries cite funding as a top barrier to providing extra support; overall staff capacity is next (78% / 74%). For EHCP delivery, “funding not matching need” and specialist staffing are the main obstacles.
Mental health and attendance are system issues, not just school issues
320,000 children were on waiting lists for mental health support in 2023–24, with long waits and regional variation — and schools are feeling the impact day-to-day.
Who is the Children's Commissioner?
In England, the Children’s Commissioner is Dame Rachel de Souza. She was appointed from 1 March 2021 to 28 February 2027 (a single six-year term).
The role is an independent office created by the Children Act 2004 to promote and protect children’s rights and interests, especially for the most vulnerable.
The Commissioner listens to children, represents their views to government and public services, investigates systemic issues, publishes reports, and has a special focus on children in or receiving social care or living away from home (delivered day-to-day through the Help at Hand advice service).
What the Commissioner recommends
The Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza comments:“Every child has a right to access a brilliant education which unlocks a joyful and successful life.” She adds that great teaching must be backed by strong, local multi-agency support so every child can attend, engage, attain and excel - especially those with additional needs - calling for a renewed, inclusive system that rebuilds services beyond the school gate."
Seven shifts are proposed, including:
A national statement of ambition for all children – Set a clear vision that puts attendance, engagement, attainment and happiness at the centre, with stronger local accountability for those outcomes. The aim is that every child can attend a school that meets their needs, every day.
A broader focus on ‘additional needs’ inside and outside the classroom – Move beyond a narrow SEND lens to a fuller picture of children’s needs (pastoral, health, safety, learning), underpinned by: a Unique ID to share key information across services; a new definition of “additional needs”; a framework of needs and entitlements; and a clinically-led review to bring consistency to neurodevelopmental diagnoses.
Extra help for schools to deliver targeted/specialist support – Resource schools to do what works: an inclusion funding premium, a core universal offer for all pupils, a stronger evidence base for interventions, and more specialist training (including new NPQs for pastoral/SEND practice).
A new approach to statutory education support (EHCPs and beyond) – Create a digital Children’s Plan platform linked to the Unique ID; introduce tiered Education / Education & Health / Education & Care plans; reserve full EHCPs for children whose needs span education, health and care; and trigger earlier support in the early years for children behind at key milestones.
Delivering opportunity locally (Local Opportunity Mission Delivery Boards) – Make support a place-based mission: pooled local specialist funds across education/health/social care, aligned accountability for outcomes (including attendance), empowered local leadership (Directors of Education; appropriate regional mayor roles).
The critical role of special schools and Alternative Provision (AP) – Hold a default expectation of inclusive mainstream with supported pathways back from special/AP; guarantee a day-one right to AP for excluded learners; and grow effective internal AP to keep pupils connected to their school community.
Services beyond the school gate – Rebuild the wider children’s ecosystem (early help duty and Family Hubs, national thresholds under s17 including absence/kinship/parental imprisonment, more community mental health support, VRUs in every area, and safeguarding-led responses for children in the justice system) so schools aren’t carrying system problems alone.
Why this matters for reading and libraries
Attendance and engagement: persistent absence undermines reading progress and access to school libraries; schools need low-lift, high-impact ways to re-engage learners.
Mental health and bereavement: curated reading for wellbeing, grief and transition can meet pupils where they are while they wait for specialist support.
Inequality of provision: regional and deprivation gaps argue for simple, scalable tools schools can deploy now.
Practical takeaways for school leaders
Know your cohort better. Build gentle, opt-in mechanisms to surface hidden needs (young carers, bereavement, housing instability) and log them consistently — the census shows data gaps are real.
Prioritise low-admin supports. If you lack on-site counsellors or nurses, create reading-for-wellbeing lists, signpost local services, and design book-led small groups (transition, anxiety, grief) alongside your SMHL/DSL/SENCo.
Target attendance through joy. Pair attendance drives with irresistible reading events: author Q&As (virtual), “golden 20 minutes” family reading challenges, and library “first-week back” discovery trails.
Work the ecosystem. Where MHST/CAMHS are stretched, partner with local charities, libraries and hubs to extend capacity — many schools are already commissioning externally; make it strategic and quality-assured.
How LoveReading4Schools can help right now
Evidence-led booklists you can customise for wellbeing themes (transition, anxiety, bereavement), reading for pleasure, and catch-up by key stage.
Wishlists to invite families and community supporters to buy specific books for your library or interventions, and donation tools that let supporters donate to your school while they shop (including at checkout).
Fundraising pages to rally your community around a concrete target (closing the reading gap with a new class library; building a wellbeing shelf).
These are simple, low-overhead ways to strengthen engagement and equity while national reforms take shape.
Bottom line: The census confirms what you see daily — schools are stepping up, but can’t do it alone. Until wider services catch up, smart, book-centred interventions and community fundraising can keep more children attending, engaging and thriving — one library shelf, one reading list, one supporter at a time.
For more information visit: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/
To view The Children’s Plan: The Children’s Commissioner’s School Census in full, visit https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/resource/the-childrens-plan/
Follow The Children's Commissioner on:
X: https://x.com/ChildrensComm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/childrenscomm
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