National Children's Bureau

18/08/2026

Our recent national policy work showed the power of bringing evidence, lived experience and sector expertise together to drive and influence the legislative areas that affect children, young people, families and adults.

We’re proud of our work across child poverty, children’s social care, early years, SEND, health, bereavement support and wider social care policy, helping shape national debates, convene partners, support government engagement and keep children’s voices at the heart of decision-making.

Highlights included working through the End Child Poverty Coalition to set out clear tests for the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy, pressing for structural welfare reform and contributing to progress on removing the two-child limit. In children’s social care, NCB helped build sector consensus after the Independent Review, supported parliamentary and government engagement, and played a central role in securing an additional £2 billion for children’s social care through the Spending Review.

Through NCB and the Council for Disabled Children, we also helped shape the SEND reform agenda by convening roundtables with experts and practitioners, producing policy briefings, supporting national engagement with children, young people and families, and feeding sector expertise directly into government advisory structures.

This work reflects what NCB does best: building consensus, amplifying the experiences of children and families, and turning insight into practical policy change.

As we look ahead, we remain committed to working with partners across the country to help create the robust policy and legislation that can improves lives and give brighter futures.

Find out more about our national policy work at: https://lnkd.in/e9tTx_tt

17/08/2026

When Research in Practice joined the National Children’s Bureau family in 2024, we shared an ambition to strengthen and innovate practice and policy across children’s and adults’ social care, safeguarding, youth justice, SEND and health, by bringing together research, evidence, practice wisdom and lived experience.

As Research in Practice marks its 30th anniversary, our latest impact report shows just how far these ambitions have been achieved.

In 2025-26, Research in Practice has:
• Supported more than 210 local authority, health, voluntary sector and university partners.
• Delivered 495 workforce development opportunities, reaching over 5,000 diverse professionals.

From resources on exploitation, safeguarding and family help, to work on pre-birth practice, adult social care, ethical data use and support for parents with learning disabilities, this work supports professionals to turn evidence into better outcomes for children, young people, families, adults and communities.

The report also highlights the power of co-production in strengthening evidence-informed practice. This includes amplifying the voices of people with lived experience, such as:
• Resources developed with Autistic parents and practitioners.
• Learning from people involved in Family and Group Conferences.
• Workshops co-produced and co-delivered with adults who draw on care and support.
• A blog with Salar on arriving in the UK as a separated child seeking asylum.
• An Ofsted-commissioned report sharing children’s and parents’ views on vulnerability and how it should be recognised in inspection processes.

And Research in Practice has helped push NCB's thinking beyond childhood and transitions, encouraging a truly life course approach to wellbeing and opportunity. A great example is the Working Together With Parents Network, which supports practitioners to work more effectively with parents with learning disabilities and learning difficulties.

A huge thank you to everyone across Research in Practice and NCB whose expertise, collaboration and commitment are helping to build better childhoods, stronger communities and brighter futures.
Read our Impact Report: https://www.ncb.org.uk/about/who-we-are/our-annual-reports/annual-impact-report-2025-26

12/08/2026

On International Youth Day, we're reflecting on the importance of listening to the voices of young people and what matters most to them.

We asked NCB's Children and Young People Media Group what they think are the biggest issues affecting young people today.

They spoke about the need for earlier mental health support, the growing impact of the cost of living crisis on everyday opportunities, the effects of climate change and the challenge of navigating misinformation in a rapidly changing digital world.

Their perspectives highlight not only the challenges they face, but also the solutions they want to see. Prevention over crisis response, fair access to opportunities and the knowledge and skills to thrive in a digital world.
We remain committed to ensuring young people's voices are at the heart of decisions that affect their lives. At NCB, we believe young people's voices should be heard, valued and acted upon. Today, we're celebrating the insight, resilience and determination of the young people helping to shape a better future for everyone.

12/08/2026

We believe that children and young people are experts in their own lives. Their experiences, perspectives and ideas make policy, practice and services stronger, more relevant and more effective. Real change happens when the views, wishes, and experiences of children, young people, families and adults are at the heart of decision-making.

In 2025/26, we:
🌻 Involved 1,248 children and young people, and 535 parents/carers in shaping research, policy, and practice.
🌻Embedded youth voice throughout our work, from internal governance to national policy reform.

To spotlight on one area of impact:
SEND Reform consultation: Our FLARE group directly advised the Department for Education, influencing the language, accessibility, and priorities of the government’s SEND reforms. We carried out engagement work to enable 423 young people (aged 8–25) to share their views with policymakers. As one FLARE member put it:

“Children and Young people must be at the heart of decision making, especially in things that involve us.”

Other recent highlights:
🌻Anti-Bullying Champions: The Young Anti-Bullying Alliance (YABA) empowered 13–17-year-olds to stand up to bullying, share their stories in Parliament, and shape national conversations. Their insights informed school programmes and even Premier League training sessions!
🌻National Youth Strategy: Young NCB members worked with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, shaping the future of youth services across the UK.
🌻Youth Voice Matters 2027: Over 100 disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs attended our annual conference - designed and led by young people - building confidence, leadership, and advocacy skills, and even speaking directly with the Minister for School Standards.
🌻Bereavement Advocacy: Young people from the Childhood Bereavement Network presented to government and the UK Commission on Bereavement, making sure support for grieving children is safe and effective.
🌻Participation Practice: NCB supported over 90 organisations, youth groups, and schools to embed meaningful young people’s participation, including supporting young people to lead sessions at national events.
🌻Co-production in Practice: Research in Practice developed resources with autistic parents, co-produced workshops with adults drawing on care support, and published reports capturing children’s and parents’ views on vulnerability and inclusion.

NCB’s approach isn’t just about listening, it’s about action. By making lived experience a driving force, we’re building policies and services that truly reflect what children, young people, families and adults need. Our work proves that when young people and other with lived experience lead, everyone benefits.
Find out more in our Annual Impact Report for 2025-26:
https://buff.ly/XbOLEVS

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11/08/2026

A reminder that the Council for Disabled Children is running a programme of online training sessions for professionals in the SEND system!

See the full calendar and book here: https://buff.ly/QxV6YZS

What do the topics include?

💥 Navigating Health and SEND
💥 Understanding the SEND reforms: what are they and the impact on you
Experts at Hand
💥 Coproducing in times of change
💥 SEND in the Early Years
💥 Understanding the social care offer for inclusion
💥 Inclusion Bases

11/08/2026

🚨 ANTI-BULLYING WEEK 2026 MERCH IS HERE! 🚨

Get ready to celebrate hashtag 2026 in style with our official hashtag merchandise! 👕💙

Whether you're a teacher, student, parent, or supporter, we've got everything you need to show your commitment to the anti-bullying message!

✨ What’s in store:
✔️ Colourful wristbands
✔️ Bold and inspiring t-shirts
✔️ Eye-catching stickers
✔️ School bundles

Every item purchased helps fund our work and ensures Anti-Bullying Week continues to grow and make a difference each year 💪

🛒 Head to our online shop and grab your merch today:
👉 https://buff.ly/IgL55Kf

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Anti-Bullying Week 2026: Break the Silence merchandise is now available for purchase!

11/08/2026

Children's homes are often seen as a last resort but new research suggests they can instead provide vital stability for children during periods of crisis.

A study by Kingston University and NCB incorporated data from 16,500+ children's home placements. Analysis found placement changes and school exclusions increased before children entered residential care, then fell after entry. The same data, along with our interviews with staff, young people and parents, showed that stability depends on having a skilled, consistent workforce and the right support in place.

The research tells us that the care system should:

- Recognise children's homes as a purposeful part of care
- Invest in workforce stability and expertise
- Protect children's education during periods of change
- Base any transitions out of residential care on readiness, not age alone

Read a report on the research findings, listen to a podcast led by a care-experienced young person and researchers from the project and more: https://buff.ly/EJqwdNq

10/08/2026

We are hiring!

🖐 If you're a policy and communications professional with a passion to drive positive change for children and young people across the UK, check out our vacancies before it's too late!

🎗️ Policy and Communications Officer: https://buff.ly/07NmukP , deadline for applications is Monday 17 August 2026

🎗️ Policy and Public Affairs Officer (x2): https://buff.ly/g706nNw , deadline for applications is Monday 17 August 2026

🎗️ Policy and Communications Coordinator: https://buff.ly/dXcAEpx , deadline for applications is Tuesday 1 September

For more information, please visit our webpage: https://buff.ly/eww7VPA

05/08/2026

We’re excited to share the publication of our latest Annual Impact Report 2025-26, which summarises a year of both significant challenge and meaningful progress for NCB.

At a time of rising need, widening inequalities and increasing pressure on the services that children, young people and families rely on, our focus has remained clear: improving systems through evidence, lived experience and support for practitioners.

This year's report highlights three strengths that define our work:

✅ Breadth – working across local practice, national policy, research and workforce development to connect insight with action.
✅ Depth – ensuring that the voices of children, young people, families and adults with lived experience are at the heart of policy, practice and service design.
✅ Sustained expertise – building on more than 60 years of experience to influence change, support professionals and respond to emerging challenges with confidence.

Across 2025/26, we continued to push boundaries by looking beyond childhood itself, strengthening support for transitions to adulthood, while advancing evidence-informed practice and helping systems work better across the life course.

Our achievements this year were driven by our six strategic goals: amplifying the voices of children and families, improving local systems, influencing national policy, generating evidence that counts, strengthening the workforce, and building a high-performing, values-led organisation.

We're proud of what has been achieved and deeply grateful to our staff, partners, members, funders and, most importantly, the children, young people and families whose experiences continue to shape our work.

Together, we remain united for better childhoods and brighter futures.

https://www.ncb.org.uk/about/who-we-are/our-annual-reports/annual-report-2025-26

04/08/2026

The Government is inviting local organisations to run Best Start in Life Community Sessions this summer and beyond – as a simple way to engage parents and carers with trusted information on early years topics.

DfE will provide everything you need to help local families access trusted advice and support.

Best Start in Life helps families access advice on topics including:

⭐ Pregnancy

⭐ Feeding and nutrition

⭐ Bonding with your baby

⭐ Early years education and childcare.

Best Start in Life Community Sessions are relaxed, 45min conversation-based activities that help parents and carers explore some of the questions families most commonly ask around these topics.

Using a simple, ready-made discussion format, the sessions encourage parents to share experiences, learn from one another and access trusted information and support.

🗓️ To run your own session, scan the QR code on the flyer and let DfE know by Friday 7th August. 👈

Department for Education