Welcome to another week, and thank you for your patience as we dialled down the number of posts over the last couple of weeks. Researching Reform will have some news to share with you shortly, which we hope will be welcomed by families across the UK.

In the meantime, the Children’s Commissioner, Rachel de Souza, has launched a nationwide survey for children aged 4-17 in England, and a survey for 18 year olds and adults, which she hopes will identify the barriers in children’s lives that are stopping them from reaching their full potential.

The press release about the survey, which is called the Big Ask, says the questionnaire is the largest ever consultation undertaken with children in England.

The survey went live today, and will run for one month, until 19 May, when it will be closed.

The Frequently Asked Questions section explains that the survey will be shared with as many children as possible, through schools, youth groups, local authorities, charities who work with children and young people, Children in Care Councils, children’s homes, children’s mental health services, youth justice settings, community groups and other networks which represent or have access to children.

There is a survey format for children with special needs, and experiences of children under 3 will be gathered in workshops and discussions with parents who have small children rather than through the survey.

Children can complete the survey anonymously. The data collected from every response will be held by the Commissioner’s office for two years and deleted unless there is a compelling reason to keep the data, where, for example, the data could be of assistance to researchers.

There is also a survey for 18 year olds which can be answered by care leavers, parents, or adults who work with children.

The survey takes between 5-10 minutes to complete, according to the Big Ask’s home page.

You can access the surveys, the FAQs and additional resources for sharing the survey here.