Rachel de Souza

Dame Rachel Mary de Souza DBE (née Kenny; born 1968, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire) is the Children's Commissioner for England. She is a British educationalist and social reformer, a former headteacher and founding chief executive of the Inspiration Trust.

She was appointed DBE in the 2014 New Year Honours "for services to education".^[1]

Born in Scunthorpe in 1968, Rachel Kenny is the only female of four siblings. Her father David was a steelworker, while her mother Renate Telewny arrived in England as a refugee; Renate's father was a German railwayman from Leipzig, and her mother a Hungarian. Her stepfather Simon Telewny was Ukrainian.

She attended St Bede's, a local Catholic comprehensive school, then attended the John Leggott College, gaining A-levels in English and Religious Studies in 1986.^[2] She graduated as BA in Philosophy and Theology from Heythrop College, University of London. De Souza then received a PGCE and MA in Education at King's College London.

During her career, de Souza taught in Oxfordshire, Tower Hamlets and Luton Sixth Form College, and later served as deputy head at Denbigh High School, Luton.^[3]

Her first headship was at Barnfield West Academy in Luton, before being appointed principal of Ormiston Victory Academy (Costessey, Norwich).^[4] In 2012, she co-founded the Inspiration Trust, a multi-academy trust based in Norwich. She grew the Trust to include 14 schools across Norfolk and Suffolk.

She was appointed DBE in the 2014 New Year Honours "for services to education" following her successes rapidly turning around failing schools.

De Souza became Children's Commissioner for England on 1 March 2021. As the most powerful child protection post in the country, she advocates for the views of children in England, as well as children in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on UK Parliamentary reserved matters, such as immigration.

During an evidence session to the Education Select Committee preceding her appointment, at a time when numerous Children's Commissioners, including those for Wales and Scotland, had already committed to banning corporal punishment against children, de Souza was criticised for failing to do so.^[5] However, early into her role, having started on 1 March 2021, she said she was against violence of any form towards children, and in an article for the Times 20 April 2022 she said she was supportive of a ban being introduced in England.^[6][7] In December 2024, following the murder of Sara Sharif, she reiterated her position, calling for the end of the ‘reasonable chastisement’ clause that exists as a defence to assault against children in English law.

Since February 2022, de Souza has published an annual mental health briefing on children's experiences of mental health services.^[8] Her reports have consistently highlighted challenges and areas for improvement in children’s mental health services in England, including access to services, long waiting times and investment disparities. In her reports de Souza has called for long-term strategies to address these issues, emphasising the need for early intervention.

The case of Child Q, a 15-year-old black girl who was strip-searched at school without an appropriate adult present, led de Souza to investigate the practice of strip-searching of children by police. She has produced three reports on strip-searching,^[9] with her last finding between January 2018 and June 2023 a child had been strip-searched every 14 hours by police in England and Wales.

As part of her role as Children's Commissioner, de Souza visits reception centres and processing sites in Kent where migrants crossing the Channel in small boats enter the country. She published a briefing for MPs on the Illegal Migration Bill,^[10] and gave oral evidence to the Immigration Bill Committee in February 2025. Riots and children’s motivations Following the riots in Southport, de Souza used her powers of entry to speak to children involved in the violence. Findings revealed children’s involvement was largely unconsidered and did not follow the expected pattern of being driven by social media and right-wing ideologies.