Meeting the needs of Traveller learners: two case studies

Bexley LA

The Traveller Education Service in Bexley is small. It has 1.5 teachers to meet the needs of 90 to 120 children spread throughout the LA. Most of the children have an English Romany heritage, while the rest have an Irish Traveller heritage. Over 90% of the Travellers live in settled housing; the rest live either on the LA site or on private sites.

Most of the work is done in primary schools but the service also supports two secondary schools with children of Gypsy Traveller heritage. Circus and fairground Travellers who come into the area are supported by the service on site.

The challenge of 'invisibility’

The children are spread around local schools with no more than ten in any one school. They might therefore seem to be integrated, but in reality are  largely ‘invisible’. The families do not readily identify themselves as Gypsy Travellers for fear of stigmatisation, or negative press attention. Schools have not done much to promote Gypsy and Traveller traditions and culture.

The aim of the service is to challenge this invisibility, instilling pride in Gypsy Traveller heritage by:

• teaching the school community about Gypsy Traveller culture
• working in partnership with other mainstream LA agencies.

Teaching Gypsy Traveller culture

Feedback from link advisers, inspectors and local schools showed that mainstream teachers wanted practical support and advice. In response, the service has provided the following forms of support to schools:

• model lessons by advisory teachers on Gypsy Traveller history and culture for class teachers and teaching assistants
• use of dramatic role-play to promote the culture
• the Traveller Education Service leading whole-school assemblies
• involving pupils in delivering whole-school productions and assemblies
• inviting parents and other members of the school community to observe productions
• using the arts (dance, visual arts and storytelling) to inform teachers and learners about aspects of Gypsy Traveller culture.

Working in partnership

Yvonne Mooney, the head of Bexley Traveller Education Service, is on a local authority steering group committee made up of:

• the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) in Bexley
• the Ethnic Minority Advisory Service
• refugee organisations
• the library service.

Despite the small size of the service in Bexley, it is providing a positive contribution to the education of children of Gypsy Traveller heritage. Its activities have raised the children’s self-esteem, and challenged negative stereotypes.

Further information

Contact Yvonne Mooney, Head of Bexley Traveller education service at: yvonne.mooney@bexley.gov.uk.

Crays Hill School, Billericay, Essex

Crays Hill Village Primary School is a small school. It has only 51 children on its roll, and 49 of them are from a Traveller background. A community of English Travellers has been joined more recently by Travellers of Irish heritage on a nearby legal site. This site, which feeds the school, is one of the largest in Europe.

Crays Hill is providing an education to one of the most underachieving groups in the country. Teachers and governors work in a hostile environment where negative press coverage fans the flames of local prejudice and racism.

The local authority supports the school with resources, planning and advice through the Essex and Southend Consortium Traveller Education Support Service.

Responding to the challenge – successful strategies

• Head teacher Sulan Goodwin inherited some serious behaviour issues. She helped to tackle these by posting photographs of children behaving appropriately all over the school.
• Adult literacy is an issue for the Traveller community. The school communicates to parents in the form of ‘visual letters’ with few words and many pictures.
• The school is flexible, to meet the needs of highly transient children. It is open between 8:30 am and 3:15 pm, but outside these hours the children receive informal support from a community liaison worker and a learning support assistant.
• The community liaison worker supports the parents so that they can feel part of the school community. She helps them to understand the school’s various protocols, fill in forms, and get to parent meetings. Her post is supported by the Children’s Fund and includes both outreach work and working with other professionals.
• The school uses the arts to develop children’s creativity, self-esteem and social skills.
• Speaking and listening are a focus for the school and children are taken on lots of trips to encourage and stimulate purposeful talk. There is an impressive ‘Children’s Voices’ display in the school featuring pupils’ poetry and prose. Through this, pupils can describe what it feels like to be a Traveller.
• Through personal, social and health education (PSHE) the school develops children’s life-skills and actively promotes race equality and acceptance among the wider community.

Through these strategies, the school is effectively challenging the ‘blanket prejudice’ experienced by the children and staff.

Further information

Contact Sulan Goodman, Headteacher at: sulangoodwin@yahoo.co.uk.

Common issues

Although very different in context there are some similar issues between Bexley and Crays Hill School. These include the use of the following strategies:

• countering the effects of negative press
• improving self-esteem and pride in Gypsy Traveller heritage and culture
• responding to a transient community
• use of the creative arts.

But it is clear that there is a lot of work still to do in this area.

Are you are working effectively to support the education of children of Gypsy Traveller heritage? Have you produced successful resources? If you would like to share your experience with other members of the Achieve network, please email us at achieve@gtce.org.uk quoting ‘Gypsy Traveller Education Project’ in the subject field.