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Scottish Traveller Education Programme

 

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Scotland’s Travelling people: Frequently Asked Questions about Education

This section is mainly designed to help teachers, support staff and other professionals working in education.

The suggestions below may be helpful for staff working with the most mobile Gypsy/Traveller pupils who may spend only a short time in your school. Show and fairground families tend to enroll their children and young people in Glasgow schools to which they return after the travelling season. These families also have more predictable patterns of mobility and frequently make prior arrangements with a particular school before they arrive in a town. Circus families also make contact with schools well in advance of them coming to town.

 

What might help a new Traveller pupil settle in?

Within your local authority there may be one or more teachers or other colleagues designated to support the education of Travelling pupils (see list of contacts, PDF format). Liaison with these staff will be very helpful in ensuring that a new pupil settles in happily. These staff can support your direct contact with his/her family, which is particularly helpful in situations where non-literacy may be an issue for the family. It is also very important to place any child with their peers and to put strategies in place to support their learning. The Helpful Hints for Teachers - working with Gypsies and Travellers for the first time (PDF format) resource may be of use.

 

Are there any resources I can use?

A growing number of resources for direct use by teachers and support staff working with pupils from Traveller communities are obtainable from the NATT+ website. Importantly, staff must be sensitive in their use of resources with a Traveller child (as would be the case for any child with interrupted learning) as pupils may have significant age/stage differences in some areas of their learning.

STEP has a small number of books, workbooks, activity sheets and DVDs (with some videos), often produced in consultation with Travellers. These may be useful in helping Traveller parents and their children overcome some of the anxiety they may feel about coming to school.

STEP can suggest and provide background reading for teachers and other staff who may be working with children from Traveller families.

Teaching resources specifically about Scottish Gypsies/Travellers were developed by STEP during 2008/2009. Web based versions of the resources are expected to be posted on the Learning and Teaching Scotland - Inclusive Education website. Paper based versions of the same resources will be available from STEP (more information will be added at a later date).

 

How can I find out what work a Traveller child has already done?

Ask the child and family. It may be a child’s very first experience of school! Showmen’s children may bring a Hand-Held Record or Red Book. Some families successfully use these resources to keep a record of the work done as the child moves from school to school. Gypsy/Traveller children may bring a My Learning Record (link to PDF). Developed in consultation with Gypsy/Traveller families and experienced staff, this document is an initial curricular transfer record designed to provide schools and support staff with enough essential, up-to-date information to enable them to plan and provide for a child’s immediate learning needs. It can be used in conjunction with an IRAG, a spiral bound document that provides a class teacher or teacher working in out-of-school settings with easy to photocopy fun activities that allow an initial rapid assessment of a mobile pupil's learning needs. These resources were designed to help a teacher to build on a child’s learning without having to wait for the transfer of an official pupil record. The child can thus be quickly placed with an appropriate group of peers. (Hard copies of the My Learning Record and the IRAG are obtainable from STEP)

 

How can I best help a Traveller pupil who may be with the school for a short period?

All pupils work best when they are happy and friendships, however brief, are always important. Assigning a 'buddy' for the new pupil is often worthwhile. Contact with home may be best made by phone rather than in writing, as some Traveller parents cannot read and write. A school’s direct and positive communications with parents will help a family to stay engaged in education when ‘moving on’. Up-to-date contacts will allow a teacher to make a note of work completed and significant achievements to help the next school.

We would encourage teachers to help Traveller children fill in a My Learning Record and to explain to parents the importance of keeping in touch, as described in the Keeping in Touch leaflets (one for Gypsy/Traveller parents and one for Show families). These leaflets were designed to help parents to understand the aims of Children Missing from Education (CME) – to keep children safe and engaged in education.

 

What about Gypsy/Traveller families who settle in my area or who live in a house all year round? What do I need to know?

Importantly, having a Gypsy/Traveller identity is not dependent on a family living a mobile life-style, but on having a sense of belonging to a Gypsy/Traveller family. Generally, a Gypsy/Traveller’s sense of identity is strongly felt and highly valued. However, due to frequent experiences of racism families are not always happy to make their background known to the school. Staff, (teachers, administrators, janitors and ‘dinner ladies’) should know about and show sensitivity towards Gypsy/Travellers and their cultural heritage and history. When using resources about Travelling cultures it is not good practice to focus on a Gypsy/Traveller child, as he or she may not wish to share their Traveller status with others as school.

 

How do I record Traveller pupils’ attendance?

Following consultation by The Scottish Government, guidance for schools ‘included, engaged and involved - part 1: attendance in scottish schools’ was published in 2007. Downloadable from http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/205963/0054747.pdf the guidance is shaped by Additional Support for Learning perspectives. Importantly, the legislation behind this document applies equally to all children and young people, however it is recognized that along with children from a range of backgrounds, “Gypsies and Travellers may travel as part of their tradition, for family connections or work commitments.”

The guidance provides information on how to record attendance and absence and how to manage and promote attendance at school. It includes specific information for recording ‘absence’ for Travelling pupils (for example, for Gypsy/Traveller and travelling show and fairground families). Schools, support staff and local authorities are encouraged to be sensitive to the diverse backgrounds of Travelling families and a need for flexibility due to travelling regarding recording of attendance and absence. Accurate data contributes to better provision.

What is the difference between ‘home education’ and ‘education outwith school’?

Confusions can arise in practice around the terms above. The Scottish Government’s guidance regarding children not being educated in a school distinguishes between “home education by parents” from “education being provided outwith school by local authorities”.

Gypsy/Traveller families generally understand ‘home education’ to refer to the ‘learning for life’ skills they teach to children in preparation for their futures as adults in a Gypsy/Traveller family. Similarly, Showpeople teach their children the skills they need to be successful Showmen. While informal, this education is a significant part of everyday life.

Gypsy/Traveller parents are increasingly seeking “education being provided outwith school by local authorities” particularly for their secondary-aged young people. These requests show that families recognise their young people’s need for formal education beyond primary school. However, Gypsy/Traveller families’ reluctance to engage in secondary schooling continues to reflect their concerns relating to racism and loss of Gypsy/Traveller cultures and life-styles.

Confusions can arise when written statements have constituted the main mode of communication and particularly when there is no designated teacher working directly with the families to advise on flexible alternatives. As a result, families may be involved in processes leading to ‘home education by parents’ when in fact they are looking for “education being provided outwit school by local authorities”.