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Scottish Traveller Education Programme

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Ministerial Launch - Education for Gypsy/Traveller Children in Scotland: a Guide for Parents.

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The Scottish Traveller Education Programme (STEP) launched its DVD, 'Education for Gypsy/Traveller Children', and three accompanying leaflets, 'Education in Scotland'; 'Being Safe in School in Scotland' and 'Additional Support for Learning in Scotland', on Friday 17th March 2006 at the New Lanark Heritage Centre.

The day included a welcome from South Lanarkshire's Provost, Mushtaq Ahmad, our host for the day, a keynote speech from the Deputy Minister for Communities, Johann Lamont MSP, who outlined the Scottish Executive's continuing commitment to education for Gypsy/Traveller communities in a racist free Scotland, and an introduction to the content of the DVD and the leaflets by Gypsy/Traveller women Mary Hendry and Jess Smith. Mary works for Glasgow City Council and STEP, while Jess is a storyteller who draws on her experience as a Traveller herself, to produce highly popular novels that have captured the myths and stories of Scotland and its travelling people.

STEP's DVD and leaflets were designed to help Gypsy/Traveller parents access information about education, particularly about 'authorised attendance'; on how to keep children safe when at school; and, to introduce Gypsy/Traveller communities to the meanings and implications of the Additional Support for Learning Act (2004) for the education of their children.

Gypsy/Traveller pupils may have additional support needs for the same range of reasons as children from other communities. However, the Act's broad concept of 'additional support' needs has particular relevance for Gypsy/Traveller pupils, for example those with interrupted learning. We are sure that the DVD and information leaflets will help families, teachers and school administrators understand the impact of this legislative change on everyday practice for Gypsy/Traveller and other pupils.

The launch was very well supported. Over a hundred people, including Scottish Gypsy/Traveller parents and children, attended the launch. STEP was delighted to welcome Karen Gillon, MSP, and Scottish local authorities' representatives, including South Lanarkshire's Education Director of Education Resources, Ken Arthur. As well as other staff from education, an impressive number of site managers also attended the launch. Michelle Lloyd from Save the Children and other voluntary organisations provided welcome information and support.

STEP will distribute copies of the DVD and leaflets to Gypsy/Traveller families mainly through local authorities' designated Traveller education staff and site managers. Other Gypsy/Traveller support organisations will also be supplied with materials, such as Larkhall's Universal Connections and Aberdeen's Traveller Education and Information Project. Copies of the materials can be downloaded, and requested from STEP (Tel: 0131 651 6444 or Email: step@education.ed.ac.uk).

Among the Gypsy/Traveller people who came to the launch, Charles Douglas MBE, and Mary Hendry and Sally Kelbie, both 'stars' of the DVD were members of the Secretary of State for Scotland's Advisory Committee for Travelling People, which met and reported from 1971 to 1999. They enjoyed seeing the fruits of their earlier work, while their presence demonstrated the longevity of their commitment to supporting education and other services for Gypsy/Traveller people.

The event's upbeat and hopeful tone was enhanced by a showing of a DVD, 'We are the Gypsy Kids', a South Lanarkshire production that involved Gypsy/Traveller children and young people letting us know their positive feelings about being a Gypsy/Traveller in 21st century.

View clips from the DVD*:

Clip 1: benefits of education (2.4MB file size)
Clip 2: what happens at pre-school or nursery? (1.5MB file size)
Clip 3: what should I do if I get bullied at school? (1.6MB file size)
Clip 4: more information about racist bullying and name-calling (2.2MB file size)

*These clips are in .mov format - if you cannot view them, you can download Quicktime for free.

For the full DVD, contact STEP (Tel: 0131 651 6444 or Email: step@education.ed.ac.uk).

Download the leaflets in PDF format:

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