Scottish Traveller Education Programme
|
 |
“It’s a Wonderful Life”: Showmen’s Children and Families Exhibition at Thorntree Primary School
Tuesday 1st of December 2009, Thorntree Primary School
return to main Positive Images page
At Thorntree Primary School, children from Showmen families make up their largest minority group. Thorntree Primary School ran a Curriculum for Excellence project to celebrate their cultural diversity and to show how Showmen fit within wider communities. The School staff enabled their children to improve their literacy and ICT skills and develop their photography skills using cameras. The children developed a Curriculum for Excellence Project, which involved staff who enabled them to improve their ICT, photography and communication skills. By using cameras the children were able to showcase their “wonderful life” through words and images. This information was then shared with the wider school community. Their parents welcomed and supported this project as a way of telling others about who they are and how they work.
Please take time to browse the slide show below.
Here are some of the children’s comments about their day-to-day lives:
Life of a Traveller
“My name is Beth and I am eight years old. I live in Glasgow with my mam, dad and sister.
My family has been part of the Travelling community for many many years. My mam and dad have been Travellers all their life. My family has a bouncy castle and a juvenile which is a kids’ ride which goes around in a circle - it is like a train.
I love being a Traveller because it is fun and we get to travel a lot. I like to play with my friends and cousins. They help me if I hurt myself. I love living in my yard because you can play hide and seek.
You have to work hard when you are a Traveller because you need to mind the balloons and chairs. We need to start work about 3 o’clock till 10 o’clock so it is a long day’s work.” (Beth, 8 years old) |
My Life as a Traveller
“My name is Ronan and I am eight years old and I live in a yard in Glasgow. I live in a wagon with my mam and dad and sister and dog called Bubbles. I also have a big sister and two big brothers. My sister and brothers live in the trailer right next to our wagon. I go to Thorntree Primary School and I like it. I love being a Traveller because you go to shows which is good fun and we get to go to a football tournament just for Travellers. I play for the ‘Flaties’ and for the ‘Travellers’.
I love being a Traveller because my family has a candy floss machine and balloons and we used to have a kiosk. When we are travelling I sometimes work. What I do is tell the people to sit down on the slide so that they don’t jump and hurt themselves.
My family is a Travelling family but my mum is half ‘Flatie’ and half ‘Traveller’’ (Ronan, 8 years old) |
Life of Being a Traveller
“Hi! My name is Ashton and I love being a Traveller. I’m 11 years old and I live in a chalet in Glasgow. My family has a simulator and a funhouse. I like getting on the rides. There is nothing I don’t like about being a Traveller. I have to work sometimes on the funhouse but it is sometimes fun. My favourite place is Perth Holyfair and Knockhill.
The Travellers have football matches against other Travellers in the Borders and Manchester. We had a football match in February. All the Scottish Travellers got two buses to Manchester. I went on the same bus as my friends and it was fun. We won the first 3 matches then we lost the last one. After the football match was over the bus took us to King’s Dance which was still in Manchester. This is where the trophies and medals were given out. Then we went home. We got home about 2o’clock. When we got home we were very tired.
In School we get called Gypsies. But we are not Gypsies. We are Travellers and Gypsies are a totally different thing and we don’t like getting called Gypsies. It is important to realise that we are different and Gypsies have their own culture.
I also think that work is important as it is preparing me for the future when I leave school.
I like it when you are on a ground and when friends are there to play with you and you are all on rides. On the yard I have lots of friends.” (Ashton, 11 years old) |
Darci’s Traveller Life
“My family has been a Traveller for 240 years. We are not Gypsies. I live in a chalet on a yard. All the Travellers go travelling in April. Being a Traveller is fun because you get to go on all the rides fro free. My auntie owns two hooplas which are very hard to build and a pair of swings. When you press the electrical button they go round. My auntie and uncle have one dodgem which is a lot of fun. The only thing I don’t like about being a Traveller is when I win a stall and I don’t get a prize because I am a Traveller. Being a Traveller is hard work. When we go Travelling I stay in a Trailer. It is like a caravan but Travellers call it a Trailer.
I go to lots of places like Nairn, Kirkcaldy, Perth, Leith and lots more – everyone knows me so I am quite lucky.” (Darcie) |
It was a fantastic event attended by over one hundred people including children, parents and Education Liaison Officers from the The Showmen’s Guild – Scottish Section. There were wonderful scale models of the fairground rides, photographic exhibitions of Travelling life; a true celebration of what life is like as a child of a Showman’s family.
On behalf of STEP we would like to thank Showmen’s families and staff at Thorntree Primary School for inviting us to this exciting and informative event.
return to main Positive Images page
|
|
