IntroductionEnabling every child to fulfil his or her potential is at the heart of the Government’s drive to raise school standards. Many young people from minority ethnic backgrounds achieve at the highest level, but for some pupils, the gaps remain unacceptably wide. Although numbers recorded in these ethnic catergories are small, it is clear that Gypsy/Roma pupils and Travellers of Irish Heritage (Gypsy and Traveller pupils) have very low attainment throughout Key Stage assessments. The evidence shows that they are the lowest achieving group of pupils in our schools.
In October 2003 Schools Minister Stephen Twigg MP launched Aiming High: Raising the Achievement of Minority Ethnic Pupils - A strategy to tackle the under-achievement of minority ethnic pupils, including those from Gypsy and Traveller backgrounds. For more information please contact Andrea Smith on 01325 391 081 or email andrea.smith@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk Frequently asked questions regarding Gypsy and Traveller Pupils Achievement Gypsy and Traveller Resources for Schools (67.0KB XLS) School Supported Distance Learning: A Good Practice Guide based on using ICT December 2006 (2.0MB PDF) This good practice guide seeks to offer lessons from emergent good practice. It is of relevance for all groups of children whose schooling is interrupted, for any reason. It is based on using ICT to support work with communities which have a travelling tradition. The e-learning and mobility projects (ELAMP) used laptops and datacards to support distance learning for pupils whose families are away from school for parts of the year because of parental work patterns. It has provided a significant shift in both motivation and attainment for many pupils. These positive results have formed the basis for the identification of aspects of good practice. We hope to encourage more LAs and schools to adopt this approach.
Pupil Registration Regulations
The 2006 Pupil Registration regulations came into force on 1 September 2006. The regulations have changed and we wrote to all schools and Directors of Children's Services in July and August to advise them that the regulations would come into force on 1 September 2006. The regulations can be viewed at www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation as statutory instrument 1751/2006. There is also guidance on applying the regulations at www.dcsf.gov.uk/schoolattendance.
Schools which are designated as 'base schools' can mark a GRT child as 'present at approved educational activity' when they know the child is attending another school(s) whilst travelling.
Dual registered travellers' children are covered by regulation 9 which stipulates that they cannot be deleted from the registers of their school of ordinary attendance (i.e. the base school). There is no prohibition from deleting dual registered travellers' children from the registers of other schools but the proprietors of both schools must agree to the deletion. (This is designed to ensure the child is not left without a school place)
Travellers' children registered at only one school are subject to the same rules as any other pupil. In other words, if one of the circumstances set out in regulation 8 applies to that child, the school can delete him/her from the registers. If none of those circumstances applies, the child cannot be deleted. Each pupil must be treated on a case by case basis.
Authorised Absence
When considering self evaluation and during inspections, schools should analyse their absence data. It is important to identify and separate certain factors such as GRT children who travel, religious festivals and outbreaks of illness etc. to show the underlying attendance rate. The important issue for schools is the need to demonstrate what they are doing to support the education of the pupils that are absent. Schools should therefore not be assessed as 'causing concern' just because they have, for example, GRT children who travel. That should only be the case where inspectors feel that the school is not embracing the needs of children whilst they travel, such as offering good quality distance learning opportunities and teachers and peers keeping in close contact with GRT children via a range of strategies including information and communication technologies. If the 'base' school has authorised the absence because the pupil is travelling the school will not be able to delete the pupil under the 2006 regulations. The attendance data that is sent to DCSF and LAs must be based on the registers for the normal school day which must record what the pupil was doing during that session. Schools can record any pupil as approved educational activity whilst on distance or e-learning but only if they are certain that the activity was properly supervised, that the work is being done by the pupil (not someone else), that it is being done during the session in question (not at night, weekends, etc.). New Romany Linguistics Website!
Romany is spoken by small groups in 42 European countries but since it has a largely oral tradition and those conversant in it are scattered, it has been driven to the brink of extinction, appearing on a list published by the University of Manchester of the world's most threatened languages. The university is transcribing the many Romany dialects for the first time, and has launched a website allowing people to locate different dialects on a world map and listen to examples of them. Access the website here www.llc.manchester.ac.uk/Research/Projects/romani/ Further information and help can be found at the websites listed below: National Association of Teachers of Travellers
http://www.natt.org.uk/ Multiverse
http://www.multiverse.ac.uk/ Leeds Travellers' Education Service
http://www.travellersinleeds.co.uk Devon Traveller Education Service
http://www.devon.gov.uk/travellers_education Scottish Traveller Education Programme
http://www.scottishtravellered.net |
