GTRSB Header

GTRSB Pledge for Schools

GTRSB Pledge for Schools

The Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showmen and Boaters’ Pledge for Schools

          Improving access, retention, and outcomes in education for Gypsies, Travellers, Roma, Showmen and Boaters

 

GTRSB Logo for Schools
Information about the pledge

 

The GTRSB Schools’ Pledge consists of a firm commitment by your school to undertake certain steps to support access, retention, and outcomes in education for GTRSB pupils.

The Pledge is designed to support best practice in ensuring monitoring of data, inclusive practice, and the development of widening participation practice to support GTRSB pupils, potential pupils, and their families.

The Pledge sets out to deliver effective practice and also create an open and welcoming environment where members of the communities know their culture and learning needs are understood by the school which they attend, or which they are interested in attending.

The schools’ Pledge has been adapted from the GTRSB into HE: Improving Access and Participation for GTRSB Pledge, developed after consultation with individuals from Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, Showmen and Boater communities (graduates, pupils and academic staff who are members of the communities) and is underpinned by key research findings, and consideration of widening participation interventions effective in supporting members of the communities into and within HE.

View the GTRSB into Higher Education Pledge.

The school Pledge has been developed with additional consultation from schools, NGOs working with GRTSB families and GTRSB community members. The core commitments in the schools’ Pledge have been adapted with kind permission from the Anti Bullying Alliance’s Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities’ schools audit and action planning toolkit.

 

 

There are a few minimum commitments your institution must agree to, prior to taking the Pledge...

Your school must commit to working towards creating the most appropriate and welcoming environment and conditions in which GTRSB pupils can stay resilient and thrive academically and personally. To do this,

The school will establish a named contact point for GTRSB pupils and potential pupils.

The school will clearly identify and publicise the support for GTRSB pupils already in place which engage the key areas of the Pledge:

  • data monitoring of GTRSB pupils and staff numbers
  • building a supportive and welcoming culture for GTRSB pupils
  • outreach & engagement to local GTRSB communities and
  • inclusion, celebration, and commemoration of GTRSB cultures and communities.
  • To facilitate this, the school will develop processes to identify GTRSB pupils and monitor their progress, as well as supporting the professional and personal development of staff members who self-identify as members of the communities.
  • The school will ensure that staff and pupils across departments are aware of the support available to GTRSB pupils in the school.
  • The school commits to ensuring that staff development exists raising awareness of the barriers GTRSB pupils face accessing education, and broadly in society.

To find out more about the different requirements and elements of the Pledge, click the buttons below:

 

When taking the pledge, we are asking all schools to please send the following information to Emma@gypsy-traveller.org and we will then respond with a confirmation email.

Please provide:

  • Your school logo
  • Contact details for your schools established named contact
  • A short statement of commitment to the pledge or a short 30s video from your  Headteacher Principal or CEO talking about taking the pledge.

 

Your school will be named on this website under the list of schools who have signed up to the Pledge. You will be entitled to utilise the GTRSB schools pledge logo in publicity materials e.g. in relation to Widening Participation and Access activities, or to use the logo on your school marketing materials.

Members of the GTRSB Pledge for Schools advisory board will work with our partner schools to publicly promote their practice, and celebrate their achievements in helping Gypsy, Roma, Traveller, Showmen and Boater students to improve access, retention, and outcomes in education. 

We will support school  staff through signposting training, resources, and best practice conferences. We will ask you to engage in ‘light touch’ feedback/monitoring a year after you have ‘taken the Pledge’ (and annually thereafter). This involves completing a short online survey.

You may also feel you would benefit from a supportive telephone conversation or email exchange with a member of the Steering Group in relation to any suggestions or challenges you have faced in the preceding year.

Our monitoring is not intrusive but will (for example) enable you to let us know about changes in self-identified GTRSB student numbers; what has gone well, where support and advice might be helpful, and any good practice you wish to share with us. This light touch monitoring and review will take place annually.

Below, you can access a downloadable PDF document which covers all the information you will need to know about the GTRSB Pledge for Schools. We hope you can take the pledge with us so that together we can improve access and opportunities in schools for the GTRSB communities. #GTRSBinEducation

Contact us

If you have any questions about the pledge or simply want to find more information you can contact Emma Nuttall, academic lead for pledge for schools at Emma@gypsy-traveller.org

GTRSB Pledge for Schools resources

Advisory Council for the Education of Romany and other Travellers (ACERT)

 has education related advice and resources, hosts twice termly on-line education network meetings which are open to all, and organises an annual conference and are involved in lobbying on policy issues. www.acert.org.uk

Anti-Bullying Alliance

The Anti-Bullying Alliance and Friends, Families and Travellers are working in partnership to deliver a Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller Anti-Bullying Project. This includes training materials and a schools’ audit and action planning tool. https://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/aba-our-work/our-other-programmes/gypsy-roma-and-traveller-anti-bullying-project

Bereavement support

Bereavement support E-book It’s different without you. Written by Dr Carol Rogers as a result of research on the bereavement experiences of Gypsy and Traveller families the book is designed to recognise children’s need to make sense of loss, providing children and their families with the opportunity to consider their feelings and talk about their loss following a bereavement. https://www.blurb.co.uk/ebooks/p535bf3e6267f6c494178

Child Bereavement UK

A national charity supporting bereaved children and their families. Also offering training and resources for schools. https://www.childbereavementuk.org/

Council of Europe

In July 2020 the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers adopted a recommendation that for the first time ever calls on its 47 member states to include the history of Roma and/or Travellers in school curricula and teaching materials. Read about it here: https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/schools-should-include-roma-and-travellerhistory-in-teaching-curricula     

Find a GRTSB group local to you at: www.gypsy-traveller.org/services-directory/

Friends, Families, and Travellers (FFT)

FFT have collated a wide range of resources to support teachers and other staff in educational settings bring Gypsy, Roma and Traveller histories and cultures into the classroom. FFT also have an online Gypsy and Traveller cultural awareness course.

Future4Fairgrounds

Our aim is to celebrate our history, highlight our present situation and protect our future. Written by Richard O’Neill and Michelle Russell children’s book The Show Must Go On, celebrates positive representation of Showmen.

GTRSB into Higher Education Pledge: www.bucks.ac.uk/about-us/what-we-stand/gtrsb-higher-education-pledge

Resources for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month, June: https://bit.ly/436MJdq

Resources relating to Boater lifestyles

GTRSB Logos New