GRT0031
Written evidence submitted by Rose Wilson
Where do I start? In 1985 I was at primary school. We lived in trailers on my Grandad’s land about 3miles from the local primary school. The whole family lived there, my grandparents and all their children with their families. My dad is the eldest of seven. Up until then we travelled all over England and Wales living roadside, stopping for work. My Granny persuaded my dad that that was not a way of living anymore and they needed to settle to get me into school. They needed to learn a trade. Let us skip forward to 2021 – there are still families living in the same area in the same way as we did above.
Now for the school. In the town and villages where we live everyone knows everyone and kids (and teachers) can be awful to one who is not their kind. The Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children in the school all ate together at the same table, not our choice. We had friends in the school, who were not Gypsy, Roma or Travellers, but we were not allowed to sit with them at dinner (and in class wasn’t much better). We were given the left-over food and mouldy yoghurts. We told our parents, who would tell us not to make trouble, keep our heads down and get on with it, otherwise we would have to move. However, we had an Aunty who did listen. She was married to my dad’s uncle and wasn’t a Gypsy, Roma Traveller, although she lived the lifestyle and had 5 children with him. We smuggled home a yoghurt once to prove it and showed her. It was nearly 1 month out-of-date. She went straight up the school and asked the headmaster if he would eat it, which he wouldn’t – we never got mouldy yoghurts again (it was soft, brown fruit instead!) – that’s my first memory of school. Kids wouldn’t play with us at first. They would listen to their parents. We were not aliens; we didn’t smell and some of us were quite a lot brighter than they expected! Let’s skip to 2016 – My son, first day at Grammar school (yes, I’m still a Romany Gypsy and so is he, it has not gone away, that’s what I was born, that’s how I shall die) the teacher asked the class to tell two lies & one truth and the class was to work out what was which. My, son age 11, said he loved football, played rugby and was a Romany Gypsy…….. Immediately a child shouts out “you aint no pikey!” the teacher shuts down the conversation immediately, leaves the class and calls me….to ask…why would my son make up such lies and provoke such conversations. I asked her the question “what do you think is the truth?” she wouldn’t answer…I told her that he is a Romany Gypsy and proud to be a Romany Gypsy. At this point she couldn’t stop apologising. She also said “oh, we have never had any Gypsy, Roma or Traveller children in our school before” I then pointed out several cousins and relations all at the same school…….. Let us skip to 2021 – my son still is at the same school, has just started 6th form wants to be a doctor. He stuck with it, kept his head down but doesn’t have many friends there, just the ones that have had the same sort of issues around racism and bullying. Still happening from students, teachers and local communities, this has been an issue in my life since 1985 when I first became aware, right up to now………
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children are the same as any other child. they just need that chance that every other child gets. My school days finished age 11, and to this day some families still have this tradition that their children are to stay at home and learn the family trade etc. However, for many, those days have gone, they want their child to have the same opportunities as every other child, they want their child to get an education, go to college, learn a trade and get jobs alongside everyone else in this world. But, if you have just one teacher, one friend’s mum, or one dinner lady that are still living in the 1980s and believe in their mind that staying within the family is all that the Gypsy, Roma or Traveller child can aspire to, to, then that child has no chance. This country needs to integrate not segregate……..
Many years ago, every local authority had a Traveller Education Service that worked alongside Gypsy, Roma and Traveller families & schools to promote integration not segregation. I worked for one of those services. On a chance visit to see why my brother wasn’t attending school (he went to secondary school), they found me, age 16. My dad, at the time didn’t want them “sticking their nose in” so he drove me to the local college, dropped me off and told me to get “on a course” it didn’t matter what, just so that when they came again, he could say I went to college. Three years later, they were chasing my brother again (GCSE time!) by then I was in my last year of doing an accounting course> They were impressed that a Romany Gypsy had gone to a further education college, let alone stayed there for 3 years! They offered me a job as a teaching assistant working alongside Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children in schools, settling them in and supporting the schools and families to understand about each other. I then realised, they were not “sticking their nose in” as my dad said, but people/professionals that actually did want to help us, that were not prejudiced, who listened and made a difference, who saw the potential in me, regardless of my education, the way I looked or where I lived. Let’s skip to 2018…..the staff in the local authority service I was working for were all made redundant except me, the Romany Traveller ….(last woman standing!) The schools said they could do the job themselves, that the service wasn’t needed. Instead I was moved across to the team I still work in today (the health service had been funding me for the last 6-8years). I co-ordinate team of tutors (all Gypsy, Roma and Traveller, - long story), and we work with families across our county on 19+ adult education.
This is what we do:
The Literacy Skills Project provides one-to-one tuition for Gypsy, Traveller and Showmen individuals. They are either identified or self-report as having very low levels of literacy and want to make positive changes to improve their and their family’s life chances in terms of their health, employability, and economic wellbeing. The tutoring is delivered in a mutually acceptable covid-safe setting, which normally would be their home, often in a trailer, or in a hub location by two adult tutors with experience of working with Gypsies, Travellers and Showmen. People can have online sessions using the Google Classroom platform. We currently have four offers; 1-1 literacy from pre-entry, workplace literacy progressing on to take the level 1 health & safety followed by the CSCS card, driver theory progressing on to take the test and the newest HGV driver theory with progression to take the theory & HGV test.
Most of our referrals for the above come from the community. We don’t have to advertise what we do. I have been doing this now for 23 years in January. There is no other service like ours (that we know of) in the country. I also do other project work. What we do works and we do it well!
I used to do transition work from year 6 to secondary and then secondary to college – this worked……kids I worked with then who now have families of their own, send them to school and contact me if they have any issues or don’t know how to deal with something. (The new RSHE lessons spring to mind.) People that I worked with age 14-15 now have their own businesses and work for companies. One is even a deputy head teacher at a local primary school! (she is still Romany Gypsy Her identity has not gone away, has not been brushed aside!) When her school asked me to work with her they had her doing AS Law! Which was not what she wanted to do, but all they school said was left that had places! Again this is a long story. What I used to do and do now takes time. It’s not going to happen next week but it does work!
Provision needs to be consistent, not here one day, gone the next. The above is not my job anymore but I still help families anyway.
To summarise, I would suggest:
January 2022