Information for schools

Travellers

Traveller is a generic term used to include Romany Gypsies, Roma and Irish, Fairground, Showman, Bargee and New Age Travellers. Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers are ethnic minorities protected by the Race Relations Acts because they having a distinctive culture, language and history.

In Medway there is a history of Traveller people moving through and also settling in the area, mostly from Romany Gypsy or Irish Traveller groups and also, from time to time, from other groups travelling to Medway. In recent years, Medway has seen most indigenous Traveller groups living in settled accommodation and only travelling at certain times of the year but also the arrival of legal Eastern European Roma migrants since the European Union expansions of 2004 and 2007.

(back to top)

Medway Traveller Education Service (MTES)

The Medway Traveller Education Service aims to improve the educational opportunities available and hence the attainment and educational success of all Traveller children in Medway.

The service has a teacher and an education welfare officer who work with Traveller parents and schools. Guidance is given to parents in finding a school, the enrolment process and attendance expectations.

The teacher for Traveller children works with the welfare officer and with Traveller families to make sure that the transfer to school is as smooth as possible. The teacher also aims to support schools in understanding the difficulties that Traveller pupils and families might have because of their nomadic lifestyle. The teacher helps schools and other agencies to celebrate and respect Traveller traditions and customs through advice and training.

(back to top)

Romany Gypsies

Gypsies are unofficially the largest single ethnic minority in Kent and Medway. A lack of stopping places (atchin tans) and shortage of site provision has forced many Gypsies and Travellers into houses. This in turn leads to many Travellers hiding their identity from fear of discrimination.

The majority of Gypsy adults have had little if any formal education, so may struggle to read. Most speak Anglo-Romani at home and will not be familiar with formal English.

Presenting a united front has always been an important part of their culture and this can be especially so when dealing with any authority figures. Historically, this was a survival response to persecution – in the distant past it was a hanging offence to be a Gypsy or Tinker. Travellers are used to having to act quickly to survive, so they may act first and think later.

The bonds between relatives are very strong. The word "cousin" or "cos" is in common use to indicate even distant blood relatives or close family friends. It is common for relatives to drop in at all times. When someone is sick, it is not unusual for large numbers to gather to support the family.

The Gypsy culture has always been an oral one. The spoken word is revered and remembered. The written word is less important, since it cannot always be understood. Plain and direct speaking is normal for all Gypsy family members. There is no tradition in the culture of taking turns or quiet conversation. There is no word for "please" in Romany, as there is an expectation that all family members will help automatically. A good argument is enjoyed. It is acceptable for children to interrupt and for several Gypsies to talk at once with the most persistent winning the day. Self-confidence and plain speaking is respected and encouraged in children. This can be very disconcerting and worrying to non-Gypsy neighbours.

Gypsies receive a very negative press, which gives the non-Gypsy host population the idea that Gypsies are all dangerous or criminal.

The habit of treating the outside of the trailer as a work area conflicts with the non-Gypsy perception that the outside of a home should be a tidy garden. In addition, despite the weather, children are outdoors most of the time, helping the adults. This leads to a generally dishevelled appearance. Inside the home, strict hygiene rules apply but few non-Gypsies have been into a Gypsy home or understand the lives of the vast majority of law-abiding Gypsy families.

Gypsies call non-Gypsies "Gorgios". Gypsy beliefs about Gorgios are often formed from The Sun and other tabloid newspapers and English television soap operas. Gypsies perceive Gorgio society as unsafe and immoral, inhabited by paedophiles and drug addicts. They feel Gorgios have no respect for marriage, since they cohabit and divorce or for children, since they abort babies and allow their children to be cared for outside the family. All Gypsy families can relate to experiences of racism.

Protecting family members has always been an important part of the culture. Parents, fearful of prejudice in school, instruct older siblings and cousins to make sure younger ones are protected. Feuding or shunning are still part of the culture and are used to maintain family cohesion.

20 years ago, 90 per cent of Gypsy or Irish Traveller children did not get any formal education. Today, 90 per cent attend primary school and 50 per cent attend secondary school. These numbers are rising with the support of sensitive responses from schools. Most Traveller parents have little if any experience of school and are fearful of communicating, particularly as most have few literacy skills.

Traveller culture places the highest value on family life: formal education is a lower priority. Many Gypsies perceive the best education as being brought up in the Traveller ways, which they fear are disappearing. Cultural celebrations, such as weddings, funerals and horse fairs, may last for days and affect school attendance.

The mobility of Traveller families is recognised by law in terms of school attendance. This protects travelling families from unreasonable prosecution in the case of non-attendance. Parents are expected to ensure their children attend 100 days per year. Some Traveller families pursue a mobile lifestyle while using a house as a base. Nevertheless Travellers’ children should be in school when not travelling.

Many Traveller families cannot tell the time by the clock. Culturally, this was not important, as they did not carry clocks but rose with the sun and travelled with the seasons. Travellers’ relaxed attitude to appointment keeping does not necessarily mean a lack of commitment. In Traveller culture there are no boundaries between work and family. They are integral. It is often difficult for Travellers to understand Gorgio workplace codes, particularly the emphasis on keeping appointments.

When the Gypsies left India a thousand years ago and began their long journey west, they brought with them their tents, horses, carpets, porcelain and gold jewellery. Today, these last four items remain important signs of status. Gold jewellery is passed down through generations. Girls wear earrings from babyhood.

Horse fairs are often attended by settled Gypsies and are important times for extended families to meet. Horses are often owned within the family even of those on housing estates and finding places to graze can be a problem.

Information drawn from KCC Minority Community Achievement Service (MCAS) service document.

(back to top)

Irish Travellers

Travellers are a minority ethnic group, documented as being part of Irish society for centuries. Travellers have a long shared history and value system, their own language, customs and traditions. The distinctive Traveller lifestyle and culture, based on a nomadic tradition, sets Travellers apart from settled people.

While Irish Travellers are native to Ireland, they have much in common with European Travellers and Gypsies. For example - a nomadic tradition, living in extended families and European Gypsies also have to resist attempts to absorb them into the settled population to retain their identity.

Information drawn from www.paveepoint.ie.

(back to top)

Eastern European Roma

A significant proportion of the world's Roma live in Central and Eastern Europe, often in communities with very high unemployment, while only some are fully integrated in the society. However, in some cases – notably the Kalderash clan in Romania, who work as traditional coppersmiths – they have prospered.

Some Roma families choose to migrate to Western Europe now that many of the former Soviet bloc countries like Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria have entered the European Union and free travel is permitted. Many of these families leave to find work and prosperity and have had success in finding work. The current and historical situation of Roma in Europe differs from country to country.

For more information on the Roma can be found on websites such as http://web.archive.org/web/20080802210034/http://www.geocities.com/Paris/5121/patrin.htm.

(back to top)

Other groups

Bargees

Bargee families live on the their boats or barges and travel carrying cargo for a living or working at different points along the canal system. Families were brought up on these boats and had a nomadic lifestyle similar to those of fairground or circus families.

For more information, visit www.bargemen.co.uk.

Showmen

Showmen or fairground families have travelled in the UK for over 100 years and have their own distinctive culture, history and language which is based around their work. They are usually members of the Showman’s Guild. The principal object of the Showmen's Guild has remained the same for over 100 years: to protect the interests of its members – travelling showmen who gain their livelihoods by attending funfairs.

Information drawn from www.showmensguild.com.

Circus families

The circus is a tradition and has its own families that have been born into this tradition, in a similar way to showpeople. Many families specialise in particular skills but also contribute to the whole performance by taking on a variety of roles. Children have to start when they are young to develop the demanding skills necessary for performing. Circuses are made up of many different acts, often from around the world and these may come together for certain tours, while others may be part of the extended family of that circus and travel with them all the time.

For more information, visit www.circusarts.org.uk.

New Age Travellers

New Age Travellers are groups of people who espouse New Age hippie beliefs, who travel between music festivals and fairs in the United Kingdom to live in communities with others who hold similar beliefs. Their transport and homes consist of vans, lorries, buses and caravans converted into mobile homes. They also make use of improvised tents and other temporary shelters. New Age Travellers were largely a product of 1980s and early 1990s Britain but a small number continue to travel in the country today and similar cultural groups exist in other countries, such as New Zealand.

^ (back to top)