Storytelling, Education and Wellbeing

Schools frequently fail to recognise and respect the cultures and identities of . Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils and students, resulting in their underachievement, exclusion and drop-out from the education system. The knock-on effects can affect mental-health and wellbeing.

Our conference, seeks to address these issues from the perspectives of schools and communities. We will hear how the GRTSB Pledge is being implemented in Schools and Higher Education and the role of the communities in providing culturally appropriate resources for curriculum. We’ll discuss how we can extend its reach and impact, looking at the role of activists and governments.

Recognising how discrimination and exclusion can damage mental health, we’ll hear about work among Showmen and other Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities to recognise the issues and promote well-being.

Published story-tellers will share their work and we’ll preview new resources about Roma holocaust survivors. We’ll hear how Roma and Irish dancers have joined other communities in Coventry to share their stories with the wider community.

Finally, we’ll look at the failure of recent governments to recognise the barriers and challenges faced by families accessing their educational entitlement, and try to develop a framework for a campaign across all education sectors, in the run-up to the 2024 election, to reverse the pattern of exclusion, underachievement and discrimination.

Contributors will include:

• Richard O’Neill
• Lisa Smith
• Sherrie Smith
• Sally Barter
• Ruby Smith
• Raine Geogehan
• Futures4Fairgrounds
• Candace Thomas
• Sheldon Chadwick
• Mitch Mitchell
• David Pullar
• Janet Whitaker
• Sally Carr
• Rosa Maria Cisneros
• Emma Smith
• Emma Nuttall
• Jonathan Green
• Paula Strachan
  

Host or Publisher ACERT the educational charity for Gypsy Roma and Traveller Communities