TSC Newsletter autumn 2005

Travelers’ School Charity Newsletter Autumn 2005

The Gypsy and Traveller Law Reform Coalition and Policy Spotlight present:
Tackling Community Tensions and Creating Dialogue, Understanding and Partnership between Gypsies and Travellers and the Settled Community
Tuesday, 15th November 2005
Friends Meeting House, Euston, London
Panel Speakers
Julie Morgan MP, Chair All Party Parliamentary Group Traveller Law Reform, Sarah Spencer, Commission for Racial Equality, Tom Sweeney, Irish Traveller Movement, Rev Michael Hore, Vicar of Cottenham Parish Father Joe Browne, Irish Travellers' Catholic Chaplaincy, Charles Smith, CRE Commissioner - chair, Janie Codona, Ormiston children and Families Trust - Cambridgeshire Travellers' Initiative, Cllr Richard Bennett, Local Government Association, John Coxhead, Derbyshire Police
Objectives
To share good practice on consulting Gypsies and Travellers such as the new accommodation needs assessment
To share good practice on building partnerships between Gypsies and Travellers looking at pioneer work being done by police forces, schools and Traveller Education Services, health providers and local authorities.
To share good practice at developing dialogue and understanding between Gypsies and Travellers and work being done in places like Cottenham to tackle community tensions
To look at the emerging policies and recommendations coming from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Social Exclusion Unit and Local Government Association and compare them to the needs and aspirations of the Gypsy and Traveller community
To be made aware of the work that has been done by the Commission for Racial Equality for the Gypsy and Traveller community
Who should attend
Gypsies and Travellers
Police & Local Authority Gypsy/Traveller officers, Police & Local Authority legal officers, Traveller Education Service teachers and workers, Community Cohesion Officers, Local Authority planning officers, Local Authority Homelessness & Housing officers, Environmental Health officers, Councillors with an interest in Gypsy and Traveller matters

Research on Accommodation Needs of Gypsy-Travellers in Wales
The Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of Birmingham has been commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government to carry out a programme of research on Gypsy-Traveller accommodation issues. The research is designed to inform housing and planning policy development in Wales.
Presently a small number of case studies looking at the issues in detail are in progress, it involves interviews with Gypsy-Travellers who are in a variety of types of accommodation. Remuneration for Interviews is £15.
Your views about the importance of accommodation is important. new policies are being developed all the time and now is the time to have your influence on everyone's future.
The research refers to both Traditional and New Travelling communities.
Please contact Miss P. Niner, the senior lecturer who will be able to arrange an interview with you. Her phone number is 0121 414 5024
her email address is; P.M.Niner@bham.ac.uk

CGP workbook offer
(Co-ordination Group Publications)
CGP have offered the TSC a school account which means a books and workbooks at the school rate instead of the retail rate.
This is a substantial discount and it's worth looking on the website to see what you might need for your young folks' education, there are workbooks on every national curriculum subject and exam test papers as well as study guides and revision guides.
Each book normally costs around £4.50 and the school discount takes about £3 off that price,
look at the website and let us know if you would like us to order on your behalf - orders over £40 are post free so it's worth having a look with your mates too.
www.cgpbooks.co.uk
or write to CGP, Kirkby in Furness, Cumbria, LA17 7WZ for a catalogue.

Sharon - one of the EEK camp working guides, wrote the following after attending the event;
I arrived at Eco Extreme Kids Camp, not quite knowing what I’d let myself in for . Most of the kids had already arrived. A rowdy bunch they were but after a night’s sleep they soon settled down. I think it may have been a shock though to find themselves woken at 8.30 for a meeting at 9.30 with workshops starting at 10.00am.
Some complained “This is like school not a holiday”. However most began to realise that it
wasn’t quite like school but also not necessarily a holiday, rather a safe place for them to learn new skills, build on existing ones and mix with others whilst having fun.

On the first morning the teenagers were put into 5 groups. These groups worked together in the wide range of workshops provided. For the whole week everyone stayed on site and there was plenty to occupy all for cabin fever not to set in. They were given the chance to try their hand at a multitude of subjects and went home with a handful of home-made goods, from a poker to a woven rug. Other workshops, less practical, compiled of sex education and communication skills, of which there were four continuous sessions. Most of the kids appeared to enjoy these sessions and found them useful.

At the end of the week Helen supervised a group evaluation. The kids appeared to have appreciated the opportunity to test their skills and there was a pleasant vibe amongst them. This ended with a humorous rap put together by some of the teenagers in the communication workshops.

The camp provided a chilled atmosphere, with a good bunch of kids and adults getting along. So – good food, good company and plenty to occupy all, ended in a successful first time Eco Extreme Kids Camp” a learning experience for all!

MAGICAL MATHS WITH MANDALAS. Magical maths with mandalas is a project that I started in 2003. I wished to create an educational, free resource for Home Educating Travellers. It is a book with a blend of basic Maths with the creative addition of mandalas to colour in. As I am a busy Home Educating Traveller myself, it took me 2 years to complete and came to that completion with an award of £500 for printing costs from Groundwell, We printed 200 copies,at a wind powered environmental printers called "Big Sky" in Scotland. Groundwell also agreed that we could sell 100 copies to raise funds for another print run, which is great. It was a fun project to work on and was challenging in many ways for myself! (Including having a grave dislike of Maths from an early age!) I would have loved a copy myself as a child, and I may have developed a healthier relationship with Maths as a result.
	Kaye and I handed out the first free copies at the Big Green Gathering, It was very exciting, Being the first free workbook to be distributed by the Travellers School Charity for a number of years. So far we have given 20 away, to Home Ed Travellers and sold 6 to people that aren't eligible for a free copy. The feedback has been great ,children are really enjoying it! I hope to do more projects, in partnership with the T.S.C in the future, all being well. Anna Clark, of the Holistic Education Community.

The Big Green Gathering
TSC attended the Big Green this year and put up Kaye's swingboats in the Campaigns field.
There was a healthy second-hand clothes stall to rummage through as well as Caragh's lucky dip and Cloud 10 smoothie bar. Three Trustees were on hand to run the information stall which was kept busy all week, the smoothies and catering was run by young Traveller volunteers. We would like to thank them all for their dedication throughout the busy days and hope they have good memories of the experience. We raised £175 and managed to feed all the crew - well done everyone.

Renewable Energy Workshop Days - don't miss out
Now is your last chance to ask for one of our workshop training days to happen on your doorstep.
We are taking the final requests now so we can book people into our winter schedule (Nov. – Mar.). If you haven't expressed your interest yet and you would like us to book an event to happen near you please let us know as soon as possible.
bookings in the making so far are in North Wales, Lincolnshire and Gloucestershire.
Summary of workshop schedule
working with electricity
power, current and voltage - the use of Ammeters and Voltmeters, voltage drop, cable sizing, AC and DC explained, the use of fuses, energy efficiency/load tables, consumption vs. generation requirements
different types of pv's, wind generators and hybrid systems, batteries, inverters and regulators, state of charge charts, typical prices of components and availability
We also demonstrate the practical uses of maintaining this power supply for the use of laptop computers and show examples of laptop management programmes.
The overall aim of this is a cross-cutting theme of the Computer Classroom Project - now in it's third phase. How do Travellers use computers with no access to electricity? - They learn to make their own!
If you need childcare please let us know - we do have a budget for this, we can also pay for your travel expenses to get to the training days. Most often we do the training over two days, sometimes people may have a very small isolated group and only require one day, we are flexible and hope that we can reach as many Travellers as possible to help them understand Renewable Energy, please don't be shy - give us a call 01239 810759 or 07717 055378 or email us through the website - www.travellersschool.plus.com

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The Travellers’ School Charity’s aim is that Travellers and their children have access to
opportunities, freedom and choice, achieved through education.