ACERT

Email: chair@acert.org.uk

Website: www.acert.org.uk

Ms Amanda Spielman                                                               March 27 2019
HM Chief Inspector
Office for Standards in Educatione-mail: amanda.spielman@ofsted.gov.uk 

Dear Ms Spielman,

Consultation on proposals for changes to the education inspection framework 

We are writing to you from our perspective both as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community members and as professionals with long experience of supporting the education of children and young people from these groups.

We are, in general, happy with your proposals. We like, in particular, the increased emphasis on the curriculum and the separation of development from attitudes and behaviour.

We support the sections on race in your Equality Diversity and Inclusion statement where you state that:

“We are aware that evidence shows variation in the educational performance of different ethnic groups and that performance also varies between stages and phases of education, for example, some groups perform well at primary school but less so at secondary school.

The framework is intended to be a force for improvement in the education available for all learners, including those from all ethnic groups. The draft criteria are clear that the expectation is that all learners receive a high-quality, ambitious education.”

In the light of this, we are surprised to see that the new draft documents do not at any point specifically refer to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils.

There is strong evidence that children from these groups have the lowest levels of educational performance at all key stages, disproportionately high levels of exclusions, very high rates of persistent absence and drop out and problems accessing school places at all key stages. Many of them suffer high levels of discrimination and bullying in schools from their peers and even from school staff.

On January 9 2019 Nadhim Zahawi addressed the parliamentary women and equalities committee enquiry into “Tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities”. He stated that there was a long way to go before his department will feel it is beginning to deliver for this group. He reconfirmed the commitment published in 2012 by the Ministerial Working Group on tackling inequalities experienced by Gypsies and Travellers, namely that:

“Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils are specifically highlighted as a vulnerable group in the revised Ofsted framework, ensuring that school inspections will pay particular attention to their progress, attainment and attendance”

In addition, he said that Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children were one of three groups – along with children with special educational needs and those in care – whose improvement was a priority.

The new framework should not delete the reference to these groups that was contained in the 2015 Framework. The situation has not improved since then. Moreover, small cohorts are not investigated by Ofsted inspectors but this should not mean that they are overlooked during school inspections.

It could be helpful for inspectors to consider, for example

• the school experience of those children who have not felt confident to ascribe their ethnicity and of those who attend schools located in areas of high anti-Traveller hostility
• reasons for children dropping out / opting for Elective Home Education
• access to education for children who travel seasonally e.g. with fairs
• failure to transfer to secondary school
• the many Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils not eligible for Pupil Premium
• the school’s relationship with the children’s parents and families
• provision for roadside children who may enrol for short periods
• whether the school curriculum affirms the history and culture of these pupils

We hope that you will take these points into consideration and that you will be prepared, after all, to highlight Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils in the final 2019 framework. 

You may also be interested to learn that neither of the categories Gypsy and Traveller of Irish heritage is included in the ethnic monitoring section of the consultation form.

Yours sincerely,

 

Lisa Smith, ACERT Chair, Youth Editor at Travellers’ Times and Global Leader for Young Children at the World Forum Foundation   

Yvonne MacNamara, CEO Traveller Movement  

Abbie Kirkby, Advice and Policy Manager Friends, Families and Travellers

Andy Shallice, Roma Support Group

Tyler Hatwell, ACERT EC and Education Liaison Officer, Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain London Section

Sue Mutter, ACERT EC and Coordinator Roma Support Group Early Childhood Education Project and former Gypsy, Roma, Traveller School Improvement Adviser, London Borough of Redbridge

Margaret Wood, ACERT EC and former Team Manager for Traveller Education, Cambridgeshire CC

Dr Hazel Marsh, ACERT EC and Senior Lecturer University of East Anglia

Tim Everson, ACERT EC and former Team Leader Gypsy, Roma, Traveller Achievement Service, Suffolk CC

cc.inspection.consultation@ofsted.gov.uk  

This month the spotlight is on EC member Tim Everson. 

 

Shouts of applause arose through the smoke filled air as a young boy, no older than seven, launched into another burst of melodic notes on an electronic keyboard as he lead the band, of perhaps the most famous virtuoso Gypsy musicians in the world, who followed the melody on violin, cimbalom, accordion and double bass……. writes EC member Tim Everson.

As the music rose to a crescendo, cries of encouragement were followed by the appreciative audience of Gypsy and gauje on lookers throwing down fifty, one hundred lei notes onto the child’s keyboard!

I was in Romania, in the village of Clejani, home to the Gypsy band Taraf De Haidouks and staying with the family of the accordionist, Todei and his wife. This was the last stop on a trip to Romania living with Roma musicians accompanied by a small group of aficionados of Eastern European Gypsy music. Continue reading “Living with Gypsy Musicians…..Rom mania!”

Ofsted, the schools inspectors, are updating their guideline about what they look for when they visit schools. Gypsies, Roma and Travellers are mentioned in the current framework, but it could be much stronger.

ACERT will be making a submission which we will post on the website but the more unique voices they hear, the more influential we shall be.

The consultation closes on the 5^thApril 2019. Have your say and find out more here.

“We are proposing an evolutionary shift that rebalances inspection to look rather more closely at the substance of education: what is taught and how it is taught, with test and exam outcomes looked at in that context, not in isolation.

Outcomes clearly matter and will of course continue to be considered, in the context of what is being taught. But we all know that too much weight placed on performance measures alone can lead to a degree of distortion, both in what is taught and not taught, and in other aspects of how a provider is managed. We also know that those who come to education with a disadvantage of any kind are more likely to be directly affected when these distortions happen.”

ACERT welcomes Ofsted changes as we know Gypsy Roma and Traveller pupils are disproportionately impacted by poor practices such as these. We hope this shift will encourage schools to focus more on the quality of education received by children rather than the outcome they will be held accountable to fostering more inclusive practices.