Roma students co-create environment exhibition

Rosemarie Cisneros co-created an exhibition called IMPORT AND EXPORT with Roma young people in Sheffield.  There were secondary schools involved and is a great example of what is possible when schools support and create space for new ways of thinking about Roma pride and climate justice.

The exhibition was supported by the University of Sheffield’s Centre for Equity and Inclusion and the Romani Cultural & Arts Company as part of the GM6 Programme.

The exhibition includes a screendance work that is part of a trilogy linked to climate justice. The film is called OCEAN: Import & Export.

Rosa would be happy to speak with any schools or individuals to think about ways of reusing the work or expanding on the exhibition. 

Heritage Crafts Red List Resources

Imogen Bright Moon’s presentation to the Education Network

The three new entries for GRTSB specifically are here; 

Fairground Art https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/fairground-art/

Canal Art + Barge Painting https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/canal-art-and-barge-painting/

Vardo + Living Waggon Crafts https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/vardo-art-and-living-waggon-crafts/

Plus additional amendments to;

Tinsmithing https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/tinsmithing/

Horn + Antler Working https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/horn-working/

All the links are on this main page at Heritage Crafts here; 

heritagecrafts.org.uk

You can get downloadable PDF of the 2023 Red List launch publication here. 

* One craft that needs further research is GRTSB Floristry, which will include wooden flowers, wax flowers and paper flowers, as well as traditional wreath-making. *

Please contact me if I can be of any help, imogenbrightmoon@gmail.com

Most excluded minorities

The Think Tank Higher Education Policy Institute, has published a new report on access to education among Gypsies, Roma and Travellers (Gypsy, Roma and Traveller) authored by Policy Manager Dr.Laura Bressington.

Laura will join our next Education Support Network meeting on Wednesday, 30th November at 2pm online.

Gypsies, Roma and Travellers: The ethnic minorities most excluded from UK education is an informative report that looks carefully at definitions and draws attention to the dangers of homogenisation – focussing sharply on the need for careful data collection and handling. In her own use of data she demonstrates that these communities are hugely underrepresented in Higher Education.

Evidence
  • Gypsy, Roma and Travellers of Irish heritage have the widest attainment gap in measures of pupils achieving a good level of development in early years education;
  • Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils have some of the lowest rates of attendance and the highest rates of permanent exclusion from schools;
  • in 2020/21, 9.1% of Gypsy / Roma pupils and 21.1% of Irish Traveller pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in GCSE English and Mathematics, compared to a national average in England of 51.9%;
  • young people from Gypsy / Roma and Irish Traveller communities are the least likely ethnic groupings to enter higher education by the age of 19 – just 6.3% of Gypsy / Roma and 3.8% of Irish Travellers access higher education by the age of 19 compared to around 40% of all young people;
  • Gypsy and Irish Travellers are the UK’s ‘least liked’ group, with 44.6% of people holding negative views against them – 18.7 percentage points higher than Muslims; and
  • Irish Travellers face a ‘mental health crisis’, with one-in-10 deaths caused by suicide.
Recommendations
For Government
  1. Improved Data Collection.  The current lack of information means that the full scale of the problem remains invisible.
  2. Funding.  The small scale project local project  funding available at the time of writing is inadequate to the scale of the problem which is a national one.
For Higher Education
  1. Access and Participation Plans such as the Higher Education Pledge which create a welcoming environment are to be welcomed
  2. There is a need to include the history and culture of the various Travelling groups in the curriculum. Including works by members of the communities and including relevant data can improve understanding of the different Gypsy Roma and Traveller communities

King’s College London are prioritising Gypsy, Roma and Traveller students on their flagship K+ scheme

Once again, King’s College London are prioritising Gypsy, Roma and Traveller students on their flagship K+ scheme for year 12 students in London and South Essex. This has been so successful in the last few years, and each year we see more Gypsies, Roma and Travellers head to university from K+.

As well as all of the amazing experiences and application support students get through K+, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller students will also receive extra support, provided by the global leading law firm Linklaters. This includes:

  • Free online tutoring to support with A-levels 
  • Careers advice, experience and tips from top professionals
  • Access to funds to go to events and take part in activities you are interested in

Applications are open from now until 29 October – to apply visit https://kplus.london