| Lisa Smith (Hon-chair) | |
| Candace Thomas (Co-chair) | Present |
| Esther Stubbs (Co-chair) | Apologies |
| Maria Bowers (Co-chair) | Present |
| Anne Walker (Treasurer) | Apologies |
| Hazel Marsh | Present |
| Chelsea McDonagh | Present |
| Colin Clark | Apologies |
| Brian Foster | Present |
| Margaret Wood | Present |
| Thomas Acton | Present |
| Sally Barter | Apologies |
Finance
Discussion
- Caf Bank £6,652.25
- PayPal £1,103.34
- Total £7,755.59
Action
Education Network Meeting
Discussion
- The purpose of the next meeting on 25th November at 1:30pm online will be to update the network on developments in Traveller Education in the Republic of Ireland, the North of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
- Marie cannot attend meetings on Wednesdays because he supervisors have scheduled meetings for those times. However she offered to prepare a short presentation based on a visit she made to the Irish Republic last year. She also agreed to contact Pavee Point to see if they could join the meeting and provide an update.
- Margaret emailed all 13 contacts from Wales who attended the Liverpool Conference and although none of them responded someone forwarded our request to Charlotte Pursey, Policy manager, Children & Young People’s Rights in Education branch (CYPRiE) Wales who directed us to their guidance, expressed interest in our work and having a meeting with us. She can’t join us on the 25th but will send someone.
- Margaret also identified a contact, Kieran Shields of the Intercultural Education Service, Northern Ireland Education Authority who agreed to join the meeting to tell us about the team of four who support Traveller Education, Roma, Asylum Seeker, Refugee and other Newcomer children and young people across the area.
- Zoom link.
Actions
- Marie to prepare 5 minute presentation on recent developments in Irish Education for Travellers and Roma
- Margaret will follow up Pauline Duncan from Scottish Traveller Education Project
- Organise who will attend the meeting with Charlotte Pursey.
- Brian to mail the network with details of the meeting including links to key documents.
Agenda Alliance
Discussion
- Bronwen Mehta, Research & Evidence Officer at Agenda Alliance is convening a Girls’ Exclusions Working Group “to interrogate the intersectional drivers underlying girls’ official and unofficial exclusion from school. Given the central role that ethnic prejudice and discrimination have in shaping girls’ experiences of school, your advocacy and research into the experiences of Romany and other Travellers provides such vital insights into a dynamic that continues to be both urgent and overlooked.”
- Bronwen and a colleague are planning to attend the Network meeting and Esther has suggested that they could meet with us after that meeting.
Action
- Brian to add Bronwen to the mailing list.
- EC to identify who can meet with them.
SEND Parents Drop-in
Discussion
- Esther has prepared slides for Brian to send out with a link for the meeting on 24th February at 11:00.
- EC members had some concerns that SEND is a highly contested area at the present and we may have unreasonable expectations put on us. Conversely parents may be frustrated by how little we can do to assist with their particular situation. It was unfortunate that neither Sally and Esther were present to hear our concerns.
- It was agreed this was an important area of work and that all the EC should have a basic understanding of the issues in order to appropriately develop our work in this area.
Action
- Brian to construct web post and send it out to the mailing list.
- Candace to communicate the EC’s concerns the Esther and Sally
GRT History Month Resources Database
Discussion
- The database is one that we have created as part of a project at UEA (University of East Anglia). Candace has been doing work on it to navigate a pathway through it for various key stages and publics and highlight any resources that might not be appropriate.
Action
Candace said she’d share with ACERT EC for comment before the database goes live on Travellers’ Times website.
AOB
Discussion
- Hazel reported on film co-produced with Lisa, A Basket Full of Eggs (Patrin Films, 2025, 18 minutes):https://patrinfilms.com/film-tv/film-a-basketful-of-eggs. The film is part of a wider project, ‘Romani and Traveller Voices in Music Archives’, funded by the University of East Anglia’s AHRC Impact Acceleration Account.
Action
Hazel will be happy to present the film at an ACERT conference or event, and people are welcome to contact her to arrange a screening – hazel.marsh@uea.ac.uk
Next meeting
9th March 2026 at 5:30pm
