Turning the tide speakers

Arthur Ivatts is a senior educational consultant. He worked initially as a teacher and youth leader. Following a higher degree in anthropology, which focused on Gypsies/Roma in England, he became involved with the early efforts to secure education for Roma/Gypsy and Traveller children. After some years working within the voluntary NGO sector concerned with Gypsies/Roma and Travellers, he joined Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools (HMI) in England in 1975 and soon became the HMI with national responsible for the education of Gypsy/Roma and Traveller children. He held this post until 2003 when he decided to do consultancy work for government departments and intergovernmental organisations. In 2004 Arthur was awarded the ‘Order of the British Empire’ (OBE) by the Queen for his services to education. He has been involved in Roma/Gypsy related projects in Bulgaria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Sweden and Romania. In 2003/4 he worked with a small research team on a report for the European Commission in relation to Roma and EU enlargement “The Situation of Roma in an Enlarged European Union” – EU November 2004). He has also worked for the Council of Europe, UNICEF and UNESCO.

Colin Clark teaches applied social sciences at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) where he is currently Professor of Sociology and Social Policy. Colin’s PhD is from Edinburgh University (2001) and his research is mainly located within the connected fields of Romani Studies and ethnic and racial studies, with an interest in issues of identity, migration and citizenship. Colin has published widely in these areas as well as supervised and examined a large number of PhD students. Outside of UWS, Colin sits on the Board of Directors of the Glasgow anti-racist group Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights and is a Trustee of the Glasgow-based Roma Rights group Romano Lav (Roma Voice). He also is a member of the Research Advisory Group for the Scottish Human Rights Commission as well as the Traveller Movement. Colin is from a Scottish Traveller background, on his mother’s side, the extended Robertson family of Aberdeenshire. He tweets at: @profcolinclark and more information about his research work can be found here: https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/colin-clark

SENCo Lucy Hood & TA & Translator Vasile Sandu  from St Matthews Primary school – Innovative and successful ways St Matthews is working to improve outcomes for Roma children.

Tyler Hatwell is an Oxford-born Showman currently living in East London. His day job is as a Youth Outreach Worker for the charity London Gypsies & Travellers, he is also an executive committee member of ACERT, the Education Liaison Officer for the London & Home Counties Section of the Showmen’s Guild and recently founded the Traveller Pride movement which brought Travellers to Pride in London 2019, marking the first time LGBT Travellers had been officially recognised and celebrated in this country. When he isn’t doing this, he is a fully qualified and practicing Counsellor, an infrequently performing musician and if all else fails he still goes and builds up & pulls down the Waltzer now and then. But not when he can avoid it.

Chelsea McDonagh is a Master’s in Education student at King’s College London and has a BA Physical and Sport Education from St Mary’s University Twickenham. She currently works within education and has an array of experience working with disengaged young people in alternative education settings. Chelsea is also currently working on the publication of research which explores the experiences of Gypsy and Traveller students in Higher Education.

 Nicola Hay served as Campaigns Manager for Show Racism the Red Card Scotland for three years, overseeing campaign strategy as well as the design and delivery of educational initiatives based on McBride’s (2015) research on effective practice in reducing forms of prejudice. She has engaged with a wealth of key stakeholders throughout Scottish football including representatives from the Scottish Football Association (SFA), and cross-parliamentary groups at Holyrood (Scottish Government). Hay is currently an Associate Lecturer and  PhD student at the University of the West of Scotland. Hay’s research explores who is talking to young Roma, Gypsy and Traveller people while considering young people’s aspirations cross-nationally.

Pauline Anderson is Service Director of Learning and Skills at Derby Council and was the former Head of Service for Primary Schools at Sheffield City Council, being responsible for primary standards in all three Key Stages across the city. She currently leads 3 teams of improvement professionals. She is also Chair of the New Arrivals (including Roma) Steering Group for the City Wide Learning Body, a cross directorate group seeking to support schools to improve outcomes for pupils. Pauline is also a member of our NTAG.

 Chrissie Browne is the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Student Lead in the widening participation Department at Kings College London. “When I was at school I didn’t feel like I fit in, I didn’t feel like education, or further education was for me, and I certainly didn’t think that teachers or schools were on my side. So it was as much a surprise to me as anyone when I decided to go back to school at 27 and study for a degree in Nutrition at King’s College London. When I got there, I got involved in ‘widening participation’. I started to rocker a lot more about my upbringing because I saw that the barriers I faced, and the feelings I felt were like those of other groups that King’s was working with. I approached the WP team and asked if we could give it a go to work with Traveller communities. They said yes and the ‘RomBelong’ programme was born. I still can’t wait to work in the NHS being a dietitian, but equally I can’t wait to see this work move forward and make sure as many people as possible get the opportunities that I have had.”

Nick Radu is a Kalderash Rom who qualified as a teacher in his native Romania and has worked as a education consultant and mentor in a number of East London schools. He continues to support schools and hospitals in his home city of Caracal where he collaborated with Jake Bowers to create videos of Roma kids playing football in the run-up to the 2018 World Cup. The donation from Coca-Cola helped replace a roof on a large building where many Roma families live. He has also organised improvements to school facilities and donations of shoes and whiteboards from UK schools.

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