Raising the achievement of GRT pupils - Urban primary case study

Date of issue: Jan. 2008

Theme: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils

Focus: Creating a welcoming environment, family learning and secondary links

Background

This school is a Church of England primary school with 193 children on roll. The area the school serves is one of considerable social and economic deprivation.

The percentage of children eligible for free school meals is 33% which is well above the national average and the percentage of children with special educational needs (SEN) is twice the national average.

The majority of the children who are not Gypsy, Roma or Travellers are White British monolingual English speakers although the percentage of children learning English as an additional language is increasing and currently stands at 12%.

The school has a long history of working with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) children. Currently 86 of the children on roll are from GRT families. All are English Gypsies and all are ascribed as Gypsy/Roma on the annual school census. There is a fair degree of mobility; 52 GRT children travelled during the past year, but the majority are settled in houses or are based on the local sites living in trailers. About a third of the children come from the town's permanent Traveller site.

There is a high number of children joining and leaving the school other than at the usual time of admission, with only about 30% of the children remaining from the start of Year 1 to the end of Year 6.

The school is involved in a number of local and national initiatives including the Improving Boys' Writing programme, Investors in People and the National Strategies Gypsy, Roma, Traveller Achievement programme.

'The school is highly successful in integrating everyone into its work; everyone associated with the school is treated fairly and with high regard to their backgrounds, beliefs and circumstances.' (Ofsted 2005)

What is being done?

The vision for the school is to celebrate difference while ensuring that all children feel special and have an understanding and appreciation of each other's culture and lifestyle. The school has high aspirations for all children and recognises that Traveller children, in view of their transience, need to see themselves and their culture reflected from the minute they walk into the school in order to feel that this is a place where they will be supported and welcomed.

The school has a clear commitment to celebrating diversity and to extended school provision. This is evident in the displays which are prominent in shared spaces as well as in the classrooms. Breakfast and after-school groups, early years groups and parent groups all take place in the school and are seen as important in the wider provision offered to all families. There is a significant take-up by GRT families of these opportunities.

The school has worked hard to develop trust with the Traveller community and this has been achieved through the headteacher being very visible and accessible at the start and end of the day as well as through the hard work and commitment of all staff who have a clear appreciation of Traveller culture and lifestyle.

The senior leadership team (SLT) is committed to raising the achievement of GRT children and this is achieved in a number of ways:

There is a structured approach to assessment and tracking in school. This includes monitoring individual progress and the use of visual maps to identify target groups and to track the progress of individual children. These tools are particularly useful for monitoring the progress of GRT children over time.
Enhanced provision for a group of GRT children who did not access the Foundation Stage has included the use of the daily 'workout box' and the 'five minute box' which provide effective intervention resources and has been accompanied by focused teaching assistant (TA) support.
The school makes good use of short, achievable, measurable early intervention programmes to support literacy development and accelerate progress.
Data is analysed in order to track the progress of GRT children and provide access to appropriate Wave 3 interventions which have radically accelerated the children's learning particularly when they have returned from travelling.
The school has developed an excellent relationship on the local Traveller site with parents and nursery children who may start off in the nursery on site but then move to the school nursery. By providing a teaching assistant who has responsibility for outreach work in the community, the school has been able to make links with Traveller families through the use of a mobile library van on the site, organising visits from Sure Start and health visitors and the setting up of mother and toddler groups. These initiatives have gradually moved from the site to the school so that there is a seamless transition for Traveller parents and children into the nursery at the school, all supported by the teaching assistant who is known and trusted by the families.
The school explicitly celebrates the diversity of the population it serves and seeks to make learning for children and parents a shared educational experience. This is achieved through a number of pupil/parent projects running throughout the year that encourage children and parents to learn together in an informal setting, with familiar staff, where children and parents feel safe and secure and are working towards an end product. Projects in the last year include pottery, puppet and mosaic making, wood carving, mural painting and gardening. In addition, parents have been encouraged to work on courses to extend their own learning such as first aid, food hygiene and childcare courses. When parents are successful in these they are encouraged to receive their accreditation certificates in assembly in front of their children in order to share their success which in turn will boost their self-esteem and strengthen parental engagement with the school and their children’s learning.
The high level of parental nurturing and care for all parents has helped to integrate the parents and children of all cultures within the school and has resulted in a high take-up by GRT parents of the activities the school offers. In addition, providing parents with positive experiences of working in the school has helped to break down barriers, foster friendships among families and created a sense of ownership and pride in the school and in their own achievements.
The school has developed excellent links with the neighbouring secondary school, recognising that transition is a very vulnerable time for Traveller children. The secondary teacher makes early links with the school and visits prospective children with information about life at secondary school and opportunities for Traveller children to voice their fears and concerns. In doing so she provides a bridge that leads them to the next phase of their education and in turn, this has encouraged more Traveller parents to send their children to secondary school.

Outcomes

Inspired by the headteacher's drive and enthusiasm there is a clear sense of purpose permeating throughout the school which means that staff and governors are all pulling in the same direction. This has resulted in:

good leadership and management of provision for GRT children
a strong ethos of diversity and inclusion and a commitment to celebrating diversity
commitment to the Every Child Matters agenda
positive relationships with parents
increased take-up of Early Years provision by GRT families, linking on-site provision with nursery provision in school led by the headteacher and a dedicated nursery teaching assistant
focused targets shared with GRT children and parents
effective tracking in respect of prior attainment of GRT children
targeted small group work with GRT children
highly effective, supported transfer arrangements to feeder secondary schools
good communication between the school and the Traveller Education Service (TES) and other schools
close working relationship with the local authority Primary Strategy Manager.

Feedback

'I think probably the biggest accolade is that the parents and the children are very proud of this school because it is their school not ours. They make a difference and that’s what’s important.' (Headteacher)

'It's really important that when a child has been travelling, the parent knows that when they come back there is a place available in school. We respect what they’ve been doing whilst away and really value their experiences out of school.' (Year 4 teacher)

'They make you feel welcome when you walk in the school, there are Gypsy'displays and wagons and horses and they treat our children exactly the same as the Gorgio children. Gorgio children aren’t no less of value than our children we
feel like they are all equal.' (Traveller parent)

'It doesn’t matter; some people might be different, I’m glad to be different.' (Year 6 Traveller pupil)

'When you first start, like I did in Year 2, everyone welcomes you. I sat on the table and they showed me where everything was, and I like it because sometimes when you don’t know how to do the work, someone will come and help you.' (Year 6 Traveller pupil)

'I think if you are sensitive to their needs and show that you understand their culture it is a lot easier to work with Traveller children and families.' (Teaching assistant)

'There is obviously no reason at all why Traveller children shouldn't perform as well as anybody else. When we look at progress rates, the progress of Travellers are at least in line with other children, so when we have them they are making progress. When they are not in school, obviously that can impact negatively on their attainment.' (Headteacher)

'The nursery teaching assistant is great; she really helps our children cross that bridge between being on the Traveller site and coming into nursery at the school.'(Traveller parent)

'There is a mutual respect between home and school, parents feel confident and comfortable about coming into school.' (Teaching assistant)

'For some Traveller parents it might be about giving them confidence to come through the door, for others it might be about opening doors to enable them to go further.' (Headteacher)

'My advice to other teachers would be you need to build relationships with the whole family, listen, be sensitive to their needs and take an open, friendly approach. It takes a long time to earn trust.' (Teaching assistant)

'Personalising the learning in secondary school to make a curriculum that has relevance to Traveller children is the key to sustaining GRT pupils' interest.' (Secondary teacher with responsibility for transition process)

'We want to celebrate difference. We need to ensure the children feel that they are special being different but equally that they have an appreciation of each other's differences and an understanding and a tolerance towards each other.'