Key stage 1:Include a Traveller caravan as part of a Houses and Homes andor Transport topic (PoS 1a, 3). Ask questions, eg “What can you see that you would would not find in your home?”, “Have you ever stayed in a caravan?”, “How is the old caravan different to the new one?” Pictures are easy to obtain - eg carry out an image search for “Gypsy caravans” on Google.
KS2:Use Travellers as an example of the nomadic lifestyle, for the Settlement theme (PoS 6d). Or explore Travellers in the refugee issue as part of “What’s in the News” (QCA Unit of Study 16); Global Eye has good primary materials: www.globaleye.org.uk KS3:Many groups have settled in the British Isles since the last Ice Age - we are all migrants. As part of PoS 6f, include Travellers alongside “better known” migrations, such as the Irish in the 19th century and the post-1945 New Commonwealth migrations.
* Use the development compass rose (questions prompted by a N, S, E, W acronym) to investigate an image of a Traveller site. What is the natural environment like? What can we tell about the economy of this group of people? What clues are there about the social environment (eg customs)? Who decides whether these people are allowed to stay there or not?
GCSEA-level:The location of Traveller sites would make an original case study. Good information is available, eg the Cambridgeshire Travellers Review at www.cambridgeshire.gov.uksubresrchgptravelsp4index.htm. An excellent list of websites featuring information about Travellers, Gypsies, and Romani peoples, to support further work, can be found at www.ccceducation.net - Jclick on Equality, Inclusion, Traveller education.
