* Remember that Traveller children may never have been in a large building before and can suffer from culture shock when they come to school.
* Families who move about will regard the purchase of uniform as a low priority. It may help if items are available at school.
* Traveller parents may be unable to read and write and may not like this fact to be known. When notes are sent home with children, explain to the child what is in them.
* Parents are often too intimidated by authority to come into school to discuss matters.
* Traveller parents are extremely protective and may panic if their child does not arrive home at the usual time.
* Travellers’ lives are not generally ruled by the clock - which can make getting to school on time difficult.
* Traveller children are regarded as mature from early adolescence. You may find that girls are kept away from school if someone at home is ill.
* Traveller boys are resourceful and participate in work from an early age. The Traveller pupil may consider others of his own age to be sitting out an unproductive adolescence in school.
* Travellers have a strict moral code: sex education is taboo and there may be objections to changing for PE and swimming.
* Some parents may not like their girls to sit next to boys outside the family, and there may be a similar reaction to male teachers.
* Name-calling should be dealt with firmly and immediately.
* Remember that Travellers are the representatives of another culture and have a great deal to offer a school.
From the Chalvedon booklet by Barbara Blaney
