Who are the Eastern European Roma?

A people without a country Europe's largest ethnic minority Europe’s most persecuted minority Czech Republic Slovakia Hungary Poland Romania Bulgaria

A people without a champion British and Irish travellers have their critics but this room is full of people who understand them and support them. Eastern European Roma are the new scapegoats. Where are their supporters?

They have been arriving since the fall of the Berlin Wall. How many we do not know. Most will not ascribe as Roma, either here or in the country of origin. Why?

Everyone in this photo died in Auschwitz except 1

A higher percentage of the Roma population were killed in concentration camps during WW 11 than the Jewish victims. All they needed to do was go to the town hall and collect the list of Roma residents with their addresses.

There have been numerous ECHR judgements against many countries over their treatment of their Roma heritage citizens In education terms most Eastern European children experience segregated sub-standard education. Outdated IQ tests are used to justify this.

What does this mean for schools in this country? Roma pupils may not ascribe as Roma. They may have prior learning below UK age related expectations. They may not be literate in language 1. They may not be ready to trust. They may not know how to learn. Health issues may be a barrier to learning. Attendance may not be good. People who offer advice may not be friends of the Roma.

Attendance Build trust. Explain. Communicate. Make them like coming to school.

We have a Roma deputy head boy. We have a Roma girl with a “B” grade in GCSE maths 2 years early Half of our year 11 Roma leavers in 2011 and 2012 left with 5A*-C This year some will leave with 5A*-C with EM We have had no Roma NEETs for 3 years. We have 90% Roma attendance. 25 of our Roma pupils wrote and performed a play in a public theatre. A Roma pupil plays for the school badminton team The yr 9 football team is unbeaten and has 3 Roma players

We have a Roma heritage support worker We have taken the “G” and “T” out of our documentation so GRT is replaced by Roma We devised a Btec performance group composed of year 9, year 10 and year 11 Roma pupils We created a Key stage 3 girls nurture group to improve attendance We translated the school report and hold separate parents evenings with an interpreter for Roma parents We found funding for ESOL classes for the parents

Inclusion is not treating everyone the same Inclusion is not treating everyone the same. It is treating everyone to the same opportunities. Equality is not saying who you have included. It is checking you have left no one out.

Opre Roma!