Consultation: Improving Educational Outcomes for Children of Travelling Families
Neil Puffett
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
What is it all about? In April last year, a report by a cross-government ministerial working group announced a range of measures to improve education for Gypsy and Traveller children by tackling discrimination and poor school attendance. The consultation centres around one of the report’s key proposals – repealing legislation offering protection to Travellers against prosecution if they fail to ensure their child attends school. It has been argued that the current law gives “tacit consent” for Gypsy and Traveller pupils to miss school.
What are the main points? The law currently offers a defence against prosecution for parents who fail to ensure their child attends school if the child is of no fixed abode, and the parents are required to travel for work reasons. There is also protection if a child of no fixed abode attends “as regularly as permits”, or if they have attended at least 200 times in the past year.
The government argues that statistics clearly link school attendance rates of children of Gypsies and Travellers with attainment. At Key Stage 2, Irish Traveller pupils who missed less than 10 per cent of sessions between the ages of seven and 11 were nearly twice as likely to achieve Level 4 in English and Maths than those who missed between 10 and 20 per cent of sessions. They were three times more likely to reach that standard than those who missed more than 20 per cent of sessions.
The government is seeking views on whether the existing legislation should be repealed. The proposed change would still allow families that travel a degree of flexibility in ensuring that their children continue to receive education, through dual registration at another school while the family is away from the child’s home school.
Who can have their say? The consultation is aimed at community groups, parents, head teachers, teachers, school support staff, school governing bodies, local authorities, unions, charities, and other interest groups.
When is the deadline? 22 February
When will the results be published? The results of the consultation and the Department for Education’s response will be published on the DfE e-consultation website in the spring. Any changes will come into force in 2014, subject to parliamentary processes.
