REPORT

Orpington College is a general education college targeting young people from 14 – 19 from Entry Level to Level 3 and adults from 19+ offering a range of courses from degrees to courses designed to attract disadvantaged learners. It has a strong commitment to the social inclusion agenda and works closely with other interested parties in the less advantaged parts of Bromley.

Within the boundaries of Bromley runs a 'corridor' of social and economic deprivation identified by the Government Office for London.  The Cray Valley houses a number of estates, parts of which are in the top 1.5% of deprived enumeration districts in England.  These estates house 12,000 residents, 37% of this population is under 15 years of age, 25% are lone parent families (with a high proportion under the age of 20) and there is low educational achievement.  Attainment at the primary and secondary schools consistently fall below the Borough’s averages with high proportions of statemented students and high levels of truancy. It is home to more than 1000 Gypsy Traveller families, who represent a distinct minority with their own culture.  This community is the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom and suffers from all the indicators of social deprivation.  However an audit of data demonstrates that the College is not successful in attracting the Gypsy Travellers within its local community, and therefore it was decided, together with the Bromley Gypsy Traveller Project, to engage in activities that would encourage participation by this socially excluded group.

In order to be able to provide learning opportunities that would be acceptable to the Gypsy Traveller community, a survey was carried out to find out not only what might interest them, but also what they felt were the barriers to their participation.  The survey was carried out by a traveller and the Project staff to ensure representative coverage and to help with completion, as levels of literacy are extremely low within the community.  The results showed a wide range of interests, although heavily weighed by the fact that it was mostly women who were prepared to take part in the survey:

The subject areas that participants showed interest in was extremely wide.  Suggestions for possible courses ranged from Anger Management to Singing although, as was suspected, Information Technology proved to be the most popular proposal.  The real challenge, however, was how the College was to provide the learning that the community had identified as being inhibitors to their participation:

• Distance to venue
• Poor health
• Cost of courses
• Personal problems
• Boredom whilst in learning sessions
• Intimidation by tutors
• Unfriendly classes
• Lack of childcare

As a result, it was decided to apply for funding from the ESF Social Fund in Partnership with the Bromley Gypsy Traveller Project, Bromley Adult Education College and Bromley Lifelong Learning Partnership to support a Project that could be used to develop strategies to engage these learners.  The results of this Project would then become part of the European Grundtvig Project in which Orpington College and other European partners work together in order to develop strategies and share good practice in engaging the disadvantaged and disaffected.  The College’s ESF bid was successful and therefore 2 years of funding was made available to set up a Project that would address the concerns of the Gypsy/Traveller population.

It was obvious from the result of the survey that the learning would have to take place within the community and therefore a flat on the Mountfield Estate in St Mary’s Cray has been rented.  The Bromley Gypsy Traveller Project has moved in and 2 of the rooms have been converted into training rooms.  This not only takes the learning to the learners, but provides a support for those who have personal problems.  Outreach workers and tutors are employed who have experience of working with the target group and are already trusted by the community, therefore addressing the issues of intimidation and unfriendly classes. All provision is free and money is available to organised crèches if it is required.

A barbeque was held to launch the facility and it has gone from strength to strength.  Classes have begun in IT and Literacy and there have also been taster sessions in Line dancing and Salsa amongst the First Aid and Hair and Beauty!  The learners produce a newsletter and are actively involved in the Grundtvig Project, with one of the travellers going to Romania on an exchange visit.  And this is only the beginning.  More formal, accredited courses are planned and Learning Champions will be employed by the Project from the Gypsy Traveller community to undertake further outreach work.  There is every reason to believe that this provision will make a real difference to an ethnic group that often get forgotten.

STRATEGIES

TG: Working with Gypsy travellers in the Crays
Background:

• Large settled community
• Breakdown of traditional employment
• No tradition of school attendance
• Often excluded
• Low levels of attainment

Strategy 1: Local delivery
Strategy 2: Working with local gatekeepers
Strategy 3: Employment of outreach staff
Strategy 4: Free provision tailored to student demand
Strategy 5: Identifying Learning Champions
Strategy 6: Provision of childcare where necessary
Activities 1

• IT classes
• Literacy classes
• Make-up classes
• First aid classes

Activities 2

• Coffee mornings
• Line dancing
• Puppet making
• Arts and crafts

Statistics:

• 77 learners attending the Project
• Newsletter produced
• BBQs organised
• Regular coffee mornings held
• Regular attendees to become Champions

Statistics:

• 24 taking literacy/IT courses
• 53 taking personal development courses

Statistics:

• 4 getting ready for Halloween
• 6 making Christmas Cards
• 5 first aids
• 5 learning how to make up
• 12 arts and crafts
• 21 line dancing