About us
ACTES was established in 1987 as a support service within the department for Children and Young People. Following local government reorganisation ACTES now serves the unitary authorities of South Gloucestershire, Bristol, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset. The Service is led by South Gloucestershire on behalf of the four Unitary Authorities.
ACTES supports five groups of Travellers:
- Gypsies
- Irish Travellers
- Circus Travellers
- Showmen (Fairground) Travellers
- New Travellers
ACTES aims to ensure that the educational needs of Traveller children are addressed by working in partnership with Traveller parents and their children, mainstream schools and other professionals in order to achieve access to and continuity of education.
The main functions of the Service are:
- To ensure that school placements are obtained for Gypsy & Traveller children as soon as possible following their arrival in the Avon area.
- To provide information and training for teachers and others in order to increase understanding and support inclusion.
- To support schools in meeting the needs of Gypsy & Traveller children by providing advice, resources, curriculum and social support.
- To provide welfare support to promote increased attendance of Gypsy & Traveller children.
- To work with schools and parents to extend parental involvement in their children’s learning and facilitate home/school links.
- To support the uptake by Traveller families of pre-school services and post 16 opportunities.
- To liaise with the four unitary authorities, with other Traveller education services, with Traveller organisations and with the DCSF in order to maintain and enhance the service.
- To work in a multi-agency context to support the rights and responsibilities of Gypsy and Traveller parents, in relation to their children’s educational needs.
All of the above functions are provided to South Gloucestershire, Bristol, North Somerset and Bath & North East Somerset under the Consortium arrangement.
How to Refer
ACTES receives referrals from a wide variety of sources including:
- Direct contact by phone or in person from Traveller parents
- ACTES Welfare Liaison Officer contact following a site visit
- Direct from schools some with Traveller children already on roll
- From the South Gloucestershire Traveller Unit
- From agencies/institutions requesting awareness raising input
- From Traveller Education Services in other areas
For further information contact:
ACTES
Charborough Road
Filton
Bristol
BS34 7RA
Tel: 01454 862620/21
Fax: 01454 862619
Training
ACTES is able to offer a range of training sessions that are tailored to meet the specific needs of individual schools and partner agencies. They aim to raise an awareness of Gypsy and Traveller culture and lifestyle as well as to promote good practice with regard to the education and inclusion of Gypsy and Traveller pupils.
Examples of training content are:
- Different groups of Travellers – their history and cultural differences
- Looking at resources that positively promote Gypsy and Traveller lifestyle and how they can be used in schools
- Travellers and OFSTED criteria for schools
- Partnership Working
- Distance Learning
- Challenging stereotyping and dealing with racist incidents
- Myth busting
Please contact ACTES for further information.
Resources
ACTES has a large selection of books, as well as DVD’s and other culturally relevant resources at its base in Charborough Road.
Book Boxes
These contain a range of books that positively reflect Traveller culture and lifestyle. They are available for schools to borrow on short-term loan.
The Early Years Team also has book boxes available for loan. These contain a variety of books on Traveller Culture, as well as storybooks, jigsaw puzzles, wooden templates, photocopiable activity sheets and games. They also have a large wooden play trailer and horses.
Publications
ACTES has published the following books that are available for people to buy.
- Mikela at Home and Mikela’s Black Beauty Goes to School
- Melissa to the Rescue
- Gypsies and Travellers
This is intended for use in secondary schools and is great for helping students to form opinions and think about citizenship, especially Human Rights and Diversity as they apply to everyone. Further sections involve research into Gypsies and Travellers and what happens when Human Rights are denied and Diversity is not respected or valued.
The pack costs £21, including p&p, and contains:
• a 50 panel photographic exhibition entitled “Gypsies and Travellers”
• “The Life of a Welsh Romany Gypsy” – a short autobiographical story by Caroline Smith
• a CD-Rom containing teaching/learning plans for KS3 Citizenship, teacher guidance and student activities for individual, group and whole class study.
NB this publication is currently sold out but if people would care to register an interest in buying a copy, we may be able to order a rerun.
For further information about any of the above, please contact ACTES.