Traveller Parent Development Day
26 March 2004

The Access Service in conjunction with the Visiting Teacher Service for Travellers held a Traveller Parent Development Day in the Gallery of the Helix on Tuesday 23 March 2004. The day focused on the Traveller child and post primary education - access, participation and outcome.

The aim of the day was to provide an opportunity for Traveller parents to think about, discuss and plan for the educational progression of their children to second level schools. Our speakers included Maugie Francis, National Education Officer for Travellers, and Catherine Joyce, Irish Traveller Movement. The day was organised in partnership with personnel from the Department of Education and Science, Visiting Teacher Service for Travellers, Schools Completion Programmes, DCU Access Service and second level schools' personnel.

The intention of the day was to provide an opportunity for all the partners in education to work together to continue the journey towards the full participation and equality of outcome for Traveller children in Education and to develop an action plan for future initiatives. The participants addressed four questions in workshops settings, these questions were

• What is going well in your child's educational experience
• What is not going so well
• What are your fears for your child's education
• What are your hopes for your child during and after education

88 parents from the Travelling Community attended the workshops; the findings along with an action plan will be launched in the near future. There are now 1729 traveller students in post primary education and our aim, together with our education partners, is to work to ensure equality of qualification and opportunity for all students. The findings from the day will ensure that our programme is designed in co-operation with the travelling community and is meeting their specific needs.