South East: "Kushti Atchin Tan – working with Kent young Travellers"

Kent Young Travellers In July 2006, pupils from the Traveller community from Angley School worked with filmmaker Simon Evans to create a film recording Gypsy Traveller history, experiences and culture. Following the success of the film, Kent Minority Communities Achievement Service and staff from Angley School created an accompanying teachers' resource pack in response to a lack of culturally appropriate resources for secondary age young people from the Traveller Community.
Praise for the film.
“….I think it’s fantastic. The message sent to the wider community is that Gypsy culture is something to be cherished, explored and celebrated and it’s particularly important for heritage organisations like English Heritage to say, this is a part of English heritage we need to celebrate, preserve and represent properly. So…. I think it’s wonderful.”
(Jake Bowers, Romany journalist and presenter of Rokka Radio, the only radio programme specifically for Travellers.)

‘Rockering Romanes’ has been created to offer children of all ages an exciting pictorial Romani – English wordbook, to increase access and enthusiasm for reading and writing through the use of phonics in their own language. Kushti atchin tan is Romani for ‘good stopping place’ and rockering romanes means ‘talking Romani’.

The film can be viewed at BBC Kent website for the Gypsy Traveller community ‘Romany Roots’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/content/articles/2007/08/13/romany_dvd_2007_video_feature.shtml

A full copy of the teachers’ pack can be requested from Romany Life, 3 Oaks Nursery, Whitewell Lane, Cranbrook, TN17 2 PP, telephone 01580 715825.

For more information regarding this project contact the Outreach Officer for the South East Region cynara.davies@english-heritage.org.uk or 01483 252000

A selection of worksheets and images from the pack are downloadable here.