British Journal of Educational Studies, ISSN 0007-1005 DOI number: 10.1111/j.1467-8527.2009.00442.x Vol. 57, No. 4, December 2009, pp 417–434 417 © 2009 The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 SES. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. Blackwell Publishing Ltd Oxford, UK BJES British Journal of Educational Studies 0007-1005 1467-8527 © Blackwell Publishing Ltd. and SES 2009 XXX ORIGINAL ARTICLE GYPSY, ROMA AND TRAVELLER CHILDREN GYPSY, ROMA AND TRAVELLER CHILDREN GYPSY, ROMA AND TRAVELLER CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS: UNDERSTANDINGS OF COMMUNITY AND SAFETY by Martin Myers, The Open University and Kalwant Bhopal, University of Southampton ABSTRACT: This paper examines understandings of community and safety for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) groups in schools in a metropolitan borough. One school in particular was identified as being the ‘Gypsy school’ and was attended by the majority of GRT children in the borough. The school was recognised as a model of ‘good practice’ reflecting its holistic approach towards the GRT community but it was also successful for wider reasons. A picture of the intersection of different communities emerged from interview accounts in which a GRT community with strong local attachments, socially negotiated and maintained, figured very strongly. The GRT community was also identified as sharing racist attitudes towards other non-white immigrants. This article examines children’s perspectives of their engagement with the education process and how the strong GRT community played an important part in their understandings of safety and belonging. Keywords: Gypsy, Traveller, community, racism, safety 1. Introduction Many problems have been identified with the education of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) pupils in schools (Bhopal, 2004; Warrington, 2007). Generally these have been articulated by policy makers, educational professionals and academics about GRT communities; however, there is also a body of work that details GRT families’ concerns about their children’s education (Acton, 2004; Dean, 2007; Levinson, 2007). Underachievement and poor attendance issues have caused concern for education policy makers since the publication of the Plowden report in 1967 (Bhopal et al., 2000; O’Hanlon and Holmes, 2004; Plowden, 1967). As a result successive government education departments have conducted research and