Students of Roma heritage at a Derby secondary school have been given a helping hand in their future careers thanks to a special funding scheme.
Alvaston Moor Academy on Bracken’s Lane has been working to help students of Roma heritage find the best education and employment opportunities after they leave their studies there.
The school has a significant number of students of Roma backgrounds and has won funding to offer additional support in helping them in their career or educational pathway when they leave after completing their GCSEs.
According to The Traveller Movement charity, young people from GRT (Gypsy, Roma and Traveller) backgrounds are more likely to be officially classed as not in education, employment or training aged 16.
Alvaston Moor Academy has won GRT funding which it used to take a group of students of Roma heritage to a careers day at Derby College where they were able to find out about a range of further education options, taking part in sessions on brick laying, joinery, woodwork and architectural drawing plus hair and beauty.
Radovana Zigora (left) and Anna Maria Horvathora (right) pictured outside Alvaston Moor Academy.
Radovana Zigora and Anna Maria Horvathora, of Normanton, are both in year 11 at the academy. Both girls have come to the UK from Slovakia, Radovana aged 12, and Anna Maria aged nine. They said they had thoroughly enjoyed the day and were looking forward to pursuing their education after leaving Alvaston Moor.
Anna Maria said: “We had an amazing experience. We went to the hair and beauty section; the people there explained it all. Our parents are really happy for us that we had that experience.”
Anna Maria and Radovana said the girls’ cultural heritage was highly respected at Alvaston Moor, with the opportunity within school to take part in a weekly Roma music and dance session, which they said made them feel highly valued.
Anna Maria said: “There are so many great teachers at Alvaston Moor. There are so many things that we have here, for example, dance. People here are interested in our communities. The head teacher, Michelle Strong, is interested in us, she talks to us, she has time.
“When we hear this music, we feel the music in our hearts. This school respects us. Mrs Strong has time to talk to us. She is respectful. My parents didn’t have this chance to study. This is a chance. In Slovakia, you don’t have this chance.”
Alvaston Moor Academy assistant principal and careers lead Dan Ingram said: “We have got a significant proportion of GRT students in the school. Research shows that unfortunately, students of this heritage do under achieve compared to everybody else. They are under-represented in colleges and in higher education. They don’t progress as they could and should.
“We want to do right by everybody in our school and make changes so that everybody can achieve.
“We have got students here that are more than capable of improving their lives. Education is a level of security. If you get information about future opportunities after leaving school, and you work hard enough, you can get anywhere you want. Sometimes children in the GRT community might say they are not aware of the opportunities available. That can be a disadvantage. Just because you are not aware of the route into education, it’s not fair that you should not get the same opportunities as everyone else if you are just as capable.
“We had a really good day at Derby College. The students learned not just about the qualifications they could take part in, but the jobs you would then get off the back of that. It was an aspirational day for them. The message was: you are good enough to do this. You should be applying and thinking about it.”
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