Showmen Flyer

29th September 2021 9.30am - 12.30pm

Getting a Fair Education?

REPRESENTATION & INCLUSION IN EDUCATION FROM SCHOOLS TO UNIVERSITIES

The Showman / Fair Community are currently severely under-represented in education, largely invisible in the curricula or subject to misunderstanding about our culture, history and relationship to the wider communities which we live and work amongst.

For the first time, 2021 saw the introduction of the Showman occupation and ethnicity included on the National Census in recognition of our distinct culture and history, the launch of the very first World Fun Fair Month which is running internationally, and the inclusion of Showmen into the newly launched ‘Pledge’ for inclusive education.

Building from the ground-up, Showmen ourselves are leading the way to empower Schools, Colleges and Universities to help our communities learn more about Showmen and our industry and way of life, to support positive inclusion and celebration of our community’s history and contribution to society.

Through this groundbreaking free educational partnership event co-produced by Future4Fairgrounds, The Showmen’s Mental Health Awareness Charity and Buckinghamshire New University / #GTRSBintoHE will enable you can find out how your learning organisation can network and access reliable resources that represent Showmen accurately and inclusively.

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Time

Speaker

Outline

9.30am (10 minutes)

Professor Nick Braisby, Vice-Chancellor Buckinghamshire New University

Welcome Buckinghamshire New University’s commitment to the GTRSB into HE Pledge

9.40am (5 minutes)

Professor Margaret Greenfields Buckinghamshire New University

Introduction to the day Housekeeping

9.45am (15 minutes)

Colleen Roper Future4Fairgrounds

Future4Fairgrounds and World Fun Fair Month: an introduction to the Showman community

10am (30 minutes)

Sheldon Chadwick Liverpool John Moores University & Shelby Holmes University of Oxford

Panel and Q&A The Showman Student Experience: how schools, colleges and universities can support inclusion

10.30am (10 minutes)

Wendy Price University of Sunderland

Inclusion and representation in the university setting

10.40am (15 minutes)

Michelle Russell Author & Artist

Fairground Reminiscence: an immersive arts project, working with the local community, through dance, art, fairground history and culture

10.55am (15 minutes)

BREAK

BREAK

11.10am (15 minutes)

Arantza Barrutia University of Sheffield

The National Fairground and Circus Archive: An overview; recent projects, academic and community engagement activities; and a brief demonstration of the new records management system, 'Discover Our Archives'

11.25am (40 minutes)

Samantha Heeson Leeds Beckett University

Panel Learning resources to help schools, colleges and universities create an inclusive curricula and welcoming learning environment

Richard O’Neill & Michelle Russell Authors 12.05pm (10 minutes)

Sheldon Chadwick The Showmen’s Mental Health Awareness Charity Showmen’s Mental Health Awareness Charity and the ShowSmart Education Project

12.15pm (15 minutes)

Margaret Greenfields & Sherrie Smith Buckinghamshire New University

GTRSB into HE Pledge sign-up information “Taking the Pledge: a practical workshop” a free event on 20th October 2021 Close

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Arantza Barrutia Arantza is the Collections Manager at the National Fairground and Circus Archive at the University of Sheffield, a role which she has held for eight years. Previously she worked in museums and art galleries for twelve years in various roles. Arantza has a BA in Fine Arts, specialised in Conservation and Restoration and an MA in Museum Studies, she is currently applying to do an MA in Archives and Records Management at Dundee University.

Professor Nick Braisby Nick is Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer at Buckinghamshire New University, having been appointed to the position in February 2019. He is a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and then read for a PhD in Cognitive Science at the University of Edinburgh. Nick obtained a British Academy postdoctoral research fellowship held at the London School of Economics.

Sheldon Chadwick Sheldon is Chairman of The Showmen’s Mental Health Awareness Charity and is currently undertaking a PhD at Liverpool John Moores University, aiming to build the first mental health statistics for Showmen in the UK. Sheldon has a BA in Drama and Theatre Studies and a Masters in Performance from Liverpool Hope University. His dissertations researched how the fairground is depicted in the theatre through the lens of nostalgia and the impact of social media and alienation relating to performance of the self.

Professor Margaret Greenfields Margaret has extensive experience of co-producing inclusive research and working with Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, refugee and migrant communities in the fields of health and educational engagement. She is increasingly developing her knowledge and practice in working with Showmen and Boaters to enhance their social inclusion. Margaret was an academic at Buckinghamshire New University and is now a Visiting Professor, continuing to support GTRSB into HE Pledge activities and a number of PhD students.

Samantha Heeson Samantha is a qualified librarian and leads on data analysis and data management in Library and Student Services at Leeds Beckett University. She provides senior managers, library decision makers and academic support colleagues with evidence and insight about resource usage, user engagement and library impact. Samantha is also an inclusion champion in the higher education and library sectors. She is proud of her Showman heritage.

Shelby Holmes Shelby is a Showman from North Wales. Her family have been Travelling Showmen for over 200 years. She completed her BA in English from the University of Oxford in 2015 and is currently the Outreach Officer for New College.

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Richard O’Neill Richard was born and brought up in a traditional nomadic Romani family, an influence which continues to inform his work. A national literacy hero, he is an advocate of using literature to promote inclusion and social mobility. He is interested in how writers and educators ensure a proper understanding of authentic representation and portrayal of Travelling cultures. Richard has had several international literary, cultural and diversity award winning children’s books published by Child’s Play and Pearson. He is co-author, with Michelle Russell, of the ground-breaking children's book ‘The Show Must Go On’.

Wendy Price Wendy is Head of Widening Access and Participation at the University of Sunderland.

She has over twenty years’ experience of working in higher education in a range of roles relating to inclusion and widening access. In her current role Wendy is the institutional contact for GTRSB students and provides a single point of contact to support students at each stage of the student lifecycle. As part of her wider role at the university, Wendy is responsible for providing strategic support for pre-16 educational outreach as well as scholarships and bursaries.

Colleen Roper I’m Colleen Roper, I am a Showman! My family have a proud history that can be traced back eight generations. We have travelled the country as Showmen and are now based in Hunstanton with our traditional family fairground business. I have three children; the eldest has just started at Manchester University. I’m also part of Future4fairgrounds; a group of six lady Showmen who came together last September to celebrate our past, raise awareness for the present and protect the future of fairgrounds. One year on, we have officially registered September as World Fun Fair Month and our story continues.

Michelle Russell Tracing her family back several generations, Michelle is immensely proud of her past and present connections to travelling Showmen. Supporting her brother, professional dancer and choreographer, Adam Russell, Michelle created visual resources to engage visitors with the immersive exhibition ‘Fairground Reminiscence’. Collaborating with co-author Richard O'Neill, the ground-breaking children's book, ‘The Show Must Go On’, was written. Continuing their working partnership and shared passion for stories, Richard and Michelle have also created ‘Trails of Tales that Travel’.

Sherrie Smith Sherrie was born and raised in a traditional Romany Gypsy family, living in North London and Hertfordshire. Having had both a successful career as a business woman and a community activist she returned to education as a mature student; gaining her BA in Social Science, Community Development and Youth Work from Goldsmiths, University of London, in 2019. Sherrie currently works with Buckinghamshire New University as a research assistant on the Gypsy, Roma, Travellers, Showmen and Boaters in Higher Education Pledge project.

@Future4fairs @ShowmensCharity @GTRSBintoHE

https://www.future4fairgrounds.com/ https://www.showmensmentalhealth.com/

https://www.bucks.ac.uk/about-us/what-we-stand/gtrsb-higher-education-pledge

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