Welcome to the Scottish Traveller Education Programme

STEP is funded by the Scottish Government’s Learning Directorate, Support for Learning Division.

We are located within the Moray House School of Education, Institute for Education, Teaching and Leadership at Edinburgh University

STEP's national aims are to:

Promote development of innovative, diverse and flexible approaches to education for Travelling people within Curriculum for Excellence.

Listen to and represent Travelling families’ views about education and their children’s educational needs.

Enable educators and other service providers to respect Scotland’s Travelling communities and to have greater awareness of their histories, cultures, traditions and contemporary circumstances.

Encourage positive approaches to diversity in education by working with practitioners to challenge racism, harassment and bullying.

STEP's main activities are to:

Provide information, advice and support for both families and professionals.

Monitor and review families’ access to education and additional support for learning.

Engage with educators and families, as negotiated with the Scottish Government.

Highlight and respond to proposed legislation and social policy documents regarding issues relating to Scotland’s Travelling families.

Communicate with colleagues across the UK and internationally through a range of professional, research and Knowledge Exchange and Transfer activities.

Promote the principles of Getting it Right for Every Child through multi-agency support for Travelling families.

Publish a STEP newsletter.

STEP also supports and promotes the Traveller Education Network (TENET):

TENET is an association of Scottish local authority staff who work with Travelling families, including designated teachers, community learning and development workers and educational support officers. The core role of TENET is to share good practice and learning, to ameliorate professional isolation and to make joint contributions to national-level policy and resource development.