Newcastle University Library Robinson Library Special Collections The Plowden Papers (BP) Scope and Content The Plowden Papers contain papers and correspondence reflecting Lady Plowden s many areas of interest and concern, including primary education and the 1967 Plowden Report, her work as chairman of the Independent Broadcasting Authority and vice chairman of the BBC, her interest in education for traveller communities, her work for the Marriage Guidance Council and her work for the Voluntary Organisations Liaison Council for Under Fives (VOLCUF), Restrictions on Access & Conditions Governing Use Data Protection The archive is open to any accredited reader, although some material is closed under the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998; closed records are identified at item level in the catalogue. Please consult archivist for further details. This finding aid contains personal data about living individuals. Under Section 33 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), Newcastle University Library holds the right to process such personal data for research purposes. The Data Protection (Processing of Sensitive Personal Data) Order 2000 enables Newcastle University Library to process sensitive personal data for research purposes. In accordance with the DPA, Newcastle University Library has made every attempt to ensure that all personal and sensitive personal data has been processed fairly, lawfully and accurately. Copyright Permission to make published use of any material from Special Collections must be sought in writing from the Special Collections Librarian (email: lib-specenq@ncl.ac.uk) and from the copyright owner if appropriate. The library will assist in contacting the copyright owners on users behalf, but the responsibility to obtain copyright clearance rests with the user. 1
Reproduction The library can provide photocopies (to a limit of 30 at any one time) for educational and private research purposes, provided the condition of the document does not prevent copying. Alternatively, digital images can be produced for educational and private research purposes. Please contact the Special Collections Librarian for further advice (email: lib-specenq@ncl.ac.uk). Acquisition Information The papers were donated to the library in 2004 by the family of Lady Plowden. Arrangement of Papers Only one section of the papers is currently catalogued: BP 1 Material relating to Lady Plowden s work as Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Education of Romany and other Travellers (ACERT). Further information about progress on the cataloguing of the papers is available on the Special Collections web pages. 2
Beginning of Catalogue BP 1 Material relating to Lady Plowden s work as Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Education of Romany and other Travellers (ACERT) BP 1/1 Agenda, Minutes and Papers for the ACERT Annual General Meeting BP 1/1/1 1985 Agenda, Minutes and Papers for the ACERT Annual General Meeting, 1985. BP 1/1/2 1988 Agenda, Minutes and Papers for the ACERT Annual General Meeting, 1989. BP 1/1/3 1990 Agenda, Minutes and Papers for the ACERT Annual General Meeting, 1990. BP 1/2 ACERT Annual Report BP 1/2/1 1974 ACERT Annual Report, 1974. BP 1/2/2 1975 ACERT Annual Report, 1975. BP 1/2/3 1976 ACERT Annual Report, 1976 BP 1/2/4 1988 ACERT Annual Report, 1987-88. BP 1/2/5 1989 ACERT Annual Report, 1988-89 BP 1/2/6 1990 3
ACERT Annual Report, 1989-90 BP 1/3 ACERT accounts & accounting material BP 1/3/1 31 Mar 1974 ACERT accounts, 1974. BP 1/3/2 31 Mar 1975 ACERT accounts, 1975. BP 1/3/3 31 Mar 1976 ACERT accounts, 1976. BP 1/3/4 31 Mar 1977 ACERT accounts, 1977. BP 1/3/5 31 Mar 1978 ACERT accounts, 1978. BP 1/3/6 31 Mar 1979 ACERT accounts, 1979. With a draft version. BP 1/3/7 31 Mar 1980 ACERT accounts, 1980. BP 1/3/8 31 Mar 1983 ACERT accounts, 1983. BP 1/3/9 1977-1979 Correspondence relating to ACERT accounts. BP1/4 Agenda, Minutes and Papers for the ACERT Management Committee BP 1/4/1 Oct 1978 Minutes of the ACERT Management Committee meeting, 11 Oct 1978. 4
BP 1/4/2 Oct 1984 Agenda, Minutes and Papers for the ACERT Management Committee meeting, 15 Oct 1984. BP 1/4/3 Sep 1985 Agenda, Minutes and Papers for the ACERT Management Committee meeting, 9 Sep 1985. BP 1/4/4 Oct 1985 Agenda, Minutes and Papers for the ACERT Management Committee meeting, 14 Oct 1985. BP 1/4/5 Jun 1986 Agenda, Minutes and Papers for the ACERT Management Committee meeting, 30 Jun 1986. BP 1/5 Agenda, Minutes and Papers for the ACERT Executive Committee BP 1/5/1 Jul 1990 Agenda, Minutes and Papers for the ACERT Executive Committee meeting, 4 July 1990. BP 1/5/2 1991-1992 Agenda, Minutes and Papers for ACERT Executive Committee meetings, 1991-1992. BP 1/5/3 Nov 1993 Agenda, Minutes and Papers for ACERT Executive Committee meetings, 30 November 1993. BP 1/6 ACERT Policy Statement BP 1/6/1 1975 ACERT Policy Statement, 1975: a confidential discussion document. 14 sheets BP 1/7 ACERT Field Officer s Report BP 1/7/1 1 Dec 1978 Report of the Field Officer to the meeting of ACERT on Friday 1 December, 1978. 1 sheet BP 1/8 ACERT meeting notes 5
BP 1/8/1 1974-1975 Journal containing Lady Plowden s notes taken by her at ACERT meetings. With meeting agenda papers and correspondence enclosed. BP 1/8/2 1979-1982 Journal containing Lady Plowden s notes taken by her at ACERT meetings. With meeting agenda papers and correspondence enclosed. BP 1/9 ACERT newsletter BP 1/9/1 n.d. ACERT Newsletter, issue number 1. BP 1/9/2 Mar 1975 ACERT Newsletter, issue number 3. BP 1/9/3 Sep 1977 ACERT Newsletter. BP 1/10 Other ACERT publications BP 1/10/1 1973 ACERT: The First Hundred Days. Report giving an account of the first hundred days of the life of ACERT. BP 1/10/2 2 Feb 1985 Designation: Conference Report. Report on a conference on Designation organised by ACERT in association with the National Gypsy Education Council. BP 1/10/3 1985 Looking Back, Moving Forwards: Talk given by Lady Plowden as the introduction to the Department of Education and Science Short Course N27 on the Education and Welfare of Gypsy, Circus and Fairground Children, held at Stephenson Hall, University of Sheffield, 12-16 July 1982. Second edition, published 1985. BP 1/10/4 1990 6
ACERT Information Booklet, 1990. BP 1/10/5 n.d. British Housing: Problems and Solutions. Submission from ACERT to the inquiry organised by the National Federation of Housing Associations and chaired by the Duke of Edinburgh. BP 1/11 ACERT files BP 1/11/1 1971-1984 File entitled gypsies and containing general correspondence and other material relating to gypsies and travellers, including: The Journal Gypsy Education Today (No 18, 1983); report on National Gypsy Summer Schools 1971 byte National Gypsy Education Council; booklet on Summer Schools for Gypsy Children, Wishbech 1972 to 1974, produced for the Cambridgeshire Gypsy Liaison Group; booklet entitled ACERT: the first hundred days ; correspondence, articles and newspaper cuttings. BP 1/11/2 1972-1977 File entitled Occasional Papers and Reports, containing general correspondence, papers and reports on subjects including: ACERT teaching notes number 3 by Myrtle Crisp entitled Brief notes on the role of language in the field of Traveller projects, 1975; ACERT newsletter, 1977; report on The Special Class for Travelling Children, Kensworth, Bedfordshire, March 1972; Radio Romany: a confidential discussion document, 1973; notes on a seminar to identify and assess problems and work of some summer projects for Traveller children in the summer of 73, 1973; notes on the Romano Instituto, the Institute for Romani Research and Documentation; racial discrimination against gypsies; a paper entitled travellers as Teachers: Travellers working for the West Midlands Travellers School explain how it feels; a paper entitled the gypsy population and measures taken by the Finnish Government; rural schools; ACERT summer educational play schemes; report on an ACERT project on adult education and literacy for Romany and Travelling People, 1975/76; artwork featuring Travellers by Rita Brown, 1974; comments of ACERT on the Cripps Report on Accommodation for Gypsies; ACERT teaching notes and suggestions for volunteers on caravan sites and projects for travellers, 1975. BP 1/11/3 1973 File entitled ACERT 1973. Contains general correspondence and other material on subjects including: an address on the Education and Welfare of Travelling Children by D.G. Buckland at the Annual Conference of the National Association of Chief Social Workers; papers relating to the National Gypsy Education Council and the early days of ACERT; the foundation of ACERT; confidential document on the problems of employing full time officer for ACERT. BP 1/11/4 1978 7
File entitled ACERT Miscellaneous 1978. Contains general correspondence and other material on subjects including: correspondence with Lord Avebury about speaking at the forthcoming ACERT AGM on the subject of the Caravan Sites Bill; administrative and financial matters; support for appeals for planning permission to allow gypsies to build on land; correspondence with the Minority Rights Group; conclusions of Secretary of State on the recommendations made by Sir John Cripps in his Report Accommodation for Gypsies ; appeal to the Department of Education and Science for grant support for the employment of a teacher to advise in schools where gypsy children are admitted; proposals for work on the education of travelling children during the International year of the Child; emergency grant aid for the Cardiff Gypsy School; the payment of school bus fares by gypsy pupils at Outwood First School. BP 1/11/5 1979 File entitled ACERT Miscellaneous 1979. Contains general correspondence and other material relating to Lady Plowden s work with ACERT, including: attempts to gain funding for a site development project; administrative matters; support for appeals for planning permission for Traveller families to build on land; a copy of Gypsy Newsheet, published by the Somerset county council for the information of Gypsies in Somerset (Nov 1979); plans for weekend and holiday videotape workshops for gypsies within the Greater London area; a bid for funding to provide administrative support at the Mary Ward Centre; a conference on Gypsies and Planning, sponsored by the Town and Country Planning Association; a research proposal on adult education and the gypsy community; correspondence with Lord Avebury about opening an exhibition at the Centre for Information and Advice on Educational Disadvantage; correspondence with the Department of Extra-Mural Studies at the university of London on work with gypsies; the Minority Rights Group s campaign on issue affecting gypsies or travellers BP 1/11/6 1979-1991 File of general correspondence and m00aterial relating to ACERT Including: a paper on Traveller Education in East Devon by A.K Mowll, Area Education Officer, East Devon Afternoon, 1979; newspaper cuttings on schools for gypsies; photograph of a group of children in a classroom, annotated on reverse: Mothers and young pre-school children in the classroom ; photograph of a young boy riding a tricycle, annotated on reverse: A gypsy child near Swanley ; photograph of an unidentified building; notes on ACERT; ACERT document on the Specific Grant for the Education of Travellers and Displaced Persons, 1990; Christmas card from the British Romani Union, 1991; details of a course on Vanishing People of the World: Gypsies, on which Lady Plowden taught, 1982; minutes of the Executive Meeting of the National Gypsy Education Council at Clays Lane Community Centre, Sep 1989. BP 1/11/7 1980 File entitled ACERT-Miscellaneous 1980. Contains general correspondence on subjects including: the Closure of Outwood School, Surrey (14 Nov 1980); the portrayal of Gypsies in the media; the loan of the Somerset Mobile Families Education Service Vehicle to ACERT; the proposed establishment of a Gypsy Museum and Cultural Centre in Manchester; Gypsy caravan sites; administrative matters; report to members of the Gypsy Council and other interested parties on Mr Hughie with and the National Gypsy Council; the award of funding 8
for an initiative entitled Adult Education and the Gypsy Community from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust; grant-aid from the Department of the Environment; healthcare for Gypsies; the Education Act 1980 and its implications for Traveller and Gypsy children; proposal by the National Gypsy Education Council to the Department of Education and Science for a research project on improving the provision of education services to Gypsies; the Mary Ward Legal Centre and help for Travellers to purchase their own land. BP 1/11/8 1980 General File of correspondence and other material relating to ACERT on various subjects including: ACERT Treasurer s statement; document entitled Is there a future role for the ACERT? ; correspondence relating to ACERT accounts and finances. BP 1/11/9 1981 File entitled ACERT 1981. Contains general correspondence on subjects including Travelling schools; administrative matters; an application for grant-aid for ACERT to the Departments of the Environment and Transport; site-provision for Travellers and the designation of gypsy caravan sites; private Caravan Sites for Gypsies ; ACERT meeting agenda, minutes and papers; ACERT Field Officer s Report; ACERT accounts; newspaper cuttings; a formal investigation report by the Commission for Racial Equality into a case of alleged pressure to discriminate; preliminary draft of a proposal for a research project to be carried out by members of the Advisory Committee (June, 1981). BP 1/11/10 1981-1982 File labelled 1982, containing general correspondence and other material relating to gypsies and travellers, including: gypsy caravan sites and site provision for gypsies; ACERT s evidence for the Committee of Inquiry into the Education of Children of Ethnic Minority Groups; grant-aid for ACERT from the Department of the Environment; a Department of the Environment consultation papers on The Accommodation Needs of Long-Distance and Regional Travellers; the Sheffield Gypsy Support group; draft of a talk entitled Looking Back, Moving Forwards given by Lady Plowden as an introduction to the Department of Education and Science short course on the Education and Welfare of Gypsy, Circus and Fairground Children at the university of Sheffield, Jul 1982; newsletter and meeting agenda for the National Association of Teachers of Travellers; ACERT committee agenda; Christmas card to Lady Plowden from Rose and John at the Travelling School. BP 1/11/11 1982-1983 Untitled file. Contains general correspondence and other material relating to Lady Plowden s work with ACERT, including: gypsy sites provided by Local Authorities in England, Jan 1983; count of gypsy caravans; agenda and minutes for an ACERT meeting, Jul 1983; a brief survey of the history of travelling people in north Kingston and Hammersmith, 1850-1965; minutes of an ACERT meeting, Sep 1982; agenda for an ACERT meeting, Feb [1983], designation of gypsy caravan sites; correspondence with the Home Office Voluntary Services Unit; discussions surrounding the appointment of a regional advisory service in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire to make personal contact with Travelling families; Accommodation for Gypsies : report by Sir John Cripps; ACERT s evidence for the Committee of Inquiry into the Education of Children of Ethnic Minority Groups; Annual Report on the activities of the Hertfordshire Travelling School, 1982. 9
BP 1/11/12 1983-1984 File entitled ACERT 1984. Contains general correspondence on subjects including: report on an ACERT forum, 4 Feb 1984; planning appeals to help travellers who want their own caravan site; correspondence about the situation of the families of Travellers in the Peterborough area, including a letter of acknowledgement from the Prime Minister, John major; ACERT Financial and general Purposes Committee agenda; seminar on the health of Traveller mothers and children in east Anglia; notes on ACERT AGM, Feb 1984; report on the welfare of Travelling people residing in and resorting to the Peterborough area; discussion paper on ACERT committees; an ACERT day conference on Traveller education; minutes of an ACERT meeting, 3 Dec 1983; ACERT s response to the government White Papers Streamlining the Cities ; agenda and papers for an ACERT Management Committee meeting, 3 Dec 1983;photocopy of an article from the Workingham Times, Oct 1983, entitled Bridging the gap between a traveller s life and the confines of a classroom ; correspondence with the East Anglian Gypsy Council relating to an educational-cultural gypsy festival. BP 1/11/13 1985 File of general correspondence and other material relating to ACERT including: minutes of the ACERT Annual General Meeting; ACERT Management Committee agenda and minutes; correspondence with Lord Avebury on the subject of a working party to consider the repeal of designation legislation; an informal discussion with Cardiff Education, 15.11.1984; St David s Intermediate Gypsy School; the Cardiff Gypsy Sites Group. BP 1/11/14 1985-1993 Untitled file. Contains general correspondence on subjects including: a copy of the report Health and Health Care among Travellers by the Health Services Research Unit at the University of Kent (1986); response to the Swann Report Education for All from NGEC and ACERT (1986); the ACERT response to the Department of Environment review of progress on provision of caravan sites for Gypsies; newspaper cutting: Gipsies [sic] still missing out, says Plowden and Attack on Swann racism (T.E.S., 28 Feb 1986); Gypsies and Designation; ACERT Committee agenda and minutes (1986); ACERT AGM minutes (1986); ACERT Management Committee minutes (1986); a DES/ regional course on the Special Education Needs of Traveller Children: Fairground and Gypsy Children (1987); photocopied article: Gypsies not an ethic group under race law from The Law Magazine 91987); ACERT meeting minutes (26 Sep 1987); newspaper cuttings from 1976 relating to Gypsies; agenda and papers for ACERT Executive Committee meetings and AGMs (1992 & 1993);proposed draft response by ACERT on the Implementation of the New Inspection Arrangements Under the Education (Schools) Act 1992; Gypsy Sites Policy, and Illegal Camping: Reform of the Caravan Sites Act 1968. BP 1/11/15 1988 File entitled ACERT 1988. Contains general correspondence on subjects including: the formulation of a Constitution for ACERT, including a copy of the final Constitution; concerns about a chapter on Gypsies in the new publication, Worlds Apart by Monica Taylor; minutes of an ACERT Special General Meeting, 7 May 1988. 10
BP 1/11/16 1989 File of general correspondence chiefly concerning efforts to find funding and grant support for ACERT and the loss of government funding to ACERT previously made available as a Department of the Environment grant, including a photocopy of a newspaper cutting of an article entitled, Fear for travellers education as Act threatens integration (Newspaper cutting) (By Anat Arkin at News, 17.4. 1989); a letter from Department of Education and Science (3.08.1989) enclosing draft circular and regulations on the new specific grant for the education of Travellers and refugees and a statement outlining ACERT s case for needing a full time member of staff. BP 1/12 Publications & reports relating to Education for gypsies and Travellers BP 1/12/1 1976-1993 Publications and reports relating to education for gypsies and Travellers, produced by various organisations including local education departments/ authorities, travellers schools and charities. Also includes some material relating to training courses on the subject of education for gypsies and travellers. 2 boxes BP 1/13 Events relating to Education for gypsies and Travellers BP 1/13/1 Mar 1989 Photographs and cuttings relating to the opening of Dilton Marsh C. of E. Primary School, removed from a small photograph album presented to Lady Plowden by Margaret Hird of Traveller Education- Wiltshire at Wiltshire County Council Education Department. With a letter of thanks to Lady Plowden from Margaret Hird enclosing the album. April 2013 11