ABSTRACT
It is now more than 40 years since the Plowden Report (Department of Education and Science [DES], 1967) drew attention to the chronic lack of access to mainstream education for Gypsy Traveller children in England. The intervening years have seen the production of several other reports (DES, 1983, 1985, 1990; Offi ce for Standards in Education [OFSTED], 1996, 1999, 2003; Reiss, 1975), which all voiced the same concerns. Over the period there have also been many changes in the educational landscape, in education policy and priorities, in funding mechanisms and in systems of accountability. There have been developments in practice to promote an understanding of diversity and equality of opportunity for all. Courses in citizenship have been added to the National Curriculum. Policies of inclusion have sought to bring most students into the mainstream of education.
