Equality and Diversity in Milton Keynes
www.milton-keynes.gov.uk
Issue date: November 2013 Produced by MKC Equality and Diversity Context in Milton Keynes
Contents
Context 4 Diverse Black and minority ethnic communities in Milton Keynes 6
Our equality commitment 7
Part A: A good practice guide 9 Equality and community cohesion 9
Addressing the child or family 12
Assemblies 13
Cultural behaviour 14
Dietary requirements 15
Dress codes and school uniform 16
Engagement with parents and carers 17
Extended holidays 19
Festivals 20
New arrivals 21
Refugees and asylum seekers 23
Setting and school ethos 26
School visits and extra-curricular activities 27
Supplementary Schools 28
Translation 29
Part B: Community information 32 Communities and Culture 35
Faith 79
Language 100 Context
Diverse Black and minority Equality and Diversity ethnic communities in Milton Keynes
Context The first edition of Equality and Diversity in Milton Our equality commitment Keynes was published in 2002, in response to Equality and community schools’ recognition that the borough and its cohesion early years settings and schools had become Addressing the child increasingly diverse. It has provided accessible or family information about the diverse black and minority ethnic (BME) communities, their faith backgrounds Assemblies
and language heritages and has become the Cultural behaviour basis for many schools’ understanding of cultural
diversity in our borough. Equality and Diversity is Dietary requirements now used as a training tool across the council. Dress codes and school uniform This third edition recognises that Milton Keynes is continuing to grow and diversify. This edition continues to focus on early years settings and schools, but it is a valid Engagement with resource for other professionals; both in the Children and Families Service Groups parents and carers and across the council. It is set out in two parts:
Extended holidays Part A: Festivals A good practice guide with specific information on key aspects of the inclusion of children and young New arrivals people from diverse communities. Refugees and asylum seekers Part B: Setting and school ethos Background information on three key aspects of School visits and diversity: cultural heritage, religion and language. extra-curricular activities
The guidance is designed as a quick reference for practitioners who seek to gain Supplementary schools deeper insight. There are clear, identified links between all aspects of background information, for example, between cultures and religion. Translation
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5 Equality and Diversity Context in Milton Keynes
Diverse Black and minority Diverse black and minority ethnic communities Our equality commitment ethnic communities in in Milton Keynes Milton Keynes Throughout the guidance we will endeavour to: Our equality commitment Milton Keynes has a rich, vibrant and varied community and thrives on its diversity. • promote a positive attitude to difference As the population of Milton Keynes has grown it has become increasingly diverse. • challenge stereotypes The latest annual pupil data records over 156 languages being spoken by children Equality and community cohesion and young people in Milton Keynes’ schools. • communicate directly with local people
The proportion of the school population made up by BME children and young Equality is at the heart of everything the council does, provides and in how it shapes Addressing the child people is 34.1%, which has grown significantly since 2005, when it was 20.7%. the place our citizens live, learn and work in. It is encapsulated in the council’s or family 20.3% of our BME children and young people are learning English as an additional Equality Vision: language (EAL), although they are at a wide range of stages of acquisition; from new Assemblies arrivals, with limited English, to advanced learners who operate at a high level of English, at or above age-related expectations. There is a high level of commitment “ Improve the way we engage, think, plan and act to provide for diverse needs from our settings and schools; with each establishment to deliver equality and accessibility for everyone, Cultural behaviour having a dedicated coordinator of ethnic minority achievement (EMA). every day.” Dietary requirements The council complies with the Equality Act 2010, but always seeks to work beyond mere compliance and actively works with partners to remove barriers and create Dress codes and school opportunities for all. uniform
This is enshrined in the council’s equality commitment: Engagement with parents and carers To deliver equitable services by: • assessing the impact of its policies, projects and plans and making reasonable Extended holidays adjustments;
• removing barriers, making services accessible to local people and Festivals communities; and
• improving engagement with local people and stakeholders. New arrivals To shape the development of the borough by: • understanding the needs and preferences of local people; Refugees and asylum seekers • advancing equality of opportunity for individuals and families; and
• fostering good community relations, where everyone is treated with respect. Setting and school ethos
To build a diverse and competent workforce, volunteers and councillors by: School visits and • adopting policies and practices that make best use of the differing skills and extra-curricular activities talents of individuals and create a harassment free environment;
• ensuring the council workforce is proportionately reflective of the ever Supplementary schools changing community and compares well with other councils; and
• creating tools and products that support individuals to have due regard to Translation equality.
www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/corporateplan Communities and Culture
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6 7 Part A: A good practice guide
Diverse Black and minority Equality and community cohesion ethnic communities in Milton Keynes This section will explain the statutory responsibilities of early years settings and Part A: schools to ensure equality for all children and young people, staff, parents and Our equality commitment the communities they represent. They are held responsible under the duties of the ‘Equality Act 2010’ and the ‘Duty to Promote Community Cohesion’. Equality and community A good cohesion Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 was created to simplify the previous plethora of legislation, Addressing the child practice replacing the existing anti-discriminatory laws with a single act, which is easy or family to access and understand. It aims to remove inconsistencies and harmonise definitions across the protected characteristics, to create common approaches. Assemblies guide The act provides clear and consistent protection through three general duties, where public bodies must pay ’due regard’ to the need to: Cultural behaviour 1. eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010; Dietary requirements 2. advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; and Dress codes and school uniform 3. foster good relations between persons who share a protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. Engagement with Having ’due regard’ means; consciously thinking about the three aims of the general parents and carers duty as part of the process of decision‑making. This means that consideration of equality issues must influence the decisions reached by settings and schools in Extended holidays how they act as employers; develop, evaluate and review policy; design, deliver and evaluate services; and how they commission and procure from others. Festivals Having ’due regard’ to the need to advance equality of opportunity involves considering the need to: New arrivals • remove or minimise disadvantages suffered by people due to their protected characteristics; Refugees and • meet the needs of people with protected characteristics; and asylum seekers
• encourage people with protected characteristics to participate in public life or in other activities where their participation is low. Setting and school ethos
The act extends the scope of legislation to include the use of positive action. School visits and Complying with the general duty may involve taking positive actions, for example: extra-curricular activities • making provision specific for the advancement of opportunity for certain underrepresented, under-achieving children and young people or for those Supplementary schools facing difficulties
• recognising that disabled people’s needs are different from those of Translation non‑disabled people. In considering the need to meet the needs of disabled people, including children, young people and parents, schools should take account of disabled people’s specific disabilities. This might mean making Communities and Culture reasonable adjustments to remove barriers for them
• building good community relations through awareness of minority or Faith majority cultures.
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9 Equality and Diversity Part A: A good practice guide in Milton Keynes
The general duty is underpinned by a number of specific duties which provide Community cohesion Diverse Black and minority a framework to help schools meet the general duty. The specific duties require ethnic communities in The term ’community cohesion’ means working towards a society in which there is Milton Keynes schools to: a common vision and sense of belonging by all communities; a society in which the diversity of peoples’ backgrounds and circumstances is appreciated and valued; 1. Publish information about their performance on equality, so that the public Our equality commitment where similar life opportunities are available to all; and where strong and positive can hold them to account. relationships exist and continue to be developed in settings and schools, the The information listed below had to be published by 6 April 2012 and should be workplace and in the wider community. Equality and community reviewed and published at least annually. cohesion Whilst the legal duty to promote community cohesion in schools is still in place, the • Schools must publish information to show that they have considered the three explicit requirement on Ofsted to monitor compliance has been removed. However, Addressing the child aims of the general duty across their functions. Ofsted is required to report on the spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) or family development of pupils and on how well the school meets the needs of diverse • The information published must include information on the effect that the groups of pupils, particularly in terms of outcomes and progress in learning. The school’s policies and practices have on equality for service users, and (for Assemblies groups include those protected under the Equality Act 2010 and additionally: pupils those with 150 or more staff) on equality for their employees. Schools with who are living in poverty and are eligible for free school meals and in receipt of Pupil 150 or more staff will be expected to publish information on significant and Premium; children in care and the children of service personnel. long‑standing inequalities, such as the gender pay gap and the proportion and Cultural behaviour distribution of disabled employees and staff from minority ethnic communities. Settings and schools have already developed successful approaches to including all children and young people and their communities. • To comply with the general duty, schools need to understand how their policies Dietary requirements and practices will influence outcomes and affect equality for different groups. Some examples of good practice are listed below: This will involve looking at evidence and include engaging with staff, pupils Dress codes and school and parents. It will mean considering the effect of what the school does on the • Opportunities are taken across the curriculum to: promote shared values; uniform whole community. respect difference; address sensitive and controversial issues; and challenge prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping Engagement with • Schools have to publish this information in a manner that is accessible to parents and carers the public. This means it should be available not just to pupils and parents, • Curriculum based activities to enrich and deepen understanding, such as: but also to other interested parties and stakeholders. It does not have to be visits to places of worship; meetings with community groups and leaders; formally published, but must be in a format which they could provide to a community drama and music performances Extended holidays member of the public on request. • Assemblies which involve members of the local and wider communities; 2. Set one or more specific, measurable equality objectives. promoting shared understanding and developing the ethos and values Festivals Publishing equality objectives that will help the school to further the aims of the of the school general duty, based upon equality evidence and analysis. Objectives must be • Provision for children and young people for whom English is an additional New arrivals specific and measurable. Subsequent objectives and accompanying information language (EAL) and the effective removal of barriers to learning for children must be prepared and published at least every four years. from vulnerable and underperforming BME groups Refugees and These objectives will enable the school to meet the general duty outlined in asylum seekers • Targeted engagement with parents and provision of translation, where Section 149 of the Equality Act, for instance by improvements in the following areas: appropriate. • Dealing with and eliminating prejudiced based incidents Setting and school ethos Settings and schools should consider the following: • Closing the gap in attainment for all children • Self-evaluation of effectiveness in meeting the diverse needs of their children School visits and • Engagement with local communities and young people extra-curricular activities
• Policies and practices that promote equality and address inequities. • How far they have closed the achievement gap between their vulnerable and underperforming groups and all pupils nationally. They should consider how Supplementary schools they have, and can further, remove barriers to access, learning, participation, progression and attainment Translation • How their school’s ethos and curriculum develops children and young people’s common values of citizenship; based on dialogue, mutual respect and acceptance of diversity and their ability to contribute to Communities and Culture good community relations
• Their success in challenging and eliminating discrimination and inequality. Faith
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10 11 Equality and Diversity Part A: A good practice guide in Milton Keynes
Diverse Black and minority Addressing the child or family Assemblies ethnic communities in Milton Keynes Our name is fundamental to our identity. It is vital that everyone who uses it Collective Worship is legally required to take place every school day and ‘shall be shows the respect it deserves. It is important for the child and family’s name to be wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character’ (1988 Education Act). Schools can Our equality commitment recorded, pronounced and used accurately and with consistency. organise the Act of Collective Worship in a more flexible way than under previous legislation. Therefore, it is possible to include the varied religious backgrounds of School staff need to be aware that some children’s names can become Equality and community children without compromising their belief. A basic understanding of the principles cohesion marginalised and undervalued. of the major faiths, as outlined in this document, will ensure that the children do not experience conflict. • Parents sometimes try not to offend a teacher by allowing their child to be Addressing the child or family called by a more ‘acceptable’ (English) name in school, while using his or her All children have a spiritual entitlement, which can be found in experiences which real name at home. This creates a division between home and school identity evoke the following: and does not promote inclusion. Children often say that they agree to their Assemblies name being changed out of politeness, rather than willingness. A sense of:
• A child’s name should not be shortened. This often leads to anglicisation of the • awe, wonder and mystery, transience and constant change Cultural behaviour name e.g. Harpreet to Harry; Davinder to Dave; Sudesh to Sue. • pattern, order and purpose • Every effort should be made to pronounce the name correctly, even when it Dietary requirements appears difficult or long. Ask for help from the parent or child and do not be An awareness of: afraid of making mistakes as you perfect your pronunciation. • their relationship with the natural world Dress codes and school uniform • Some children, for example in African and Asian backgrounds, may have a • relationships with others as feeling, thinking persons different name at home, which is used among family and close friends. It may be different from their formal name, which has been provided to the school. • community and its demands, values and rituals Engagement with This can cause some confusion for young children as it may be the first time parents and carers they have been addressed by this name. Schools should ask parents which • achievement, celebration and joy name should be used on a daily basis and discuss this with the child. Extended holidays • loss, sadness and suffering • Children often have names which have an important meaning and a particular • life involving choices: between good and bad, right and wrong, being outgoing significance within their culture. In most cultures naming a child is a very and being selfish. Worship which reflects the listed entitlements can be used Festivals special occasion, marked and celebrated with ceremony. with pupils from a wide range of religious backgrounds and still remain within the law. • It is important to understand the ordering of family and personal names, New arrivals otherwise children will become confused by a different system used in school. Some suggestions to consider: The ordering of names is explained, where relevant, in Part B: Communities and Culture. Regularly share stories and traditions from around the world, including Gypsy, Refugees and asylum seekers Traveller and Roma culture, so that they are seen as normal and not exotic. Inclusion does not mean celebrating festivals alone. Ask children and young people to become involved and to give advice with planning. Make comparisons and Setting and school ethos highlight, but do not presume commonalities that all faiths worship the same God. This may cause offence and misinterpretation. Within each major faith there may be School visits and significant variation in belief and practice. At prayer time, allow children to pray to extra-curricular activities their own God, or to think about the meaning of the assembly message.
Be aware that some Muslim children and young people will not be allowed to join Supplementary schools in the singing of hymns, Christmas carols or enactments of Biblical scenes. Most Muslim parents will allow their children to sing songs about Christian stories, but will not be happy for them to refer to Jesus being the son of God. This is where they Translation deem that it is worship and not curricular learning. It is polite to ask parents if they mind if their children join in and demonstrate how you will be including their cultural background in assemblies. Make sure there is a range of songs, which include all Communities and Culture the children and young people. This should be both as part of a school group and at times as a member of an individual cultural background. Faith
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12 13 Equality and Diversity Part A: A good practice guide in Milton Keynes
Diverse Black and minority Cultural behaviour Dietary requirements ethnic communities in Milton Keynes Cultural norms vary greatly. What is normal for one group can make others feel very Children may follow specific religious dietary observances. It is important that the uncomfortable. Sensitivity to difference is always paramount. school is aware of these and that this information is passed on to all school staff, Our equality commitment particularly mid-day supervisors. Some parents will inform the school, whereas in For example: some cases the school will be able to make judgements based upon religion. If Equality and community Particular cultural behaviours maybe observed in children and young people of there is any doubt parents should be consulted. cohesion Black African and Black Caribbean heritage. Avoidance of eye contact, when When cooked meals are provided by the school it is suggested that they should addressed or admonished by an adult, can be seen as polite. Children are often Addressing the child reflect the culinary background of the children. Where possible, halal meat should or family expected to unquestioningly obey parental directives and may find the contrast be provided, although it is recognised that contracts may dictate that this is difficult. between the form of discipline at home and school confusing. Many minority ethnic children are registered in schools as vegetarian because Assemblies For most cultures, wider family ties are important; grandparents, aunts and uncles parents do not want their children to eat prohibited meats. may take a central role in bringing up the children. These relatives may be closely The majority of Hindus are vegetarian. Many children will not eat meat, including involved in educational decision-making. In some cultures all significant adults are foods containing animal derivatives, such as gelatine. As this does not apply to all Cultural behaviour called ‘aunty’ or ‘uncle’ as a sign of respect. They may not be a blood relative, but children it is recommended that parents be consulted upon the child’s entry into may still influence a child’s up-bringing. school. Hindus do not eat beef. Some Indian children may bring ‘tiffins’ as a packed Dietary requirements Culture can be influenced by religion, which may place a high value on modesty, for lunch. Tiffins may contain, for example, chappati and vegetable dhal curry. example in the Islamic cultures. This will influence: Jewish children may only eat Kosher foods, including specially butchered meat Dress codes and school • dress and may follow regulations about food combinations. Examples of food which may uniform be precluded are non-Kosher meat, pork products and shellfish, including prawns. Some Jewish people do not eat dairy and meat products in the same meal and they • physical contact; especially with members of the opposite sex. For example, Engagement with a male member of staff should not shake hands with a Muslim woman and a should be prepared using different utensils. parents and carers female member of staff should not offer to shake hands with a male Muslim. If Practicing Muslim children only eat Halal meat, which has been specially a Muslim person offers their hand to you it’s acceptable to shake it. An act of Extended holidays comfort, such as putting an arm around someone, may cause embarrassment. butchered. They do not eat pork. Some children do not eat products which contain animal derivatives such as some biscuits, crisps and sweets. Muslim children may • eye contact; an adult or a child might not look directly at someone speaking to eat all forms of fish, except shell fish and prawns. All fish is considered to be ‘halal. them as a sign of respect. Food which is prohibited is considered ‘haram’. Festivals
Various communities socialise in single-sex groups, while others prefer mixed Other religious groups have different dietary observations; Seventh Day Adventists, grouping. Mixed seating in school social events may exclude women who feel for example, do not eat pork or shellfish. New arrivals uncomfortable sitting amongst men, whereas some people will find being forced
apart just as uncomfortable. Refugees and asylum seekers Conversely, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children spend a lot of time in adult company and can be comfortable conversing with adults as equals. As a result, pupils may unwittingly seem over-familiar and perhaps disrespectful when Setting and school ethos interacting with staff members.
School visits and It can be impossible to understand all cultural nuances. This is why it is vital that we extra-curricular activities build our own knowledge and understanding of the identity of the people we work with. The mixed messages between home and school may be confusing for children and their families. Therefore, it is essential expectations are clearly explained and it Supplementary schools is vital that we ensure communications are understood.
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14 15 Equality and Diversity Part A: A good practice guide in Milton Keynes
Diverse Black and minority Dress codes and school uniform Effective engagement with parents and carers ethnic communities in Milton Keynes Dress styles can often follow religious belief. As in other customs there will be Research has shown that parents are the first and the most important educators variation in practice, but styles of dress are often related to culture and country of of children. In certain communities, the first educators may be extended family Our equality commitment origin. members.
Muslim women usually cover their heads, arms and legs. This is different from the All schools must recognise that they cannot work in isolation and that actively Equality and community cohesion normal school dress code. Young girls may be able to wear knee length dresses and engaging with parents/carers is vital for improved educational and social outcomes may not cover their heads until they reach puberty. This is usually a choice made by for the children and young people. This is particularly important when supporting Addressing the child the girl herself. diverse, disadvantaged and new communities. or family The ‘hijab’ is the name of the headscarf worn by some Muslim girls and women. Effective home school links are crucial to parental engagement and involvement in They may only take it off at home within the immediate family. Hair will not be their children’s learning. However, there are many barriers to parental engagement. Assemblies visible. Some women wear a ‘burka’, a black, loose fitting cloak(Jilbab) and Schools need to understand their families and communities in order to identity headdress, over their clothes when leaving the home. these barriers and put effective measures in place. Cultural behaviour Good parental consultation can often overcome misunderstandings and there Some barriers to engagement: are many examples of solutions. Schools should aim to ensure a pupil’s cultural • Parents own negative experiences of schools may cause mistrust of the heritage is not be compromised by adherence to the school uniform. Children and education system. Dietary requirements young people should be encouraged to feel that it is normal for them to wear their traditional clothing at school as well as at home. Some suggestions are provided • Parents new to the country may not understand the UK school system or their Dress codes and school below for creating an inclusive dress code: role in supporting their children’s learning. uniform • Asian salwar (trousers) and kameez (shirt) in school colours • Parents may lack confidence and knowledge of the curriculum subjects or learning styles. Engagement with • The production of a list of uniform items which includes salwar, kameez and parents and carers hijab scarf and states colour options • Parents may not understand the importance of their involvement in school life. Extended holidays • PE uniform includes optional tracksuit bottoms and a long sleeved T-shirt. • Due to language barriers and poor English literacy skills, parents may not Swimwear includes T-shirt and leggings, with a swimming costume underneath understand the communication/ literature provided by the school.
In general, women of African, Hindu and Sikh origin have similar modesty codes, • Most of the school/home communication is usually in written form. Festivals covering heads, arms and legs. However, there is wide variation in choice and practice. • Parents may only be involved with schools for negative reasons rather than positive things. New arrivals
• There may be a negative stereotyping of particular parents and community Refugees and groups within the school. asylum seekers For effective school/parent partnerships, schools need to acknowledge that: • Parents are their children’s first educators and remain key educators Setting and school ethos throughout their school career and life.
School visits and • Most parents want to be involved in their children’s learning but may not know extra-curricular activities how to do so.
• Parental involvement in a child’s schooling between ages of 7-16 is more Supplementary schools powerful than the size of family and the parents’ level of education.
• Families and communities play a crucial role in developing identity and self Translation esteem and this is clearly linked to educational success.
• The importance of listening to parental concerns and recognising children’s Communities and Culture achievements in and outside of school.
Many BME parents have very high educational and life aspirations for their children but they may need support to help their children in their learning. Faith
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16 17 Equality and Diversity Part A: A good practice guide in Milton Keynes
Key factors for effective school/home partnership Diverse Black and minority Extended holidays ethnic communities in • Positive and inclusive school ethos Milton Keynes Successful schools have a clear positive and inclusive ethos and nurture a culture Holidays in Term Time of mutual respect for learners, staff and the community. Inclusive curriculum and Extended visits to the country of family origin can be important opportunities to Our equality commitment transparent paths to resisting bias and discrimination are embedded. Emphasis is reaffirm family, linguistic and cultural identities. As such they are extremely positive, on inclusion rather than exclusion. A range of ways are employed to ensure that personal and educational experiences. When managed in a supportive way by Equality and community parents and carers from diverse cultural, linguistic and religious backgrounds feel schools and families, they provide unique opportunities for enriching the curriculum, cohesion welcome and respected. ethos and life of the school. They also contribute significantly to the building of pupils’ self-esteem, self-confidence and well-being. Addressing the child • Effective Communication to ensure two way dialogues or family However, parents should not assume that their child’s school will agree to an Successful schools have a two way strong communication with their parents and absence for a holiday during term time. Taking a holiday during term time means Assemblies wider community. This is achieved through multiple avenues such as prompting that children miss important school time - both educationally and for other school strong parental/pupil voice; linking with supplementary schools; ensuring staff activities. It will be difficult for them to catch up on work later on. reflects the school community; open door policy; initiating communication; staff Cultural behaviour training; monitoring attendance and actively approaching hard to reach parents to Each application is considered individually by the school, taking into account become more involved in different ways. factors like the timing of the holiday and the child’s attendance record. Parents should negotiate absence with the school as early as possible. There may be educational reasons for a trip, such as a private exchange. In these circumstances Dietary requirements • Strategic drive for parental involvement and engagement schools are more likely to agree an absence. If parents need to take their child out Successful schools with strong leadership have been key to driving the agenda of school during term time: Dress codes and school uniform of developing home school links. Effective strategies have included ensuring that • they must contact their child’s school immediately inclusion and engagement of parents is driven strategically and at the forefront of Engagement with the School Improvement Plan; identification of vulnerable BME parents/ groups • always consult the school before booking travel for holidays in term time, parents and carers through data and targeted; robust school policies in creating inclusion and equal as permission may not be granted. opportunities; structured supported parents to ensure they understand the schools’ approach to learning and teaching and participate as key partners, e.g. organising Holidays taken during term time are recorded as “unauthorised”. If a child is Extended holidays reading or writing partnership training; parent workshops (bilinguals where removed for 5 days (ten am/pm sessions) a fine may be incurred. Parents are still necessary) for home learning, ICT, ESOL; clear expectations of the school and allowed to take their children out of school for “exceptional circumstances” such as the parents are set from the beginning; accurate background information of their weddings, overseas funerals and other family events which are not deemed to be Festivals families through a induction procedure; the role of EAL co-ordinator is a strategic “holidays” at the discretion of the Headteacher. and leadership role; staff CPD in raising attainment of BME pupils is part of the The school must alert parents to the legal position regarding ‘unauthorised’ New arrivals School Improvement Plan. absence.
While recognising that it is often less expensive to take holidays during term time, Refugees and asylum seekers it is important that parents think carefully about the implications for their child. For example: Setting and school ethos • their child may need help in certain subjects and will miss the support being offered; School visits and • missing two weeks every year during term time is equivalent to missing nearly extra-curricular activities a whole year of school; Supplementary schools • being absent means the child will miss important work and may well have difficulty catching up;
• the child may find it difficult to renew friendships with classmates when Translation they return.
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18 19 Equality and Diversity Part A: A good practice guide in Milton Keynes
Extended leave Diverse Black and minority Festivals ethnic communities in Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are Milton Keynes exceptional circumstances. Headteachers should determine the number of school EMA Network informs schools of the main religious festivals which may be days a child can be away from school if the leave is granted. celebrated by the various communities in Milton Keynes. A festival timetable is Our equality commitment Schools must alert parents to the legal position and the actions they may take if the available on the MKC website: www.milton-keynes.gov.uk. child fails to return by the agreed date. Schools are able to delete the pupil from the Festivals are important to all communities and schools should acknowledge and Equality and community school roll if they do not return from a period of extended leave when agreed. cohesion develop an awareness of these significant events in the lives of their pupils. Whilst it (Note: Schools should complete a Children Missing Education form is valuable to have planned, curriculum based recognition, it is equally vital for staff Addressing the child (www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/teachers) prior to taking action and to express an interest in the pupil’s involvement on a personal level. or family can discuss potential roll removals with the School Admission team: Learning about festivals should be taught within a broad and balanced curriculum [email protected]) which reflects pupil’s daily cultural/religious experiences. In some cases parents Assemblies If taking a holiday is unavoidable, parents should: may request absence for one day of a festival . This may be authorised. Further detailed information is available from EMA Network. • talk to the headteacher in advance for permission Cultural behaviour Many of the main Christian festivals, for example Christmas and Easter, take place • arrange family holidays and extended trips to coincide with school holidays as during the school holidays. much as possible Dietary requirements The two main festivals celebrated by Muslims are Eid-ul-Fitr (marking the end of • avoid times when there are important examinations Ramadan) and Eid-ul-Adha (marking the end of Hajj). These Muslim celebrations occur according the lunar calendar in different countries and it is difficult to predict Dress codes and school • talk to the school about how they will help their child catch up on the uniform when pupils may need to be absent from school until very close to the day itself. work missed. For example, Eid-ul-fitr and Eid-ul-Adha come 10 days earlier every year and can Engagement with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children change according to when the moon is sighted. However, there may be occasions parents and carers when a festival falls twice in a calendar year. It is likely that some Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils may travel for periods of the year. During these periods the school should mark their absence as authorised, The main festivals celebrated by Jews include Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Extended holidays using the ‘T’ symbol. Whilst travelling, pupils may dual register at different schools The commonly celebrated festivals by Sikhs include Baisakhi, Diwali and Birthday across the country while remaining on roll at their local school. Where schools are of Guru Nanak Dev. Hindus main festivals include Diwali and the New Year Day aware that pupils will be travelling, it is advised that distance learning packs are (day after Diwali) and the main Buddhist festivals include Vesak (Buddha Day) and Festivals produced to ensure continuation of learning. EMA Network is able to advise and Dhammacakka Day. assist in the development of these packs. Schools should use their discretion where a parent does not belong to a religious New arrivals body, as they may want to celebrate an alternative festival that they feel is important to them, such as Pagan or Wicca festivals. Refugees and The Milton Keynes Code of Conduct offers the latest guidance on the legal position asylum seekers regarding leave related to religious and other festivals. Setting and school ethos
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20 21 Equality and Diversity Part A: A good practice guide in Milton Keynes
Ramadan and Eid Diverse Black and minority Refugees and Asylum Seekers ethnic communities in Due to its significant effect on school life Ramadan (a significant Muslim Milton Keynes observation) may also be of particular importance for schools and teachers The term ‘refugee’ is a legal term which has a specific meaning: awareness. Our equality commitment A ‘refugee’ is a person who has left his or her country and is unable to return to • Ramadan is a lunar month of fasting that Muslims observe and is obligatory it ‘owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, from the age of about twelve, although some children may choose to do a day nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.’ Equality and community or two at a younger age. cohesion An ‘asylum seeker’ is ‘a person who has crossed an international border in search • The fast starts at the break of dawn and ends at sunset. Between these times of safety, and is seeking refugee status in another country’. It is a temporary Addressing the child Muslims do not eat or drink. or family position, awaiting a decision upon being granted refugee status from the Home • There are exceptions to fasting for pregnant women and girls menstruating, Office. This can take a varying amount of time and can be subject to appeal. nursing mothers and people who are travelling or ill. Assemblies After being granted refugee status in the UK or another European country, people • Children may be tired because the family routine has changed. The whole are then free to move about and seek employment anywhere in Europe. They are household will wake earlier and go to bed later, particularly during the summer. keen to leave the stigma of the word ‘refugee’ behind them. Cultural behaviour
There is no evidence of negative effects. Schools should expect children to continue Current situation
their normal work, but aspects of the curriculum could cause some problems for Small numbers of asylum seekers from different countries have arrived in Milton Dietary requirements them. This might include: energetic PE lessons; swimming, where a child might Keynes since the borough was created. Since April 2000, the Government’s policy swallow water; tasting activities in science; television, as some families may not of ‘dispersal’ has resulted in very few new asylum seekers arriving here. Milton Dress codes and school watch television in Ramadan; music, when singing is best avoided. Keynes is not a ‘dispersal area’. However, some families who have already been uniform granted refugee status elsewhere, have moved here to be near to their relations or The celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr marks the end of fasting. Eid means that it is an other members of their community. There are a small number of unaccompanied Islamic festival and Fitr means that it is the breaking of the fast. It is sometimes Engagement with asylum seeker children in Milton Keynes. parents and carers known as ‘Little Eid.’ Refugee and asylum seeker children could have been either directly or indirectly Fasting happens in various religious groups and schools will understand particular affected by civil strife. Parents have specified that they want their children’s culture Extended holidays issues better in consultation with parents, but suggestions include: to be valued in school, but for example, in the case of the Somali community they • Informing parents how pupils who are fasting will be supported in school. do not want them to be taught about the war. Festivals • Maintaining a daily register of children who are fasting in primary schools.
• Discussing with parents if younger fasting children become distressed. New arrivals
• Making lunchtime provision for fasting children who stay at school. Refugees and • Pupils should be allowed to bring prayer mats and slippers if required. asylum seekers
• Checking the short-term planning to ensure that activities do not cause Setting and school ethos children to involuntarily break the fast or undergo undue exertion.
Shia Muslim children and young people will be expected to take a day off school School visits and on the day of ‘Ashura’ (see Islam in Part B - Faiths). Also, they observe the 40th day extra-curricular activities after the event of Ashura and children and young people will also be expected to take a day off school. During this Islamic month, known as Muharram, birthdays and Supplementary schools special occasions will not be celebrated. Ashura falls on the 10th day of Muharram.
Where the school has a significant pupil population from a particular faith who may be absent to observe a religious festival, consideration should be given to closing Translation the school on that particular day. The school may use this opportunity to celebrate a festival as a whole school community to help to improve understanding of and respect for other faiths and promote community cohesion. However, the days Communities and Culture schools are closed must be added to the rest of the academic year.
Faith
Language
22 23 Equality and Diversity Part A: A good practice guide in Milton Keynes
Support strategies for Asylum Seeker and Refugee children and their families Suggestions to use within the classroom Diverse Black and minority ethnic communities in • The Human Rights Act 1998(Amendment order 2005), the United Nations • Find a sympathetic friend to sit next to the child. Try to match up with a child Milton Keynes Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 and the Education Act 2011 who speaks the same language. require refugee and asylum seeker children to be provided with education. Our equality commitment Refugee and asylum seeking children under 17 years have the same right • Where possible, allocate an adult ‘buddy’ to the child. to attend school as all other children. • Give as much visual support as possible, using pictures, diagrams to outline Equality and community • When refugee families arrive in Britain they do not usually receive advice explanations, flash cards and picture dictionaries. Remember that even if a cohesion on welfare, housing, education and health care issues. When children enrol child can hold simple conversations much of the vocabulary used in the lesson may be new. Work on the assumption that all new words need to be illustrated in school we should ensure that they have local access to healthcare and Addressing the child provide them with information about support agencies. in some way. or family
• The Citizens Advice Bureau has an immigration lawyer who can help with • Short vocabulary lists could be created for each and should to be illustrated a variety of issues, including clarifying date of birth for children without in some way. Assemblies birth certificates. www.miltonkeynescab.org.uk • Short vocabulary lists could be created for each lesson. Cultural behaviour • Schools should seek appropriate translation facilities for the initial enrolment • Instructions on work sheets should be clear and follow a consistent format. interview and after the children have begun to settle in. This might be by asking another member of the community to help or by using the Community • Schools should provide bilingual dictionaries for all children who are able Language Service (http://bit.ly/MKC-CLS). EMA Network can provide current to read in their home language. Dietary requirements advice on this. • Children should be encouraged to speak in their home language and to Dress codes and school • Information should be given about free school meals. consider new English words in their home language. Teaching staff can uniform ask them how it would be said or written. • Schools should ensure that parents understand how the British education Engagement with system works and the methods to be used to teach their children. They may • Encourage older children to write in their home language and to make dual parents and carers be very different from their previous experience. Many children will be used language text. Some children may be advanced writers and it will encourage to a more formal type of teaching. them to gain confidence in learning English if they are valued for their existing Extended holidays language skills. • All staff within school should be aware of the situation the children come from and that they need a time of adjustment and coming to terms with being • Collaborative activities and planned talk are beneficial. homesick, grieving, missing family members and possibly coping with fear and Festivals difficult memories. Refugee children may have experienced multiple traumas, • Reading material should be backed up by picture clues. added to which they may be experiencing major cultural change. • There are many simple computer programs for teaching English which New arrivals • Refugee children may suffer from racism. Refugee children need to be clear can be used. about the procedure for reporting bullying and racism and their parents made • Provide bilingual books. Refugees and aware of the school’s Equalities Policy. Issues relating to racism and equality asylum seekers should be taught throughout the curriculum. Further information and resources can be found in the ‘newly arrived EAL pupils’ section of the MKC website: Teaching strategies Setting and school ethos • Refugee children from countries in conflict may need to talk. To be effective www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/schools-and-lifelong-learning/ethnic-minority-achievement
a teacher has to make time to be free and have some degree of privacy, for School visits and example at break or after school. extra-curricular activities
• Encourage children to write about themselves, their home country or their feelings. Autobiography is frequently used to help refugee children develop Supplementary schools understanding of complex events and feelings. Younger children can make a scrapbook about themselves and work with an adult to write captions. Sensitivity should be used and the impetus should come from what the child is Translation able to say and discuss. A small number of children need further intervention and this should come from professionally trained counsellors. Communities and Culture • Play and drama are powerful ways of helping children to explore issues which concern them and can help build up relationships with their peers. Faith • The EMA Network resource centre provides guidance and support materials to aid schools. Language
24 25 Equality and Diversity Part A: A good practice guide in Milton Keynes
Diverse Black and minority Settings and school ethos School visits and extra-curricular activities ethnic communities in Milton Keynes A setting or school’s ethos and culture is made up of many unique characteristics When organising school visits and extra-curricular activities schools should work – school aims and visions; demonstration of high academic and educational closely with parents and be sensitive to cultural differences and expectations. Our equality commitment aspirations; shared beliefs and attitudes; and relationships between stakeholders Parents need to be reassured that the children’s needs will be respected. and responsibilities modelled and embedded within the whole school community. Consideration should be given to the following: Equality and community It needs to be clear, positive and inclusive for all. cohesion • Schools need to ensure that parents are made aware of the objectives How the setting or school ethos is perceived and practised is an important factor in and purpose of the trip. Class outings for educational purposes should Addressing the child achieving the positive outcomes for our children and young people. A strong sense not generally pose any problems for Muslim children and their parents. or family of nurturing, inclusiveness and community feeling plays a crucial role in children’s For overnight residential trips Muslim parents would be more comfortable wellbeing, engagement and achievement in settings and schools. Pupils, staff with single gender groups. and parents/carers and the wider school community all need to be stakeholders Assemblies in deciding the qualities which contribute to the school’s sense of identity and • Dress code and changing facilities: schools need to be aware that certain togetherness. The school community needs to actively work to promote tolerant activities may require parental consent, e.g. swimming. Cultural behaviour beliefs and behaviours in order to create fair, respectful and inclusive learning community for all. • Provision of food and drink, reflecting whether pupils will feel excluded from shared refreshments. Aspects to consider: Dietary requirements • Social interaction and grouping, for example mixed sex activities. • How does your setting or school encourage, celebrate and value the diverse cultural, religious and traditional backgrounds of your school community? • Religious customs: Muslim pupils may require provision (time and place) Dress codes and school uniform during the day for prayer. • How does your setting or school value and promote the significance of home languages and culture? • An example of sensitive practice would be to ensure that refreshments Engagement with provided by a venue include halal, kosher and/or vegetarian options, parents and carers • How does your setting or school support all parents to take a more active role or that single sex and individual changing facilities are provided. in their children’s learning? Extended holidays Extra-curricular activities • How does your setting or school curriculum reflect and allow full access to all your pupils? It is advised that schools maintain a robust record of pupil participation in extra-curricular activities. Successful schools ensure pupils have a high Festivals • How does your setting or school initiate and maintain strong communication involvement in deciding activities being offered. with all parents Certain activities may have a low up-take from BME pupils due to cultural barriers. New arrivals • How does your setting or school challenge bias and promote equal opportunity Schools which offer activities relevant to pupils’ cultural experiences and lifestyle for all? may be more successful in pupil engagement (e.g. home language, dance or cookery classes). Refugees and • How does your setting or school promote an active parental and pupil voice? asylum seekers Schools need to be aware that attendance to extra-curricular activities may • How does your setting or school promote high expectations and aspirations be affected as many pupils attend supplementary schools. for all your pupils? Setting and school ethos
• How does your setting or school deliver and monitor wider school activities? School visits and extra-curricular activities • How does your setting or school view pupil’s experiences outside the mainstream context? Supplementary schools
Translation
Communities and Culture
Faith
Language
26 27 Equality and Diversity Part A: A good practice guide in Milton Keynes
Diverse Black and minority Supplementary schools Translation ethnic communities in Milton Keynes There are presently over 60 registered supplementary schools in Milton Keynes of Access to the British school system is dependent upon understanding how schools which 24 are Madrassahs (Islamic schools). Supplementary schools are schools are organised, both on a daily and long-term basis. This includes knowledge of Our equality commitment which compliment mainstream schools and usually operate after school during the curriculum and assessment. It is extremely important that translation is made week days and during the day at weekends. They provide a range of educational available for the children and parents of newly-arrived pupils who are new to Equality and community support to many children and young people; including religious, cultural, language English. This should be part of the normal induction procedure. This will ensure cohesion and academic subjects. that there is knowledge of the organisation of the school day, eating arrangements,
school uniform, class and year groupings, the curriculum and homework. It is Addressing the child Quality Framework for Supplementary Schools also invaluable in providing the school with information of the child’s previous or family In conjunction with the National Resource Centre for Supplementary Schools educational experience. It is rare that information is forwarded from schools (NRC), Milton Keynes Council is supporting supplementary schools to sign up for overseas. See ‘Supporting Pupils with English as an Additional Language’ and Assemblies ‘The Quality Framework for Supplementary Schools’. The NRC has developed ‘newly arrived EAL pupil’ guidance in the ‘Newly Arrived’ area on the MKC website. this nationally recognised voluntary award scheme run for and by supplementary When sending general communications to parents, the school should always schools and those who support them. It aims to recognise, celebrate, record and Cultural behaviour improve the achievements of supplementary schools. Supplementary schools can consider if all parents are able to access it. Where there are significant numbers gain a Quality Framework Award at bronze, silver or gold level. These levels cover of pupils from the same linguistic background it may be possible to send a written translation. This should be set up in consultation with the community. All community teaching and learning, governance and community engagement. Schools must Dietary requirements complete the Bronze level first to demonstrate that they have essential management members may not be literate in their home language. Assumptions should not be and safeguarding procedures in place. There is also a Special Distinction Award for made. For example, the majority of Bangladeshi people in Milton Keynes speak schools that are disseminating good practice with other supplementary schools. Sylheti, which is not usually written. However, Bangla (Bengali) is the official Dress codes and school language of Bangladesh and many young Bangladeshis may speak Sylheti, but uniform The Quality Framework Scheme was officially launched in Milton Keynes on be able to write and read Bengali. The EMA Network Addendum to the School 18 January 2011. Admission Form provides a section where parents can inform schools of their Engagement with parents and carers translation needs (‘Newly Arrived’ area on the MKC website: www.milton-keynes. Communities served: gov.uk). The 62 registered supplementary schools serve the following communities: Extended holidays Afghani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Ghanaian, Indian, Iranian, Middle Eastern, Where the communities are diverse we need to be creative in our response. Nigerian, Pakistani, Polish, Russian, Somali, Sri Lankan and Tamil. Generic letters can be created and translations shared between schools via the Community Language Service. Proforma letters are also available covering a variety Festivals The Supplementary Schools Network Forum of languages. EMA Network provides a platform to foster stronger links between mainstream and supplementary schools through the supplementary schools network forum. All Caution needs to be taken when using on-line translation sites as literal translations New arrivals mainstream and supplementary schools are encouraged to be actively involved and can often change the meaning. Please seek advice from a parent, community leader have a clear voice in this forum. Through this forum, EMA Network also facilitates or the Community language Service to ensure correct translation. Refugees and essential training, such as ‘safeguarding’ and ‘effective teaching and learning’ asylum seekers courses for supplementary schools.
For the latest information, contact the EMA Network team: Setting and school ethos
T: 01908 270409 School visits and E: [email protected] extra-curricular activities
Supplementary schools
Translation
Communities and Culture
Faith
Language
28 29 Equality and Diversity Part A: A good practice guide in Milton Keynes
Creating good home-school links depends on parents feeling included. Being Diverse Black and minority able to communicate with the school effectively is vital to this. A number of further The EMA Network Resource Centre ethnic communities in Milton Keynes suggestions are listed below: Children and Families Service Group place a high emphasis on promoting learning • Use a bilingual Language Assistant / Learning Support Assistant to welcome for all our children and young people. Our equality commitment parents and meet with them informally before and after school. Located in Bletchley, the EMA Network resource centre, aims to support the • Make contact with relevant community groups and enlist their support learning of pupils from all backgrounds across all key stages. Equality and community cohesion and advice. These groups have first hand experience of issues facing their community members. However, confidentiality must be maintained. It hosts a wealth of religious, cultural and language based resources including religious and cultural artefacts, dual language books, bilingual dictionaries (visual Addressing the child or family • Pupils from the same community may provide support, but we should also be and talking), DVDS, games, fiction and non fiction books reflecting the diverse aware of confidentiality issues and possible divisions within the communities. backgrounds and community languages represented within Milton Keynes and the wider world. There are also many resources which explore and address identity and Assemblies • A translator should be available for parent’s meetings. Until parents feel equalities. comfortable in joining a large group of monolingual parents it may be better to provide alternative times for them to meet in small groups, where they know These resources are available to all schools and pre-school settings as well as Cultural behaviour they will be with other parents in the same position. childminders, foster carers and other settings.
• Arrange translated curriculum guidance sessions for specific groups of For up to date information, please go to www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/schools-and- Dietary requirements parents. For example, support in sharing books with children at home. lifelong-learning/ethnic-minority-achievement In addition to the resources in our library, Central Milton Keynes, Wolverton and • Schools are advised to use trained interpreters and translators for all official Bletchley libraries also hold a range of dual language books and a wide selection of Dress codes and school uniform and sensitive issues to ensure impartiality, confidentiality and accuracy. DVDS. For further information, please contact the Milton Keynes Library website – www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/libraries Engagement with parents and carers
Extended holidays
Festivals
New arrivals
Refugees and asylum seekers
Setting and school ethos
School visits and extra-curricular activities
Supplementary schools
Translation
Communities and Culture
Faith
Language
30 31 Part B: Community information
Diverse Black and minority Community information ethnic communities in Milton Keynes In Milton Keynes the concept of community is dynamic and fluid. This section Part B: celebrates our rich diversity and provides background information on the cultural, Our equality commitment faith and language dimensions of our minority ethnic communities.
We are aware that every community is made up of individuals; all exhibiting their Equality and community Community cohesion own particular beliefs, customs and practices. Whilst this guidance provides commonly accepted generalisations about communities, it is not possible to give a Addressing the child complete representation of the diversity of belief and practices within communities. or family information Where possible the guidance will outline key variations in belief, but within this there will continue to be diverse practices and approaches. Every effort has been made to consult with diverse community groups and to produce guidance which best fits a Assemblies majority view, whilst acknowledging some key differences. There is always more to learn about diversity and this guide should act as a starting point. Cultural behaviour Community information is divided into the following three sections:
• Communities and Culture Dietary requirements
• Faith Dress codes and school • Language uniform
Acknowledgements Engagement with The contribution of diverse groups of people across both professional bodies and parents and carers community groups is acknowledged. This is shared guidance, which has been collated by the Education Effectiveness and Participation Team (EPP) with support Extended holidays from the Corporate Equalities Officer. However, it would not have been possible without the constant support and advice from Milton Keynes Equality Council and community members, across all faiths and backgrounds. Our thanks are extended Festivals to all who are committed to celebrating our diversity and to making Milton Keynes a richer and more interesting place to live and work in. New arrivals
Refugees and asylum seekers
Setting and school ethos
School visits and extra-curricular activities
Supplementary schools
Translation
Communities and Culture
Faith
Language
33 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
The following table uses the community information headings to provide a quick Diverse Black and minority guide to Milton Keynes’ largest Black and minority ethnic (BME) communities. ethnic communities in Communities and culture Milton Keynes
Community Culture Faith Language African Our equality commitment Bangladeshi Bangladeshi / Asian Islam Sylheti is common in MK, also Bengali and English Equality and community The Black African Group is currently the fastest cohesion Chinese Chinese Christianity, Buddhism and traditional Mandarin and Cantonese are the beliefs common languages growing minority ethnic community and in 2012 Addressing the child or family Ghanaian Ghanaian/ West African Christianity, other faiths include Islam Akan (embracing Fanti and Twi), accounted for 9.2% of pupils in Milton Keynes and traditional beliefs Dagbani, Ewe, Ga, Xhosa and Nzema schools. and English. Some Dutch, French, Assemblies Norwegian, Swedish
Indian Indian/ Asian Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam and Gujarati, Hindi, Maharati , Malayalam The Ghanaian Community Cultural behaviour Christianity and Urdu are common but also Punjabi (It is common for a person in Gurmukhi script History of Sikh faith to consider Dietary requirements themselves to be of a Ghana is in the heart of a historical mining and metalworking area, and has been Sikh culture) a leading sub-Saharan African culture since the first millennium BC. The ancient kingdom of Ghana, 500 miles to the north of present day Accra, flourished up to Dress codes and school Italian Italian Christian, mostly Roman Catholic Italian the 11th Century AD. It controlled the gold trade from the south and the Saharan uniform trade routes to the north. It was also the focus for the export of Saharan copper and Lithuanian Lithuanian Christian, mostly Roman Catholic Lithuanian salt. With the coming of Europeans, in search of gold, there was a struggle for the Engagement with profitable Gold Coast trade. In due course, slaves replaced gold as units of trade parents and carers and whole regions were depopulated. By 1750 the numerous small states along Kenya Kenyan Christian and traditional beliefs Kikuyu, Swahili the Gold Coast had merged into two: the Asante Empire and the Fante. The British Extended holidays Nigerian Nigerian/ West African Islam and Christianity in approximately Yoruba is most common in Milton Colony of the Gold Coast was established in 1874. equal numbers Keynes but other languages are: Hausa, Independence came in 1957, with Dr Kwame Nkrumah as its first Prime Minister. Igbo, Fulfulde, or Kanuri and English Festivals Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown in a coup d’etat in 1966. For a period, Ghana Pakistani Pakistani / Asian Islam A dialect of Punjabi is common in was governed by military rule with intermittent experiments with democracy. Multi- Milton Keynes. Miripuri Urdu is often party elections were held in1992 leading to the recognition of Ghana as a leading New arrivals understood and used democracy in Africa. Ghana is a constitutional parliamentary democracy with elections held every four years. Polish Polish Christian mostly Roman Catholic Polish Refugees and asylum seekers Somalian Somalian Islam Somali. May have a first language of Ghanaians have been living in Milton Keynes since the new town was constructed. Dutch, German or another European There was an early concentration of Ghanaians in the Bletchley area. Many language. Some Somalis speak Swahili Ghanaians were attracted to Milton Keynes by the availability of employment and Setting and school ethos housing. It is difficult to describe a common culture because the country is made Sri Lankan Tamil or Sinhalese Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Tamil is mostly used in Milton Keynes. up of six main tribes and these are in turn divided into many clans. The tribes are Islam Some Sinhalese is used School visits and different linguistically and culturally. There are some common themes, such as in extra-curricular activities Tanzania Tanzanian Christian and traditional beliefs Beruba, Swahili art, but the local style is dependent upon environmental influences.
Zimbabwean Zimbabwean Christian and traditional beliefs Shona, Ndebele Current situation Supplementary schools The community has grown significantly and in 2012 there were over 800 Ghanaian pupils in Milton Keynes. Members of the community come from a wide range of social backgrounds and many have come via London. The Ghanaian community Translation maintains strong links with Ghana and, due to its diversity, there is no clear group identity within Milton Keynes. Many of the more long-standing inhabitants belong to the Ghanaian Association, but the new arrivals often remain isolated until they meet Communities and Culture other Ghanaians in the course of work or at church.
Faith
Language
34 35 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Religious practices Naming systems Diverse Black and minority ethnic communities in Of the Ghanaian population 63% is Christian, 16% Muslim and 21% follow Names are often given which show family genealogy. They are best described as Milton Keynes traditional beliefs. All faiths refer to God as the base of creation. The majority of ancestral names, rather than family names. The ancestral name is unique to the Ghanaians in Milton Keynes are Christian. There are currently six Ghanaian-led child and is not the same as the father’s. It will be chosen for a number of reasons Our equality commitment churches in the city. There are few Ghanaian Muslims. They usually follow the and acts as a reminder of a close relative or to follow a tribal naming pattern. Muslim way of life, but do not attend mosque. The usual Christian and Muslim Among the Ga tribe, there may be a clan name which changes with the next festivals are followed. The Ghanaians celebrate an annual harvest festival called generation and then reverts back to the original name in the subsequent generation. Equality and community ‘Homowo’, which is celebrated during August or September. Many Ghanaians from Thus, there is a two generation cycle. For example: cohesion Milton Keynes travel to London for this celebration. Generation 1: Addressing the child Languages and script Odartey, Odartei, Odarkwei or family There are six main language groups, which correspond to the tribes. These are Generation 2: Akan (embracing Fanti and Twi), Dagbani, Ewe, Ga, Hausa and Nzema. The official Lantey, Lantei, Lankwei Assemblies language is English, which is used as a way of communication between the linguistic and cultural groups. All languages are written using Roman characters. Generation 3: Today, most Ghanaian children speak English as their first language at home. They Odartey, Odartei, Odarkwei Cultural behaviour speak limited Ghanaian languages of their parents. They hear their family elders and friends talking and will have some understanding, but they do not usually have Among certain Ewe clans the first born male is named ‘Effui’, which means ‘it the full range of vocabulary and intonation. Some of the nuances of the languages prized the mother’s womb’. Children are also given circumstantial names. These Dietary requirements escape the children. Many people in Britain speak a mixture of Ghanaian languages may be created to signify something which has happened around the time of birth.
and English, readily transferring between them, even within a sentence. Vocabulary An example of a created name is, ‘Nukunu’, which means ‘a miracle’. Among the Dress codes and school from both languages will be substituted as appropriate. The Ghanaian Association Ashanti tribe there could be variations in the name order. Two examples are given uniform and other African groups may be able to offer home language tuition when numbers below: are significant. Engagement with Personal name Day name parents and carers Social structure Barima (one with courage) Yaw (Thursday) Ghanaian families follow an extended structure, not just by blood, but also by Bonsu (whale) Kwami (Saturday) Extended holidays marriage and friendship. ‘Cousin’ is not part of the vocabulary; a cousin being referred to as a ‘sibling’. This gives an indication of the strength of the extended As a result of Western European influence on Ghanaian culture, most naming family. Respect for the elderly is at the very core of Ghanaian culture. patterns now follow the European format. Thus a first, second or third name is Festivals In Milton Keynes, the families are more nuclear, but friendships become strong followed by the surname or family name which is handed down the generations. In some families a Christian biblical name is chosen as the first name followed by an and familiar. Marriages are based on personal choice. Traditionally there may New arrivals be some ‘introductions’, but this is not formalised. Marriage is conducted by a indigenous Ghanaian name or names, then the family name. Hence: ‘civil ceremony’, but the traditional wedding and celebration is practiced as an George Kofi Sarpong ‘engagement party’. This is a large celebration for family and friends. Refugees and Elizabeth Yaa Asanteva Sarpong asylum seekers Naming systems Patrick Kojo Sarpong
Naming systems vary between tribes. A name makes it possible to determine which Birth rites Setting and school ethos tribe or clan someone comes from. Day names form part of the name throughout ‘Out-dooring’ is a universal practice throughout Ghana. A baby stays in the home the country. These are dependent upon the day of birth. They are spelled and until the seventh day after birth. Just before the sun rises the baby is taken out as pronounced slightly differently for each tribe, but they are recognisably similar. School visits and a symbol of welcoming the child into the community. Prayers and incantations are extra-curricular activities made. There are distinct words and ceremonies in the different tribes and clans. Male Female Death rites Supplementary schools Monday Kojo Ajua Although death rites vary among the tribes, Ghanaians consider mourning their Tuesday Kobla Abla dead very important. Funerals tend to be elaborate and expensive, and apart from Translation Wednesday Kwekwu Akua practising Muslims, it has not been unknown for funerals to take place five to six Thursday Yaw Yaa weeks after death. This delay allows family and friends from afar to arrange to attend the funeral. Arrangements for the funeral are the responsibility of the family Friday Kofi Afua Communities and Culture elders and not the next of kin. The elders arrange family meetings to plan, organise Saturday Kwami Ama and set the date for the burial. Where a death occurs in Milton Keynes, family elders Sunday Kwesi Esi/Akosua in Ghana are consulted as part of this process, to decide whether or not the body Faith should be returned to Ghana for burial. Elaborate receptions are held after the burial to celebrate the life of the deceased. At these receptions, donations are taken from the extended family, friends of the deceased and sympathisers to help defray Language funeral costs.
36 37 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Food Diverse Black and minority The Nigerian Community ethnic communities in Nigeria has such a variety of people and cultures that it is difficult to pick one Milton Keynes national dish. Each area has its own regional favourite that depends on customs, History tradition and religion. The different foods available also depend on the season and Our equality commitment Nigeria is located on the west coast of Africa at the inner corner of the Gulf of the ‘hungry season’ is before the rains arrive in March. The ‘season of surplus’ Guinea (part of the Atlantic Ocean). Its land area is comparable to twice the size of follows the harvest in October and November. Fruits, however, are enjoyed year- California. round. A large part of Nigeria lies in the tropics, where many fruits are available. Equality and community Some of the popular fruits are oranges, melons, grapefruits, limes, mangoes, cohesion The name Nigeria is taken from the Niger River, which plays an important part in bananas and pineapples. Nigerian lives. Nigeria achieved its independence in 1960. At this time the need for Addressing the child more skills and higher levels of education was great. From the late 1960s a mix of People of the northern region (mostly Muslim, whose beliefs prohibit eating pork) or family civil and political unrest in the country led to more refugees arriving in the UK as have diets based on beans, sorghum (a type of grain), and brown rice. The Hausa well as skilled migrants. The population of Nigeria is 120 million people. people of this region also like to eat meat in the form of tsere or suya (kebabs, Assemblies which are chunks of roasted, skewered meat). Muslims love to drink tea, making tea Current situation and coffee houses popular places to socialise. There are over 250 ethnic groups and four major tribes in Nigeria of which the Cultural behaviour largest are Hausa and Fulani in the north, the Yoruba in the southwest and the The people from the eastern part of Nigeria, mostly Igbo/Ibo, eat gari (cassava Igbo in the southeast. Nigerians in the UK primarily come from the Igbo or Yoruba powder) dumplings, pumpkins, and yams. Yams are usually eaten in place of potatoes and are an important part of the Nigerian diet. However, African yams are community with each having its respective Languages. There are many cultural Dietary requirements groups and professional networks, which allow Nigerians to maintain their cultural different from Western yams. They are pale and barely sweet. heritage within a busy, modern society. The younger generation of British born Nigerians face the problem of living with ‘one foot’ in the UK and the other in Social structure Dress codes and school uniform Nigeria. The highest tier of Nigerian society is made up of wealthy politicians, businessmen, and the educated elite. These people, however, make up only a tiny portion of the Religion Nigerian population. Many Nigerians today suffer under great poverty. In some Engagement with parents and carers There are roughly the same number of Muslims and Christians in Nigeria. Although Nigerian ethnic groups there is also a form of caste system that treats certain the majority of Nigeria’s northern states are Muslim, there are many Christians living members of society as pariahs. The criteria for determining who belongs to this there as well. lowest caste vary from area to area, but can include being a member of a minority Extended holidays group, an inhabitant of a specific village or a member of a specific family or clan. Festivals The Igbo call this lower-caste group Osu. Members of the community will often A number of festivals are celebrated by the Nigerian community which are discourage personal, romantic, and business contact with any member of the Osu Festivals dependent upon their religious affiliations. The most widely celebrated festivals tend group, regardless of an individual’s personal merits or characteristics. Osus often to fall under the Islamic and Christian faiths. lack political representation, access to basic educational or business opportunities, New arrivals and general social interaction. This kind of caste system is also found among the Languages Yoruba and the Ibibios. In Nigeria today about 500 languages are spoken. Some Nigerian languages are Refugees and taught in Primary, Secondary Schools, Universities and even abroad, but most have Birth rites and death rites asylum seekers hardly been documented. The most common languages are Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, These are dependent upon the religious affiliations of Nigerians. Fulfulde or Kanuri, which are spoken by millions of first and second language Setting and school ethos speakers, but most Nigerian languages are minority languages with only a small number of speakers. Some Nigerian languages have developed orthographies and written traditions, but most are pre-literate until now. School visits and extra-curricular activities
Supplementary schools
Translation
Communities and Culture
Faith
Language
38 39 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Somalis in the UK Diverse Black and minority The Somali Community ethnic communities in Somali refugees have been arriving in the UK since the mid 1980s. However, there Milton Keynes have been Somali communities in the UK since the 19th Century when Somali History seamen began to settle in British ports such as Liverpool, East London and Cardiff. Our equality commitment The Somalis form one of the most homogeneous populations in Africa and over This meant that the first refugees came to join family already in Britain. The Somali 80% identify themselves as ethnic Somalis. But in other ways they are immensely community in Milton Keynes has grown significantly over the last decade and some divided. Despite their strong sense of linguistic and cultural unity, clan affiliation has families have come to join their relatives. There has been an influx of Somali families Equality and community proved to be an increasingly divisive factor, culminating in the present crisis. There arriving in Milton Keynes from other European countries such as Sweden, Norway cohesion are four major clan families plus minority clans; the Dir, the Daarood, the Issaq and and the Netherlands. Many children from these families speak another European the Hawiye. language as well as their mother tongue. Addressing the child or family The Somalis migrated from the west into the Horn of Africa between 500BC and There are families from different clans and regions within Milton Keynes. Due to the 1000AD. In those days it was known as ‘the Land of Punt’ the source of much of civil war, it should not be assumed that they would find it easy to become friends Assemblies the myth and frankincense mentioned in the Bible and the Pharaohs (Egyptian and be supportive of each other. There are several areas where the difference history). Between the seventh and tenth centuries, Arabs and Persians developed between Somali and British culture are apparent and cause difficulties. However, a series of ports along the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. By the 10th Century, Somalis in Milton Keynes have not encountered significant problems associated Cultural behaviour Somali nomads had spread throughout the Horn of Africa and pushed the Galla with assimilation. As recent immigrants with strong religious and cultural heritage, tribes southwards. By this time Islam was firmly established in the trading centres of most families have found it easy to continue wearing traditional dress and Mogadishu, Merca, Brava, Zeila and Berbera. conforming to cultural practice. Due to Islamic prohibitions against interactions Dietary requirements between adult men and women, Somali women have a strong preference to work Between the 11th and 13th Centuries the entire Somali nation converted to Islam. with female interpreters and health care providers. During these centuries the Somalis expanded into what is now eastern and Dress codes and school uniform central Ethiopia and northern Kenya, trading routes were set up that would last for Religion centuries. Almost all Somalis are Sunni Muslims. Islam is a belief system, a culture, a structure Engagement with Somalia was first affected by the Portuguese and Omani colonizers, who burned for government and a way of life. Thus in Somalia, attitudes, social customs and parents and carers and destroyed many great Somali trading cities. The Italians, French and British gender roles are primarily based on the Islamic tradition. Somali children share the same religion and many attend Qur’an classes at various places in Milton Keynes. also colonised Somalia. During the European ‘Scramble for Africa’, European Extended holidays powers showed their interest in the country as it was on the trade route to India Festivals and Indochina. Britain looked at this area for meat supplies for its garrison at Aden See the usual Islamic festivals e.g. Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha, Ramadan and Milad- and in 1884 occupied Zeila and Berbera – later declared the British protectorate Festivals of Somaliland. France, which had commercial interests in the area, moved to al-Nabi. Somalis observe several secular holidays. These include Memorial Day, Tajore and declared French Somaliland at the same time. Italy also declared its Labour Day, Mothers’ Day and Independence Day (commemorating the 1960 own protectorate called Italian Somaliland. Ethiopia was given the Ogaden region Independence). Since 1992 the self-declared Somaliland celebrates its own New arrivals of Somalia by the British. The north-east of Somalia was given to Kenya. During Independence Day on the 26 June. the Second World War when the UK used a base in the north from which to fight Languages Refugees and the Italians, many Somalis joined the British armed forces and Italian Somaliland asylum seekers was captured. In 1950 Somalia was divided again and the Italians returned to the The universal language in Somalia is Somali, an Afro-Asiatic language that is closely south, with UN backing. From that time, nationalists in British Somaliland began related to Oromiffa and more distantly related to Swahili and the Semitic languages to demand independence and national unity. British and Italian Somaliland gained of Arabic, Hebrew and Amharic. The majority of the population is Muslim and thus Setting and school ethos independence in 1960, but there were deep clan and political divisions. The country Arabic is a second common language. A very small minority in southern Somalia speaks Swahili. Until the 1970s, education was delivered in the language of the was also extremely poor. School visits and colonial rule, thus older Somalis from northern Somalia are conversant in English extra-curricular activities The military coup in 1969 resulted in President Barre becoming head of the newly and those from southern Somalia are conversant in Italian. Swahili is spoken with a named Somali Democratic Republic. In 1970 the government announced its distinct dialect (Bajun or Bravanese) different from the Swahili spoken in Tanzania commitment to socialism, the Soviet Union gave financial and military support and and Kenya. Supplementary schools the country soon had one of the largest armies in Africa.
However, the people were still extremely poor and there were severe food Translation shortages. War with Ethiopia over the disputed territory of the Ogaden in 1977 resulted in guerrilla war lasting for 11 years and caused more hardship. Alongside this, clan and political divisions were also responsible for civil war during the 1980s. Communities and Culture When opposition parties committed themselves to overthrowing President Barre early in the 1980s, he unleashed a campaign of terror against clans associated with them. This ranged from imprisonment to execution for suspects. In 1988 the Faith extreme force used by the government on the northern towns killed 72,000 people and forced 400,000 to flee as refugees. Some of these people subsequently sought Language asylum in the UK.
40 41 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Customs and behaviour Names Diverse Black and minority ethnic communities in Many social norms are derived from Islamic tradition and may be similar to those Somalis choose Muslim names for their children, but will also give them traditional Milton Keynes of other Islamic countries. The common way to greet is to say Asalam Aleykum Somali names such as Hibo and Decca. In Islam, Allah has 99 names that praise him and one of these will be chosen for a baby boy. There are many boys’ names and then Maxaa Shegtee (what’s the news). Men shake hands with other men Our equality commitment and women tend to embrace and kiss each other on both cheeks. Due to Islamic with the prefix ‘Abdi’, Abdi Malik for example. (Abdi literally means ‘servant of’.) traditions men and women do not touch each other when greeting. The common Similarly, many boys’ names have the prefix Mohammed before their personal phrase for goodbye is Nabaad Gelyo (go in peace). The right hand is considered name. It is incorrect to use the prefix only, but some boys are addressed as Abdi or Equality and community the clean and polite hand to use for daily tasks such as eating, greeting people and Mohammed when they start school in the UK and this becomes their chosen name. cohesion writing. If a child begins to show lefthanded preference, the parents will actively The family name is passed on to children from the father. (See Pakistani Community) train him or her to use the right hand. Addressing the child Father: Omar Elmi Dihoud or family Somali elders are respected in the community and the clan elders always solve Mother: Waris Abdi Duale
conflicts. There are several main clans in Somalia and numerous sub-clans. In Son: Ali Omar Elmi Assemblies certain regions of the country a single sub-clan will predominate, but as the Somalis Daughter: Roda Omar Elmi are largely nomadic, it is more common for several sub-clans to live intermixed in a By the age of five, most children can recite the names of male family members in given area. Membership of a clan is determined by parental lineage. When a woman Cultural behaviour marries a man of another clan, she retains connection with her family and its clan. their father’s line for up to 17 generations. Marriage Traditionally, Somali families have a distinct division of labour between men and Dietary requirements women. Today, women are primarily responsible for the care of children and The usual Islamic marriage rites are followed in the Somali society. Marriages can household and make important decisions with their husbands. In Somali society be arranged or are a result of personal choice. The common age of marriage in women have the right to work, but it is not obligatory for women to work because Somalia is around 15 or 16 years. The groom-to-be is expected to provide all the Dress codes and school uniform men have been given the duty of providing for the family. finances for the wedding and also must agree on a ‘Dowry’ called ‘Meheer’. This could be money or gold jewellery. The bride-to-be decides what her Meheer would For most Somali women in Milton Keynes who are now without their husbands, be. The pride and honour of Somali families is considered to rest mainly on women. Engagement with parents and carers decision making on their own is a new responsibility. Somali children may feel If a girl is well brought up and maintains her dignity, she reflects well on her family. bewildered and unsure in school, as many may have difficulties with English or have So it is an honour for the family when daughters get married. Somali women never experienced different amounts of previous education. They often feel frustrated change their surnames after marriage because of their culture. Instead they carry Extended holidays and misunderstood and this can lead to aggressive and violent behaviour. Somali their father’s name. This has been the Somali tradition for generations. children do not generally initiate conflicts, but tend to retaliate when provoked. Revenge is an obligation of honour in Somali culture and all other options are Birth rites Festivals construed as either weakness or defeat. The usual Islamic birth rites are followed in the Somali community. Expectant and new mothers benefit from a strong network of women within the Somali culture. As prescribed by Islamic tradition, married women are expected to cover their New arrivals Newborn care includes warm water baths, sesame oil massages and passive bodies, including their hair. Traditionally, women wear long loose dresses called stretching of the baby’s limbs. A herb called ‘malmal’ is applied to the umbilicus for ‘Dircaa’ and a wrap scarf called ‘Gaarbasar’. Men would normally wear trousers the first 7 days of life. Refugees and when they are out and about, but they may wear the traditional ‘Macaawiis’ sarong asylum seekers at home. When a child is born, the new mother and baby stay indoors at home for 40 days, a time period known as ‘afaar taan bah’. Female relatives and friends visit the family Foods and help take care of them. This includes preparing special foods such as soup, Setting and school ethos Somali people in Milton Keynes cook both traditional food and also a wide variety of porridge and special teas. During afaar taan bah incense (myrrh) is burned twice a western dishes. Meat is an important part of the diet, but it must be ‘Halal’ meat to day in order to protect the baby from the ordinary smells of the world, which are felt School visits and comply with Islamic practice. Milk and millet are widely used, as are adaptations of to have the potential to make him or her sick. At the end of the 40 days there are extra-curricular activities Arabic and Mediterranean dishes. celebrations at the home of a friend or relative. These mark the first time the mother
or baby has left the home since delivery. There is also a naming ceremony for the Supplementary schools child. In some families this occurs within the first two to three weeks of the baby’s life. In other families, the naming ceremonies are big family gatherings with lots of food, accompanied by the ritual killing of a goat and prayer (see Islam birth rites). Translation Death rites
Members of the Somali Community observe the Islamic practices associated with Communities and Culture death. See Islam.
Faith
Language
42 43 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Religion Diverse Black and minority The Americas ethnic communities in In the Caribbean nearly all the main world religions exist, so do some traditional Milton Keynes African beliefs including voodoo. Settlers from different parts of the world brought religious traditions with them and in all the islands people are free to follow their There are people from North, Central and South Our equality commitment own beliefs. However, most people are Christian and Jamaica has more churches America living in Milton Keynes. The largest cohesive per square mile than any other country in the world. Christianity was brought to the islands by the European settlers. Roman Catholicism predominated in those islands Equality and community group is the Caribbean Community. formerly under Spanish or French influence and Protestantism prevailed elsewhere. cohesion
A newer religion is Rastafarianism, which began in Jamaica in the 1930s. This Addressing the child The Caribbean Community religion took its name from Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, ‘Ras Tafari’. It is or family derived from a very detailed reading of the Christian Bible. Rastafarians believe
History in a simple, back-to-nature lifestyle and call on black people to be proud of their Assemblies The original inhabitants of the Caribbean were Caribs and the Arawaks. Today African ancestry. a small community of Caribs survives on the island of Dominica. The majority of Many young Caribbean Christians belong to the Pentecostal movement. Cultural behaviour the population of the Caribbean islands is African-Caribbean, descending from Pentecostalists enjoy their religion and express their faith in a lively way. Gospel people brought to the region as slaves. After the abolition of slavery, people from choirs and gospel music play an important part in this. In Milton Keynes there are China and the Indian sub-continent went to the Caribbean as indentured labour. some ‘Black’ churches, but people of Caribbean origin attend churches across the Dietary requirements Business people, including Syrians and Jews, came later. As a result the population city. The families which keep close links with the Caribbean tend to be those with is multi-racial and multicultural. The Jamaican motto is ‘out of many, one people.’ the strongest tradition of church attendance. Those who were born and grew up During the Second World War many people came to Britain from the Caribbean to here are not such strict church-goers, but the older people would encourage the Dress codes and school uniform help with the war effort. There were over 8,000 servicemen and women and many younger ones to attend on special occasions. skilled technicians in the munitions factories. After the war many remained, although they were not always welcomed. Then in the late 1940s and 1950s the British Festivals Engagement with parents and carers Government encouraged more immigrants from the colonies in the Caribbean, Within the Caribbean, festivals reflect the many different religions and cultures. Africa and elsewhere, to fill the shortage of workers. London Transport recruited Christian festivals are widely celebrated. Carnival began as a Christian festival, workers from Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica, and the National Health Service which was introduced by the French and took place just before Lent. Now it takes Extended holidays recruited nurses. Since the early 1970s there has been very little immigration to place at different times of the year on different islands. In Milton Keynes, the Britain from the Caribbean, although recruitment of teachers has taken place Christian festivals and Carnival are celebrated by the African-Caribbean community recently. (see Religious Beliefs and Places of Worship). In London, carnival takes place Festivals Current situation during the August bank-holiday weekend. Approximately 60 per cent of African Caribbean people who migrated to Britain Black History Month is a celebration that has emerged in the UK in the last 20 years New arrivals came from Jamaica. Smaller numbers also came from Dominica, Barbados, or so. It takes place in October-November. Its aim was to promote African history as Trinidad, St Lucia and St Vincent. The education system in the Caribbean is based a form of Black cultural empowerment and emancipation. It is a growing celebration Refugees and on the British system. However the Caribbean has had its own examinations for of black culture. In Milton Keynes Black History month is celebrated in October asylum seekers over 20 years which replaced the British based examinations. People of Caribbean across the city and includes many activities in schools. origin sometimes refer to themselves as Caribbean or West Indian, but rarely African Caribbean. Children may refer to themselves as Black, British or Black British. It is Languages Setting and school ethos best to find out from an individual or family how they identify themselves. Most of the families who have migrated to the UK came from British Commonwealth islands and their first language is English. However the languages of the Caribbean School visits and In Milton Keynes a large proportion of the community is made up of second and islands reflect the history and diverse populations of the settlers there. Many in extra-curricular activities third generation migrants who have moved here from London and other major the Caribbean are bilingual; that is they speak both the European language of their cities. The majority of school-aged children have been born in the UK and may not country (Spanish, English or French) and a local patois that contains African words Supplementary schools have visited their parents’ homeland. They may not have experience of Caribbean and grammar. The patois or Creole languages developed during the time of slavery cooking or other traditions. Do not assume therefore that these children will all when the African peoples’ mother tongues were suppressed and they were only have knowledge of their Caribbean culture. Caribbean families tend to have high permitted to use European vocabulary. Nowadays, usually the higher up in society Translation expectations for their children. This is particularly the case for recent arrivals to the the individuals are, the less likely they are able or willing to speak patois. UK. Parents who have migrated here particularly appreciate the education system and see the move as an opportunity for their children to better themselves. Creoles vary according to the European sources from which they grew. Jamaican Communities and Culture Creole is derived from English and African, and in St. Lucia, Patios (Patwa) (French Creole) is spoken. Migrants direct from Jamaica and other islands will still speak
Creole in their own communities. Some children will be using Creole at home, Faith especially with senior members of their families. Many children can selectively use ‘Black Street English’. Rastafarians regard Creole as the language of the Africans and feel a great sense of commitment to it. Language
44 45 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Customs and behaviour Naming systems Diverse Black and minority ethnic communities in There are cultural factors which affect behaviour and perception of behaviour of As a result of the slave system and the influence of Christianity, most people of Milton Keynes African Caribbean people. Avoidance of eye-contact, emotionally and physically Caribbean descent follow the British naming pattern. Whilst in most cases the expressive behaviour in stressful situations and ways of dressing hair are identified family name is passed from the husband to the children, in some cases the family Our equality commitment as potential sources of misunderstanding and conflict in schools. They have name is inherited from the mother. Personal names are similar to English names and been linked to high levels of exclusion. In many African Caribbean households often reflect the colonisers like Winston, George, Shirley; or the French influence children are expected to unquestioningly obey parental directives and may find the like Andre and Pierre. Biblical names are also used such as Moses and Esther. More Equality and community contrast with school behaviour and discipline codes confusing. Parents do not like recently there has been a tendency towards creating original names like Delroy, cohesion their children to address adults by their first name as they consider this practice Jerrell or Shanika. disrespectful. They expect their children either to use a title, or with close friends Addressing the child or family and relations ‘aunty’ or ‘uncle’ whether or not they are related. Social structure Marriage is traditionally held in high regard in African- Caribbean communities. Traditionally in the Caribbean, boys and young men would be considered to be ‘well From the Caribbean perspective it should only be considered when both personal Assemblies presented’ if their hair was very short and neat. Some parents in Milton Keynes like commitment and economic basis are secure. In Britain there have tended to be a their boys to wear their hair very short to keep it looking neat. If young boys have higher number of formal marriages, possibly due to greater economic security. See a ‘number 1’ cut they do not have the difficulty of trying to comb through the tight ‘Religious Beliefs and Places of Worship’ section on Christianity. Cultural behaviour curls, and it always looks tidy. Sometimes this preference for the short ‘shaved’ look can cause problems with older boys if their school has a policy that disapproves of Birth rites this look. Sensitive handling and careful consultation with parents would be needed Most people in the Caribbean community are Christians. See ‘Religious Beliefs and Dietary requirements in such situations, especially in secondary schools. Places of Worship’ section on Christianity. Rastafarians do not comb or cut their hair (according to a biblical reference) thus Dress codes and school Death rites uniform forming dreadlocks. Rastafarians often keep their heads covered. Most people in the Caribbean community are Christian - see ‘Religious Beliefs and Foods Places of Worship’ section on Christianity. Engagement with parents and carers The food of the Caribbean reflects the many cultures that have settled there. All the islands have similarities in terms of diet, as well as differences. Most children of Caribbean descent would be familiar with ordinary British food as well as the Extended holidays traditional dishes of the West Indies. Immigrants from the Caribbean took their knowledge of herbs and spices, and their cooking/recipes with them. Rice-and- peas is a traditional dish similar to the bean meals eaten in parts of Africa. Meat and Festivals fish is traditionally seasoned and spiced, then cooked over an open grill, much like a barbecue. Jerk pork is a spicy Jamaican dish cooked in this way. New arrivals Fish is eaten everywhere in the Caribbean and varieties such as swordfish and red snapper can be bought from specialist shops locally in Milton Keynes. Yam, okra, Refugees and and cassava can also be bought in some supermarkets or available from local asylum seekers shops and on specialist stalls in the local market. Plantain fried in slices like chips, is popular with children. Setting and school ethos The amount of traditional Caribbean food eaten by families in Milton Keynes varies. Children may only be eating it when visiting the more senior members of their School visits and families or on special occasions. Rastafarianism does not allow its followers to eat extra-curricular activities pork or fish without scales (biblical reference). Many Rastafarians are vegetarian or vegan and their diet is based around natural foods. Supplementary schools
Translation
Communities and Culture
Faith
Language
46 47 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Naming systems Diverse Black and minority Asia ethnic communities in Traditionally Muslims have not used a family name. However, when they move Milton Keynes overseas they often choose an element of the father’s name as a family name. A child could have two or three names and a personal name, i.e. the name by which The Bangladeshi Community Our equality commitment the child should be addressed. It is important for the school to know which name to use. The children could have a different name at home and at school. This can History be a deliberate choice on the part of parents. A family name is considered neither Equality and community Before 1947 Bangladesh was part of India. Between 1947 and 1971 it was called obligatory, nor is it universal practice to have one. This means that each member of cohesion East Pakistan. It gained independence in 1971, changing its name to Bangladesh a family may have entirely different names. and adopting Bengali as its official language. The name Bangladesh means ‘land of Addressing the child Bangla speaking peoples’. Two hundred years ago the area that is now Bangladesh It is tempting to adopt the second part of a personal name as a family name, but or family used to be very wealthy, but today Bangladesh is the twelfth poorest country in the this practice is incorrect. A wife may or may not take her husband’s name after world. The country shares a border with the Indian state of West Bengal, whose marriage, depending on the customs in the family. In Asian communities children Assemblies people are also Bengalis. Bangladesh is less than half the size of the British Isles, and adults are expected to behave respectfully towards older relatives, including but its population is nearly double. older siblings. This can be done by using family title names. Children can show respect to older brothers and sisters by using titles, e.g. Baisab or Affa (a respectful Cultural behaviour Current situation name for an older brother and sister) rather than their personal name. The use of The majority of Bangladeshis in Britain originate from one area of the country, the title indicates the maternal or paternal relationship, particularly when referring to namely the Sylhet district in the rural North East. Most Bangladeshi pupils in Milton aunts and uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces. Dietary requirements Keynes are concentrated in Central Bletchley and they come from one area within Sylhet. The majority of school aged children are second or third generation. Social structure Dress codes and school The Bangladeshi community is very close knit. Marriage forms the basis of uniform Languages relationships and follows Muslim tradition. Families live in extended groups, Most people in Bangladesh speak Bengali (Bangla), the official language. Other although some young couples no longer live with their parents because there is Engagement with languages and dialects, including Sylheti, are also spoken. Sylheti is used by a lack of space. However, they still try to live nearby. Marriages are arranged by parents and carers most British Bangladeshis and is the first language of Bangladeshis in Bletchley. parents, with some girls marrying in Bangladesh. There have been changes in Parents may inform schools that their children speak Bengali, whereas in reality recent years, with more mutual agreement in marriage proposals. The marriage Extended holidays they speak Sylheti. It can be confusing for young children if translations are made ceremony follows Muslim practice. Traditionally, Bangladeshi women have worked in Bengali rather than Sylheti. This has the same implications for the use of dual in the home, but an increasing number of young women are working and they aspire language stories and therefore, it is suggested that you ask for more details if you to gain good qualifications and positions. Bangladeshi family and social life evolvesr Festivals are informed that a child speaks Bengali. Children living outside Bletchley are more around the home. Children usually play inside or near to the home. likely to speak Bengali. As Bengali is the official language in Bangladesh, parents Food are increasingly sending their children to Bengali lessons at the weekend. New arrivals Many parents want their children to be able to take Bengali GCSE. Bangladeshis follow Muslim practice, with only ‘halal’ meat being eaten. No pork products or alcohol are permitted. Most meals consist of a curried meat or fish dish Religious practices and rice. For special occasions Bangladeshis often have ‘pilau’, which is special Refugees and Most Bangladeshis are Muslim and celebrate Islamic festivals. There is a mosque in fried rice and ‘korma’, which is a creamy curry. asylum seekers Bletchley that serves the Bangladeshi community. Many men and boys from Dress the community attend Friday prayers at the mosque. Bangladeshi children go to Setting and school ethos the mosque for Arabic classes and to study the Qur’an each evening after school Women’s dress follows the Muslim code, covering arms, legs and head. and at weekends (See Religious Beliefs and Places of Worship). Many children Bangladeshi women traditionally wear ‘salwar’ (trousers) and ‘kameez’ (long shirt) School visits and also learn Bengali there and sometimes support can be provided for school work with a scarf. Some Bangladeshi women also wear saris. Young girls will usually extra-curricular activities and examinations. cover their legs and arms. They may not always wear a scarf until the onset of puberty. Men wear either ‘salwar kameez’ or Western style dress. They may wear Naming systems a ‘dhoti’ in the home. The dhoti is usually 5 or 6 meters of white material wrapped Supplementary schools Muslim males usually have two or three names, for example, Mohammed Abdul around the waist and drawn between the legs. Men and boys wear a flat scull cap Rahman or Ahmed Karim. Sometimes men also use a male title, for example, Miah called a ‘topi’ for visits to the mosque. or Khan (either at the beginning or the end of their name). Girls or women have two Translation part names, a personal name which always comes first and a second name which Birth rites is either a female title, for example, Begum, Bi, Bibi or another personal name. The Bangladeshi community follows Muslim practices. There is usually a party when the baby’s hair is shaved. In Bangladesh an animal is sacrificed for the celebration. Communities and Culture
Death rites It is a common practice to take people back to Bangladesh to be buried. See Islam Faith and the Pakistani Community.
Language
48 49 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Religious practices Diverse Black and minority The Chinese Community ethnic communities in In Milton Keynes, the section of Chinese community who are religious are mainly Milton Keynes Buddhists and Christians. However, generally the Chinese way of life is greatly History influenced by Confucianism and Taoism, which are philosophies rather religions. Our equality commitment The Chinese first came to Britain in the late 1860s as seamen employed on British Confucianism promotes the worship of ancestors and family values and sets out the merchant ships. They began to settle in ports such as London, Liverpool, Cardiff moral and social codes for society. Taoism preaches harmony and that men should and Bristol. They came from Hong Kong, mainland China, Malaysia, Vietnam and not work against nature, but live in peace and balance with the universe. Equality and community Singapore. By 1911, there were only about 500 Chinese in Liverpool and 700 in cohesion London. Having little knowledge in English, the first generation of Chinese in the There are many festivals that Chinese will celebrate. The most important is Chinese UK could only run laundries and lodging houses to serve the needs of the Chinese New Year, which is on the first day of the first Moon on the Lunar Calendar. The Addressing the child crews moving between British ports. exact date changes every year, but usually falls between late January and early or family February. The Chinese assign a mascot to every Lunar year. 2013 is the Year of the The second phase of migration began in 1948 when the British Nationality Act gave Snake and this will be followed by the Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig, Assemblies new Commonwealth citizens the right to live and work in Britain. This coincided with Mouse, Ox and Tiger, with 2025 being the next Year of the Snake. a period of land reforms and the collapse of the agricultural industry in Hong Kong. During Chinese New Year, there are lion and dragon dances in the community. On The result was the emigration of between 30,000 and 50,000 Chinese people to Cultural behaviour Britain in search of a new life during the 1950s. New Year’s Eve, the entire family will get together for a feast. On New Year’s Day, parents and relatives will give ‘red envelopes’ containing money, signifying luck Most of them worked in the Chinese catering industry and as the businesses grew, for the coming year, to younger members of the family. During the first week, the Dietary requirements they found that it was cheaper to bring their family members over to work for Chinese will visit their relatives, bringing with them fruits and sweets. This tradition their businesses. By 1980, statistics showed that more than three quarters of the is intended to bring relatives together after a hard working year and look forward to Chinese community living in Britain were involved in catering. another prosperous year. Dress codes and school uniform The return of Hong Kong to China on 30 June 1997 also led to a further migration The next festival is Ching Ming (in the third Moon) when people go to their of Chinese to Britain. Some 50,000 families were granted British citizenship and ancestors’ graves to pay their respects. Later on in the year, around September, Engagement with many of them arrived in the UK in the mid 1990s. At that time, Milton Keynes was there is another festival called Chung Yeung, which is very similar. On both parents and carers designated a new town and was heavily marketed as a modern city with excellent occasions, the whole family gathers in front of their ancestors’ graves, tidy the shopping, cultural and educational facilities. Being used to living in a metropolitan graves and leave some fresh flowers and food as offerings to the deceased. Extended holidays area, many of these people from Hong Kong made a positive choice to re-settle in Milton Keynes. In the middle of the year, there is a festival known as the Dragon Boat Festival. On this day, there are dragon boat races and the traditional food is dumplings which Festivals Current situation are sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves. Willen Lake is often the venue for such races As a growing city, not only does Milton Keynes attract people from Hong Kong who in Milton Keynes. The Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival is on the 15th day of have been granted British citizenship, but its job market also presents opportunities the eighth Moon. Moon cakes, which are made with lotus seed paste, pastry and New arrivals to Chinese from other parts of China to come here to work. People holding work preserved duck egg yolk, is the principle festive dessert. Children carrying lanterns permits are allowed to bring their family members with them. Because there are will join their family gatherings outdoors at night. Refugees and much better educational facilities in the UK, many Chinese families also send their asylum seekers children to the UK to study. Birth rites Nowadays, there is not much difference in events when a baby is born to a Chinese couple from those that surround a British birth. There are the usual greetings from Setting and school ethos relatives and friends, but the Chinese will also hold a celebration feast when the baby is one month old with invited guests bearing gifts for the baby. School visits and extra-curricular activities Death rites Relatives who have passed away are worshipped as ancestors. Relatives and friends will pay their respects the night before and on the day of the funeral. It is Supplementary schools believed that a proper burial will let the soul rest in eternal peace and cremation adds more suffering to the dead. However, this thinking is gradually changing. On Translation the seventh night after the funeral, family members will gather at a temple and have monks and nuns praying, believing that this will lead to early reincarnation of the deceased. Chinese will usually place the shrines of their deceased parents or Communities and Culture grandparents in their homes.
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50 51 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Naming systems Diverse Black and minority The Filipino Community ethnic communities in Unlike Westerners, Chinese put their surnames in front of their forenames. However, Milton Keynes the younger generation in Milton Keynes has already been accustomed to the western naming system; most of them will have their English names followed by History Our equality commitment their Chinese surnames without even mentioning their Chinese forenames such as The Philippines is a country made up of 7,107 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The John Chan. Those without English names may also write their names as Chi Keung three main islands are Luzon, Visaya and Mindanao. The largest island is Luzon. CHAN instead of the Chinese way of CHAN Chi Keung. The islands have three seasons – rainy from June to October, dry but cool from Equality and community November to February and hot from March to May. The country was named after cohesion Unlike western names again, you never address the Chinese in their first name King Phillip 11th of Spain. The Philippines was controlled by the USA for the first alone; you can call them the middle name or both the first and middle names. akeT half of the 20th Century and the country became independent in 1946 after three Addressing the child the above as an example: you can address Mr Chi Keung CHAN as Keung or Chi years of Japanese occupation. or family Keung, but never Chi. The Surname is inherited from the father; forenames usually Current situation carry meanings which convey the parents’ wishes. Chi Keung means ‘strong mind’. Assemblies Since the early 1970s, Filipinos have been hired to work in big hotels, hospitals, Languages and script nursing homes and other establishments in London and neighbouring towns in Mandarin or Putonghua is the official spoken and written language of China. All the UK. The recent increase in the number of working immigrants was due to Cultural behaviour others are just spoken dialects and are not supposed to be used in writing. A large the shortage of nurses in Britain. Here in Milton Keynes Hospital there are many proportion of the Chinese community in Milton Keynes come from Hong Kong and Filipino nurses. Some of them came directly from the Philippines, others came they speak mainly Cantonese. However, there are more and more Chinese arriving through other countries, such as Singapore or European countries. The Philippines Dietary requirements from other parts of the world, and their children can speak Mandarin as well as has supplied professionals around the world to places like Saudi Arabia, USA other Chinese dialects. and Europe. They are well recognised for their professional skills and ability to Dress codes and school communicate in the English language. uniform Although all Chinese students can read and write in Mandarin, Cantonese speakers may not be able to speak in Mandarin and vice versa. Many Chinese students in Religion Milton Keynes attend Chinese Sunday School to prepare themselves for the GCSE Engagement with About 90% of the population are Christian, most of which are Catholic. Pope John parents and carers and A-Level Chinese examinations. Paul II visited the Philippines more than once. The other large group of people are Muslim, who are concentrated in Mindanao. Some of the Muslim-Filipino people are Social structure (family, marriage) Extended holidays believed to have Arab blood. Some foreigners who stayed in the Philippines brought Family structure is much valued in the Chinese community, with the father as the with them their religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and many others. head of the family. Traditionally, compared to Westerners, the Chinese divorce rate is much lower, partly to prevent loss of face. Festivals Festivals Dress code The Filipino Community in Milton Keynes celebrates most Christian festivals, such as Christmas and Easter. In May, Filipinos celebrate with a street procession called New arrivals There are no strict dress codes. The older generation may put on traditional Chinese Santa Cruzan, with young and adults dressed up in national costume carrying clothing such as Cheung Sam in ceremonies and Chinese New Year. crucifixes and other religious artefacts to show their acceptance of Christianity. Food preferences Refugees and Marriages asylum seekers Rice and noodles are the primary foods. Keen believers in Buddhism are Some people and families have arranged marriages, but most choose their lifetime vegetarians. Casual vegetarians will have vegetarian meals on the first and fifteenth partner. Divorce is not very popular, for the sake of the children. However parents Setting and school ethos days of each month. For others, it depends on their personal principles and will intervene if they see that their daughter needs to separate from her husband if preferences. the relationship does not work out. School visits and Foods extra-curricular activities People from different towns cook and eat differently. There is one town where people cook their food with coconut and chilli, whereas others eat Spanish cuisine. Supplementary schools The main meal served in every household includes soup, salad, vegetables, seafood, various meats and rice. Pudding is usually served with fruit in season. Filipinos love to entertain people and they are hospitable. At every opportunity they Translation cook for the family and guests. Fiesta is a town celebration of their town’s patron saint. People are welcome to go from one house to another to enjoy their special cuisine. Communities and Culture
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52 53 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Languages Diverse Black and minority The Indian Community ethnic communities in Tagalog (formerly called Filipino) is the main language of communication among Milton Keynes Filipinos in Milton Keynes. One can tell the region or town or even the class of people by the way they speak. However, a family can usually speak and understand India is the largest country in South Asia and has a complex history and a rich Our equality commitment more than one Filipino language as they are closely related. English is widely diverse culture. In this vast country there are many contrasts in the way people live. spoken in the Philippines. There are many differences in the appearance, language, food, customs and faith traditions of the Indian people. Equality and community Naming system cohesion History The family name is taken from the father. The Christian name of some children was India’s past is deeply linked to the Indus River, being the origin of the country’s taken from the Catholic calendar after the saints. Nowadays some parents will Addressing the child name their children using some native Pilipino words – e.g. ‘Mutya’, lovely maiden. name and the route by which people have moved within the country. These people or family The married woman and man still keep their mother’s maiden name as their middle include: name. • The Dravidians, believed to be the indigenous Indian race Assemblies
Dress code • The Aryans, who brought in the Vedic Period. In the Philippines and other parts of the world, Filipinos wear their national costume Cultural behaviour during weddings and other special occasions. In some parts of the country in the • India gained its independence from the British in 1947. Philippines the elderly prefer to wear their traditional clothes every day. The late Current situation President Marcos and his wife Imelda were often seen wearing Filipino costume. Dietary requirements Since independence India has become a modern democracy with a full Birth rites parliamentary system of government. India has nearly 17% of the world’s Dress codes and school Birth is celebrated by christening or baptism in the parish church. A child wears population and is now the largest democracy in the world. The economy is rapidly uniform a white, pink or blue christening gown. Godparents are chosen to look after the developing, with modern electronic and ICT industries being expanded. The influx of international companies is growing significantly. The following are some recent godchild in time of need. Presents are given to the family for the child and on every Engagement with occasion such as birthday and Christmas a child receives presents from his/her facts that give a flavour of modern India: parents and carers godparents. 325 languages spoken – 1,652 dialects Death rites 22 official languages recognized by the Indian Constitution Extended holidays 28 states, 7 union territories In the Philippines, Filipinos would not bury their dead immediately. Mourning has 1.3 billion population to be discussed between family members. Each day, prayers have to take place. Festivals Donations are given to the head of the family. The 40th day after the death, prayers The Indian community in Milton Keynes has also grown. Just over two decades are also offered and a feast arranged. ago the community was very small, with less than a few households and coming from different areas of the UK and other countries. There are currently more than New arrivals a thousand Hindu households in Milton Keynes. The Sikh, Jain and Buddhist communities also share much with the Indian community in terms of their culture Refugees and and traditions. The Indian community continues to be disparate, for example, with asylum seekers origins in Gujarat, the Punjab and East Africa. There is an increasing number of families of temporary employment transfers to Milton Keynes who are in the service of international companies and tend to work in the ICT sector. The Sikh and Hindu Setting and school ethos Community Associations are active in the life and work of Milton Keynes. They organise a wide variety of religious, social and cultural events. Indian pupils are very School visits and well dispersed around Milton Keynes, but there are some small concentrations in extra-curricular activities Springfield, Willen and Willen Park. The achievement of Indian pupils is elativelyr very high and the proportion going on to university education is also markedly Supplementary schools higher than the national norms.
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54 55 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Religion Names and naming systems Diverse Black and minority ethnic communities in Religion plays an important part in most people’s lives in India, with 83% percent Understanding Asian names can be somewhat complicated. Family names may not Milton Keynes belonging to the Hindu faith. Other important religions in India are Buddhism, Islam, be used, although it has become more common to use a family name in Britain. All names usually have a meaning, for example, Jeeven means ‘life’, Simran means Sikhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity. Our equality commitment ‘meditation’, It is important not to confuse culture and language with religion. Culture and
language depend on the region of origin in India, such as Punjabi Sikhs and Punjabi Jamila means ‘beautiful’ and Saeed means ‘happy’. A name can give an indication Equality and community Hindus who may share the same language and some aspects of cultural heritage, of a person’s religious and cultural background, and his/her gender. However, staff cohesion but not the same religion. should be aware that some names can be common to Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus and some names are unisex. Addressing the child Festivals or family The Indian community celebrates festivals according to relevant religious The Hindu naming system has a basic pattern. There is a personal name (Krishan), a backgrounds. For example, the Hindu community celebrates Diwali each year, complimentary name (Kumar) and a family name (Shah). Sometimes titles are used, Assemblies holding a large festival with music, dance, drama and prashadam (food offerings). being Shri for a man and Shrimati for a woman. They are broadly equivalent to Mr Members of the wider Milton Keynes community are also invited to join in. and Mrs respectively. Sometimes other titles like Pandit or Ji may be used, before and after the name respectively. The first letter of a personal name is often chosen Cultural behaviour Languages by the priest or an elder, related to the time and date of birth. Some common Hindu Hindi is the national language of India and is most commonly used. English is the names are listed below: language of commerce and frequently of higher education. Many people speak or Dietary requirements understand at least two languages. There are 28 states and seven union territories Male Personal Names: Female Personal Names: with 22 officially recognised languages, and hundreds of different dialects. Gujarati Vijay, Ramesh, Sanjeet Sita, Anita, Sarla Dress codes and school is the main language within the Hindu community in Milton Keynes, whereas Punjabi uniform is spoken mainly by Sikhs. See Languages and Scripts. Male Complimentary Names Female Complimentary Names: Chand, Kant, Kumar Devi, Rani, Laxmi Foods Engagement with parents and carers As an expression of their respect for life in general and of ‘Ahimsa’ (non-violence) Family names: many Hindus prefer to be vegetarians. Hindus believe that vegetarianism is a way of Mehta, Patel, Gandhi, Gupta life that causes the least harm to other creatures. It is estimated that about 75% of Extended holidays the Indian population are strict vegetarians. Hindus do not eat beef, since the cow Sikh names also have three elements: a personal name, a middle name and a family is considered to be sacred to their religion. Sikhs do not eat beef, but other meat name. Male Sikhs all have the middle name of Singh (Lion) and female Sikhs are products are not forbidden. However, those who have undertaken ‘Amrit’, a form of referred to as Kaur (Princess). When the Sikh religion was founded the use of family Festivals baptism, are strict vegetarians. Muslims only eat Halal meat and do not eat pork. names was discontinued to avoid any associations with previous religions or castes so as to symbolise greater equality. However, over time and with migration, the use New arrivals of family names has resumed.
Sikh names are unisex, but it is possible to identify whether the individual is male Refugees and or female from the middle name. For example, Balbir Singh Atwal will be male. asylum seekers However, Balbir Kaur Atwal will be female. In some cases Sikh families have adopted the family name of Singh and, therefore, it can be difficult to follow this Setting and school ethos rule. Some examples are given below:
Personal Names Family Names School visits and extra-curricular activities Amardeep Dhillon Harpreet Mann Supplementary schools Sukhbir Atwal Gurmeet Dhariwal Rajinder Grewal Translation
Muslim names – see section on Islam. Communities and Culture Social structure Indian marriages are traditionally arranged by parents and the elders in the family. However, over the past several decades there have been many changes to this Faith process and today young people are almost always included in making the choice of their partner. Most Indian families are based on a patriarchal structure, but this Language does not automatically mean inequality for women. Women are able to marry much later and the historical tradition of dowry in marriage is now ceasing.
56 57 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Birth rites The main celebration of the year is New Year’s Day on 1 January. The Japanese Diverse Black and minority people celebrate it for the first three days or the first week. Schools and businesses ethnic communities in The moment of birth is marked with an astrological calendar and the child’s Milton Keynes horoscope is charted. After birth the child is blessed with a name. The family close for one to two weeks from the end of December, and many people return gathers around and gives sweets to wish the child a sweet life. Every milestone is home to spend this time with their families. Our equality commitment an occasion to be celebrated. In orthodox Hindu groups a boy may go through the Dolls’ Festival/Girls’ Day is on 3 March. It is an occasion to pray for young girls’ Thread Ceremony, ‘Upanayanam’. It symbolises a spiritual re-birth. growth and happiness. Most homes with girls display special dolls for the dolls’ Equality and community Death rites festival and dedicate to them peach blossoms, white sake and special foods. cohesion Children’s Day/Boys’ Day occurs on 5 May. Originally it was called Boys’ Day and Hindus believe in re-incarnation, death being a stage in the cycle of re-birth. was for celebrating boys growing up, but it became a day to celebrate children in Surviving relatives perform last rites for their well-being to the next life. Hindus are Addressing the child general. Families with boys set out dolls, which are patterned after warriors and or family usually cremated, whereas Muslims and Christians are usually buried. For Hindu heroes, and fly koi-fish (carps) streamers. families it is common for mourning rituals to last over eleven days and may require sympathy and consideration for taking time away for participating in the process. Bon festival is a Buddhist event occurring from the 13 -16 July or an ancestors’ Assemblies week commences on 9 August to hold a memorial service to the spirits of ancestors. Cultural behaviour The Japanese Community 7-5-3 (shichi-go-san) is a gala day for children of three, five and seven years of age. This occurs on 15 November, when prayers are offered for children’s growth. Odd numbers are auspicious in Japan, then odd numbered years of this important Dietary requirements History and current situation period of a child’s growth that is, the ages of three and five for boys, three and The Japanese community grew steadily until the turn of the century. Most Japanese seven for girls are celebrated. On this day, children dress up in kimono Japanese Dress codes and school families move to Milton Keynes to work in the many Japanese businesses in traditional costume and go with their parents to a Shinto shrine to pay a visit to the uniform the city. At the peak there were 50 such companies, but this has recently been tutelary deity. Most people in Japan, not only Christians, enjoy Christmas Eve by reducing, due to the economic situation in Japan. When Japanese companies exchanging presents with family and sweethearts and by eating together. Engagement with started coming to Milton Keynes, about 50% of the workforce was Japanese, but parents and carers this has been reduced to a small number of senior managers. Most families stayed New Year’s Eve on 31 December is called ÿmisoka. To welcome the new year in Milton Keynes for periods of three to five years before returning to Japan. with good feelings, a general house-cleaning is completed, the flooring rush mats (tatami) are re-covered and the sliding paper screens (shoji) are repapered by this Extended holidays For many years there was a Japanese boarding school in Milton Keynes and date. Family reunions are held and the whole family brings in New Year with a sense Japanese children from all over Europe were enrolled there. This was demolished of togetherness. and the Willen Retirement complex built on its site. Festivals Birth rites Religious practices About thirty days after a baby is born, he/she is taken to a Shinto Shrine for the first New arrivals Religion in Japan can be roughly divided into Shinto and Buddhism. In Japan long visit. This is called miyamairi. Miyamairi used to be an important event by which ago, Buddhism, which came from abroad, and Shinto, which is a folk religion, the child became a parishioner of a Shinto shrine. This is the first step towards occasionally came together in a synthesis. Buddhism is not a theistic doctrine becoming a member of society. Nowadays it tends to be practised only formally. Refugees and and Shinto principally worships nature, therefore there were no contradictions Japanese culture is male-orientated, although there have been some changes with asylum seekers in synthesising them. In contemporary Japan both Shinto and Buddhism are westernisation of the society. When a baby was born it was previously the role of becoming more like a deeply rooted ‘custom’ practised in daily life rather than the eldest member of the family to choose the name, but now the name is chosen Setting and school ethos objects of faith, as observed in the general practice of ‘a wedding with Shinto rites by the parents. and a funeral with Buddhist rites.’ Japan has been receptive to western culture, so that young people now have weddings with Christian rites. Death rites School visits and extra-curricular activities A typical funeral today is to have a priest to chant Buddhist sutras for the deceased. Shinto, literally meaning the way of the gods, is the Japanese religion from the They hold a wake on the following day, bid farewell to the deceased in a farewell ancient times, centring on the ideas of Japanese intimacy with nature and ancestor service, and after cremation, bury the remains in a cemetery. Supplementary schools worship. All things on earth were brought forth and ruled over by the gods who reside throughout all nature. Mountains and trees often become objects of worship.
Ordinarily, shrines are built there and objects of worship in which a god or gods Translation reside are enshrined. Shinto constitutes the foundation of the sensibility of the Japanese people, but most present day Japanese, rather than placing faith in
Shinto, feel their cultural identity through it. Communities and Culture
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58 59 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Naming system Dress Diverse Black and minority ethnic communities in It is a common tradition in Japan to have the family name first, followed by a Most people wear European clothing. Traditional kimonos are only worn on public Milton Keynes personal name. There are no middle names in Japan. However, most overseas holidays, such as New Year and Boys’ and Girls’ Days and for weddings and birth ceremonies. Kimonos are worn by both men and women. Fashions are designed Japanese adapt to the western practice of personal name followed by family name. Our equality commitment according to the seasons, for example, a winter kimono might be blue and white The family name is basically passed on by the male line. Women change their to represent snow and ice. Hair is traditionally styled on special occasions. Elderly family names on marriage. Japanese society is extremely polite. When you people may wear kimonos all the time. Equality and community address someone, ‘San’ - an honorific word – is added behind the name as a cohesion sign of respect. For example, ‘Michiko San’ for Michiko, ‘Yamamoto San’ for Mr/ Food preferences Ms Yamamoto’. If a professional person such as a doctor, lawyer or teacher is Traditional foods are white rice, both raw and cooked fish, vegetables and pickles, Addressing the child addressed, ‘Sensei’ is added instead of ‘San’. For example, ‘Iwata Sensei’ for Dr. red beans, seaweed, raw egg, miso soup, udon and soba noodles, sushi. Drinks or family Iwata. may include green tea and rice wine (saké). For celebrations rice cakes (mochi) are made. Family Name Personal Name Assemblies Rice is eaten at breakfast, lunch and dinner. However, western food is becoming Father Yamamoto Hitoshi more popular. The Japanese diet has changed significantly over recent decades. Mother Yamamoto Ryoko Cultural behaviour There are no specific food taboos. Some Buddhists may be vegetarian. Son Yamamoto Noboro Daughter Yamamoto Haruka Dietary requirements
Language and script Dress codes and school uniform Japanese grammar is very simple, but different from English. The outstanding point The Pakistani Community is the word order in sentences. For example “(I) Sunday on school to go don’t.” in Japanese whereas “I don’t go to school on Sundays.” in English. Verbs always History Engagement with parents and carers come at the end of sentences in Japanese, therefore the word order is completely The partitioning of India in 1947 resulted in the creation of East and West Pakistan. the opposite way around from English. There are no articles like a, the, some, any In 1971, East Pakistan gained independence and the country of Bangladesh was in sentences. “There are three apples on the table” is expressed “table on apple born. West Pakistan then became what we know today as Pakistan. Pakistan Extended holidays three there is” in Japanese. It also indicates that Japanese language does not have means ‘Land of the Pure’. singular and plural forms. Current situation Festivals Since there is no future tense in Japanese, the present tense is with future words Pakistan is divided into four provinces: Baluchistan, Punjab, Sindh and the North – like tomorrow, next week – to express futures. Modern Japanese consists of Western Frontier Province. The capital city is Islamabad. Pakistan has a population three kinds of scripts; the ideographic Chinese characters know as kanji, and the New arrivals of approximately 187 million people. The majority of Pakistanis living in Milton phonetic characters known as hiragana and katakana. All three characters can be Keynes originate from the Azad Kashmir area and speak Punjabi, Mirpuri and seen in a single sentence. Urdu. The Pakistani community in Milton Keynes is well dispersed, but there is a Refugees and asylum seekers Social structure significant concentration in Wolverton, as it has large Victorian houses suitable for extended family life. Japan has a family-orientated society. Traditionally the man is responsible for Setting and school ethos financial security, being the main provider and working long hours. The wife Religion takes care of the household and the children. The wife’s main responsibility is the Ninety-seven percent of the population is Muslim and celebrates Islamic festivals. education of the children. She is the person who is in direct contact with the school, Religion plays an important part in the life of the Pakistani community. Pakistan is School visits and attending parents’ meetings and helping children with their homework. Many extra-curricular activities an Islamic state. See Islam. children go to evening classes as well as having a full school day. Festivals Mothers set up the programme of study and take the children to classes. Children Supplementary schools have very limited free time. Many fathers only see their children at weekends and The Pakistani community celebrates Islamic festivals. Celebrations are centred they often have to work for part of this time, for example at team-building exercises around the mosques, family and local community networks. Some families travel to Translation or visiting the shrine to pray for the company. This culture is beginning to change. be with relatives in other parts of the country to celebrate festivals.
At the moment very few women are professionals and managers. Marriage is very important in Japanese society. Traditionally marriages were arranged, but most Communities and Culture people now choose their own partners. Arranged marriages today are usually in the upper classes. Most Japanese women used to be married by their mid-twenties, but for more educated women marriage is now common between 30 and 35 years. Faith Men usually marry later, so that they can progress in their career. If women are not
married it is a taboo. Divorce used to be very rare, but with the growing economic Language independence of women the divorce rate among Japanese couples is gradually increasing.
60 61 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Language Social structure Diverse Black and minority ethnic communities in Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, with other languages such as Sindi, Muslim family life is based upon marriage, with high status being given to marriage. Milton Keynes Baluchi, Punjabi and Pushtu spoken in some parts of the country. Urdu is the main Traditionally, Muslim marriages are arranged. The final decision rests with the girl. Some time before the wedding the two families will meet and exchange gifts, language spoken by Pakistani pupils in Milton Keynes. Punjabi is a language used Our equality commitment in the Punjab region, which includes the northern part of India as well as part of usually in the form of jewellery and other materials. The Muslim wedding can take Pakistan. Therefore, in its spoken form it is a language which some Indians and place anywhere, although a registrar must be present. Some weddings are held some Pakistanis have in common. in a local mosque or community centre, but the majority of Muslim marriages will Equality and community take place in the bride’s home. In Islam, marriage is seen as a civil contract, as cohesion Many of the Pakistani community in Milton Keynes come from Azad Kashmir and an agreement between two people before God. Muslim families are based on a quite close to Islamabad. This does not mean that they speak Kashmiri, which is patriarchal structure. Addressing the child a different language spoken further to the east of Kashmir. The mother tongue for or family people from the area around Kotli or Mirpur in Azad Kashmir is likely to be a dialect Often family life is extended, with grandparents and other close relatives living
form of Punjabi. This dialect may be referred to as Mirpuri or Pahari. It is possible, with or near to each other. Young newly married couples will usually live with the Assemblies therefore, that a family may use two languages in the home; a dialect form of husband’s family. Divorce is met with disapproval, although on grounds of adultery, Punjabi and also Urdu. incompatibility, impotence or wilful neglect to one’s family it is accepted. Cultural behaviour Urdu is the language many parents from Pakistan wish their children to learn in both Birth rites spoken and written forms. It is read from right to left and is derived from Arabic and When a Muslim baby is born, it is bathed and a prayer, ‘Adhan’, is whispered in the Persian. Many bilingual pupils have some knowledge of Urdu by the time they are baby’s right ear and Aquama in the left ear. Thus the first words the baby hears are Dietary requirements of secondary age. Community classes are taught after school. It is unwise to make those which will be important to it throughout its life. Adhan is the Islamic call to assumptions about the languages known by pupils in schools: prayer; it is called out usually by the muezzin from a minaret of a mosque 5 times a day. See Islam. Dress codes and school • young Pakistani children may only know Punjabi (or a dialect form of Punjabi) uniform The next ceremony which may take place is ‘Tahneek’, when the baby is brought • some young children may only know Urdu home from hospital. A small amount of sugar or honey is placed in the mouth of the Engagement with parents and carers • older children may know both Punjabi and Urdu. infant to symbolise the hope that the child will have a good life. After seven days the baby is named and its head is shaved as a symbol of cleanliness. Silver equal to • The extent of knowledge of these languages may vary considerably. the weight of the hair is given to charity. The hair may be shaved a number of times Extended holidays during early infancy. All males are circumcised. Many Muslim children go to classes at the mosque, in order to read and study the Qur’an. Therefore, they may also have some understanding of Arabic. Some Death rites Festivals care may be needed to ascertain the linguistic knowledge of pupils from Pakistani A dying Muslim should be turned to face Mecca. The body is washed and families. These notes do not take account of other languages in Pakistan, or the covered with a white sheet and buried as soon as possible. Muslim graves are subtleties of dialect forms. However, it should be clear that many children enter raised between ten and thirty centimetres and Muslim sections are found in most New arrivals school with considerable skill in languages and that this can be seen as a positive municipal cemeteries. strength. Refugees and asylum seekers Foods The Pakistani community follows Muslim food traditions, which means that only halal meat is eaten. This is butchered in a special way. Pork products are not eaten Setting and school ethos and indeed it may be considered wrong for Muslim children to talk about or use
pictures of pigs. Alcohol is prohibited in the Muslim faith. A typical family meal School visits and would consist of a meat dish, and/or a vegetarian ‘daal’ of lentils or other dried extra-curricular activities beans, with flat unleavened bread, named ‘roti’ or chapatti.
Naming systems Supplementary schools Pakistanis choose Muslim names for their children. There will be a personal name
and a religious name, such as Mohammed. These names can be in either order. Translation Therefore, a child may be registered in school with a first name of Mohammed, but he may be known by his second name in the family. Most people will also
have a hereditary family name, such as Qureshi. Children usually take their father’s Communities and Culture personal name as their family name. For example:
Grandfather: Mohammed Akram Iqbal Faith Father: Yusuf Ali Akram Son: Mohammed Arif Yusuf Daughter: Khalida Maryam Yusuf Language
62 63 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Festivals Diverse Black and minority The Sri Lankan Community ethnic communities in Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Islamic festivals and religious events are celebrated Milton Keynes by Sri Lankans of the respective faiths. History The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon during The Hindus and Buddhists in Sri Lanka celebrate their New Year (Avurudu) either Our equality commitment British colonial rule), is a Pear-shaped island 29 kilometres from the south-eastern on 13 or 14 April. The festival is when the two major ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, the coast of India. The island is approximately 65,000 square kilometres in size, with a Sinhalese and the Tamils jointly celebrate this happy time, but in different styles Equality and community population of over 21 million people. Citizens of Sri Lanka refer to themselves as Sri according to their original traditions. cohesion Lankan(s). Sri Lanka claims a democratic tradition matched by few other developing The largest Buddhist festival is Vesak, which is the celebration of the birth, countries, and since its independence in 1948, successive governments have been Addressing the child freely elected. In recent years, however, there has been curtailment of the freedom enlightenment and death of the Buddha. or family of expression. Hindus celebrate Deepavali, also known as the festival of lights, which takes place Assemblies Sri Lanka’s citizens enjoy a long life expectancy, advanced health standards, and in late October or early November. one of the highest literacy rates in the world, despite the fact that the country has Social structure, Customs and behaviour one of the lowest per capita incomes. Traditionally children are expected to unquestioningly obey their parents and elders, Cultural behaviour Ethnic groups and are familiar with authoritarian and disciplined social and educational structures. Parents do not like their children to refer to adults, known or unknown, by their first The largest ethnic group on the island, representing 74% of the population, are the Dietary requirements Sinhalese who claim to have been the earliest colonisers of Sri Lanka, first settling names. Instead titles such as ‘aunty’ or ‘uncle’ are used as prefixes as a mark of in the country as early as 500 BC. Tamils constitute 18% of the population and are respect arising from seniority. divided into Sri Lankan Tamils, who like the Sinhalese are natives of the island due Dress codes and school Traditionally boys would have short, cropped hair and girls would have long hair, uniform to ancient lineage (having arrived on the island in about 300 BC), and the Indian usually braided or tied up. Tamils, who were brought in as plantation labour by the British in the nineteenth Engagement with century. Other groups include Burghers, Eurasians, Malay, and Veddha. Marriage is traditionally held in high regard by all Sri Lankan communities. parents and carers Current situation Education and Literacy Many Sri Lankan migrant families, particularly of Tamil ethnic backgrounds, have School is compulsory up to the age of 13, with free education in government Extended holidays fled their homeland due to the communal violence and ethnic war that have taken schools. The education system is broadly based on the British System, with place on the island. The divide is between the majority Sinhalese, of which the children from the ages of five to ten attending primary school and from age 11 majority government is formed, and the minority Tamils. Although the ethnic war has to 15 progressing onto a ‘junior secondary’ school (terminating in GCE Ordinary Festivals now ended, tension between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities continues as the Level Examinations) and from age 16 to 17 attending senior secondary school reconciliation process has raised human rights concerns for Tamils. (terminating in the Advanced Level Examinations). Those who qualify can go on to New arrivals the university system, which is government-run. Languages Traditional Sri Lankan families place significant importance on the value of Within Sri Lanka, the official languages are Sinhalese and Tamil, with English spoken Refugees and in government and educated circles by about 10% of population. The Sinhalese education and academic qualifications. Generally, there is a preference towards asylum seekers are distinguished primarily by their language, Sinhala, which is a member of the science-based fields such as medicine, engineering, and to a lesser degree, Indo- European linguistic group that includes Hindi and other north Indian native accountancy, computing and law. Literacy over the age of 10 is about 87%, rising to Setting and school ethos languages, as well as most of the languages of Europe. 96% at the age of 15.
The Tamils use the Tamil language as their native tongue. Tamil is one of the Birth and death rites School visits and Dravidian languages found almost exclusively in peninsular India. Tamil is spoken by Dependent on religious backgrounds, birth and death rites follow Buddhist, Hindu, extra-curricular activities at least 60 million people in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (‘land of the Tamils’), and Christian or Islamic religious customs and belief systems.
by millions more Tamil emigrants throughout the world. Supplementary schools Religion
Religious proportions are split into Buddhist 69%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8% and Translation Muslim 8%. Sinhalese are generally Buddhist, Tamils Hindu; Burghers, Eurasians, and a minority of Sinhalese and Tamils profess Christianity, with Moors adherents of Islam. Communities and Culture The Buddhist religion reinforces the solidarity of the Sinhalese as an ethnic
community. Ethnic Tamils are united by the Tamil language, culture and religious Faith beliefs. Some 85% of the Sri Lankan Tamils are Hindus and worship the Hindu pantheon of gods. Language
64 65 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Foods Diverse Black and minority European ethnic communities in As most British-based Sri Lankan families are first generation migrants, the average Milton Keynes Sri Lankan continues to eat traditional food at home. Rice and curry still comprise the main meal in almost every Sri Lankan household. Boiled rice with curried Whilst there is anecdotal evidence of people from many Our equality commitment vegetable, fish and/ or meat laced with Sri Lankan spices, is the typical Sri Lankan main meal. Rice is eaten at least once a day. different European countries living in Milton Keynes, Equality and community Almost every dish used to be prepared in coconut milk, but on health grounds dairy there is no detailed breakdown of numbers from different cohesion milk is now used. Sri Lankans like their food to be spicy, and use a variety of spices nationalities. The Community Language Service provided such as turmeric, garlic, ginger, pepper and other Indian spices in their culinary Addressing the child preparations. translations for 15 European languages in 2012: Russian, or family
Traditional food plays a central role in Sri Lankan life on a daily basis, with more Spanish, Polish, Italian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, elaborate preparations being used for family gatherings, social events, festivals and Portuguese, Czech, Lithuanian, Latvian, Croatian, Bosnian, Assemblies other special occasions. Slovakian and Turkish. Tamils who follow the Hindu religion would not eat beef, whilst some may be Cultural behaviour vegetarian or vegan. We are keen to build up our knowledge of all the Naming systems Dietary requirements The Sinhalese community usually have two names. The first is called the ‘GE’ communities in Milton Keynes, so please contact us if you (pronounced ‘gay’, Sinhalese for House or Tribe) name, while the second is the would like to contribute information for the next update. Dress codes and school actual name of the individual. The ‘GE’ name may indicate the place from which the uniform family originated, or the title or profession of the head of the family. Hence a person may be called ‘Muhandiramla GE Romesh’ which indicates that he hails from the Europe’s colonial history has led to a number of European Engagement with ‘House of Muhandiram’ and his name is Romesh. parents and carers languages being widely used in other parts of the world. The Tamil community have a completely unique and different method of Extended holidays nomenclature. They also, usually, use two names, the first representing their father’s Most of the Commonwealth Countries were British colonies name and the second representing their own. For example Arumugam Ramanathan and many use English as an official language, using it too indicates that the individual’s name is Ramanathan, and he is the son of Arumugam. Festivals Most Tamil names are similar to South Indian names. as the medium for secondary education. In a similar way, The Burghers, who are direct descendants of colonial Europeans, conform to the French is spoken in parts of Africa and South East Asia; New arrivals western system of naming, and western names such as Mary, Victor and Anne, are freely used. Spanish and Portuguese in South America and Africa; Italian in Eritrea; Dutch in Indonesia. Refugees and Due to the island being colonised by the Portuguese and Dutch, names such as asylum seekers De Silva, Fernando and other Portuguese or Dutch names still prevail as surnames within the Sinhalese and Burgher communities. In some non-colonial countries, English is widely used in Setting and school ethos In all communities, it is traditional that on marriage the wife takes her husband’s education and business for convenience, particularly when surname, and the family name is passed from the husband to the children. School visits and there are many different languages in one country. extra-curricular activities
Migration patterns are complex and many families in Milton Supplementary schools Keynes have spent time in different countries en route to the UK. This means that a child born in Somalia whose Translation mother tongue is Somali might have learned some Arabic at Communities and Culture school before moving to Scandinavia and learning Swedish;
when the parents move to the UK the child has to begin Faith again with culture, language and friendships.
Language
66 67 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Diverse Black and minority French Italian ethnic communities in Milton Keynes The French Community in the Milton Keynes area consists of more than 60 families. History They meet together regularly to support their children with the development of their Italian people came to the Milton Keynes area as prisoners of war, at a camp Our equality commitment bilingual skills, to celebrate festivals and to ensure that their culture is preserved. in Drayton Parslow. The camp was partially open and the prisoners would form Key celebratory times are New Year, Easter, the end of the school year and relationships with local people. Many stayed on after the Second World War Equality and community Christmas. Gatherings often include shared meals. The language school ‘Alliance finished. Others came from southern Italy in the 1950s and 1960s to take on hard, cohesion Francaise’, based in Stony Stratford, was established in Milton Keynes in March manual work in the brickfields of Bedford and Newton Longville. They spoke very 1982 and in September 2003 became a Registered Charity with the aim to bring little English. The dialects of southern Italy were spoken. They gathered together, Addressing the child together our two countries. socially and religiously, for support. Initially young men came to work, but they or family gradually married and brought their families here. In recent years, French speakers from a variety of other countries have come to Assemblies Milton Keynes. At the moment they have no separate association. Current situation The majority of young people of Italian origin in Milton Keynes are of the third and fourth generation since migration. There are new arrivals but no longer only Cultural behaviour Irish through family links. They come from southern Italy as well as from other Italian communities in Great Britain. In Bletchley and Fenny Stratford there continues to History and current situation be a concentration of Italian population, especially from the area around Naples, Dietary requirements Many Irish people first made their homes in London and then moved to Milton although many younger families continue to move more widely around Milton Keynes. Keynes in the 1950s and 1960s when housing and employment became available. Dress codes and school uniform The vast majority were unskilled. Irish people sought work in factories and in Religion the building industry. Emigration from Ireland is now much less evident, but the Italian people are mostly Catholic. Their houses are usually adorned with religious young people who do come to live in Milton Keynes are highly educated. When Engagement with icons and even though many do not attend church regularly they come together for parents and carers Irish people came to the Milton Keynes area 30 or 40 years ago they stayed close key religious festivals. Most Italian families have their children baptised. Baptism is together for comfort and support. There were Irish pubs and clubs, Irish sports a ceremony, involving pouring blessed water over a child’s head, which symbolises were evident and many were devout Catholics. Most sought out husbands and Extended holidays new life and entry into the church. First Holy Communion day is a time of particular wives from their own community and once their children were born they were sent celebration. Much money is spent on dressing the young children for a ceremony in to Catholic schools. Much has now changed and young people of Irish families are which they take the bread and wine of mass for the first time. Children receive their completely integrated into contemporary British society and they do not seek out Festivals first Holy Communion when they are eight. See Christianity section. Young people partners from similar families. born in this country have not lost the strong connection with the Catholic religion. Many who are second generation Irish have much weaker ties with the Catholic New arrivals Festivals Church, although they still value certain ceremonies and traditions. Such people would still, by and large, have their children baptised. Baptism is a ceremony The forty days prior to Easter (Pasqua) are called Quaresima (Lent) and are a time of penitence and Prayer. Special occasions are marked with parties involving large Refugees and involving the pouring of water over a child’s head that symbolises entry into the asylum seekers church. Many Irish people still cherish first Holy Communion day, when boys and numbers of the Italian community. Large family gatherings take place especially at girls of eight are dressed in special clothes and take the bread and wine of mass Christmas time. Weddings are no longer likely to involve as large number of guests for the first time. However, it must be said that many young Irish people no longer as they did in the past. Setting and school ethos regard themselves as Catholic people. The strong connection is now weakened. Languages The Irish have a strong grasp of their own history. School visits and Older people continue to speak the dialects of the southern Italian region where extra-curricular activities Many older Irish people are frustrated that a part of the island of Ireland belongs to they were born. Most second-generation adults operate confidently in English, Britain. Even though they have felt slightly on the outside of British society they are speak the same dialect and generally have only a limited knowledge of spoken and grateful for the opportunities that this country has given them. The Irish do not enjoy written standard Italian. Third and fourth generation children speak English as their Supplementary schools a particular cuisine. first language and continue to be exposed to dialects in the interaction with their grandparents. Italian families are interested in keeping their home language alive Festivals and very keen for their children to attend the Italian classes provided by the Italian Translation The Irish are very fond of music and dancing. A day of particular celebration is St. government. These classes are now offered to all pupils, not only those of Italian Patrick’s Day (17 March). St. Patrick is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. background. On holy days of obligation Mass is held in Catholic schools. Attendance at funerals Communities and Culture is an important duty for Irish people. Such funerals are not private affairs, but occasions when friends and even distant acquaintances are expected to attend and Faith pay their respects. Even those who no longer attend church see it as a duty to pray for those who have died. Those people who came directly from Ireland named their children after senior members of the family, who in turn usually had the names of Language Christian saints or holy people. As with other things, this is changing and people do not feel the need to adhere to this system.
68 69 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Foods Diverse Black and minority Polish ethnic communities in Traditional Italian cuisine continues to be maintained. The tradition of making fresh Milton Keynes pasta from flour and egg still continues in many households. Pork products are still a favourite of Italian people, such as prosciutto crudo (Parma ham), salami e History and current situation Our equality commitment salsiccie (sausages), which are also often home-made. There is a wide range of The Polish community in Britain is a significant minority community. Before 1939 the cheeses from different Italian regions, many of which are available in specialist community was comprised mainly of Jews born in Poland. Following the Second Italian shops as well as in supermarkets. Home-made wines continue to be World War, Britain became home to thousands of Polish people displaced by war. Equality and community produced in this area, with grapes being specially imported from southern Italy. Approximately 135,000 Poles entered the UK as refugees or displaced persons. For cohesion Shared meals are a very important part of family and social life. many years Poles have come to the UK to work and study. Since Poland became a member of the EU in 2004, Polish citizens have had the right to reside and work in Addressing the child Naming system the UK. or family Children continue to be given Italian personal names, although on some occasions In recent years, until Poland joined the EU, many new arrivals in schools were they may be anglicised or used in their shortened form by younger people. The Assemblies tradition of naming children after senior members within their family is not as strong children from Polish Roma families who had left Poland and applied for asylum in as it used to be. the UK. Some 98% of the population is ethnic Pole. The largest minority groups are Ukranians, Belarussians and Germans. Poland has a Roma population of about Cultural behaviour Social structure 55,000, almost all of whom are settled. Roma in Poland are from several different Family is very important. Older members are held in great respect and they are cultural and linguistic groups. Most Polish Roma asylum seekers in the UK are looked after very carefully. Celebrations include all the family, from young to old The Polish Lowland Roma. There are also small numbers of Polish Kalderash and Dietary requirements structure of families is often extended and it is usual for grandparents and parents Highland Roma living in the UK. to reside very near to their children as well as to other family members. Some young Religion Dress codes and school people continue to marry within their own regional community although marriages uniform to members of the British community have also increased. Compared with first About 95% of Poles are Roman Catholic. Although in cities many people do not generation, families are more open and meet and socialise with other communities regularly practice their religion, in general, Catholicism is important to Polish life. The Catholic Church runs radio and TV programmes, hospitals, homes for the Engagement with especially through work. parents and carers elderly and many educational institutions. There are also Eastern Orthodox and Marriage is seen to be the foundation of family life and a lifetime commitment. There Protestant congregations. are not many divorces in the Italian community. Extended holidays Judaism, once strong in Poland exists as a tiny minority since the Second World Birth and death rites War. Jews from all over the world annually visit concentration camps in Poland to These follow the Catholic Church’s teaching. Children are baptised into the Church remember those who died. The area of Bialystok in north-eastern Poland has a Festivals when still young babies. There is great joy when a new child is born. After death small Muslim population which is descended from Tartar settlers. there will be a Catholic mass, when members of the wider Italian community will Festivals New arrivals be present, followed by burial which continues to be preferred and sometimes cremation. Dozynki - Harvest festival is celebrated in Poland at the end of the harvest, which is traditionally on or around 15 August. Sobotka a celebration to mark Midsummer’s Refugees and Eve, is celebrated in Poland by lighting bonfires and tossing garlands of flowers into asylum seekers the rivers. It takes place around 23 and 24 June.
Languages and people Setting and school ethos The official language of Poland is Polish (Polski). It is a Slavonic language, most closely related to Czech and Slovak, and is scripted in the Roman alphabet. There School visits and are about 40 million speakers in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. There are also fairly extra-curricular activities large ommunities of Polish émigrés in the UK, USA and Canada. Polish is closely
related to Kashubian, Lower Sorbian, Upper Sorbian, Czech and Slovak. Supplementary schools Some Polish Roma, particularly from rural areas, speak Romani as their first language, but many Roma families now speak Polish as their home language. In the Translation UK literate Roma parents use Polish as their first written language.
The most widely spoken second language is English, but German is spoken by the majority of people of German heritage, reflecting the changes in national boundaries Communities and Culture in the twentieth century.
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70 71 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Polish people have travelled to England throughout the centuries for a number of School system Diverse Black and minority different reasons. In the 1500s Polish travellers came as traders and diplomats. ethnic communities in Poland has a literacy rate of 99%. Primary education is free and compulsory. It Milton Keynes In the 18th Century a small number of Polish Protestants arrived as religious lasts for six years from seven to thirteen. Before primary school children have the refugees due to the Counter Reformation in Poland. In the 19th Century, due to option of attending pre-schools and kindergartens. Children in primary school learn Our equality commitment the collapse of the November Uprising of 1831, many Polish soldiers entered a common curriculum. Because many parents work all day, children often attend Britain in search of sanctuary and again during the First and Second World Wars. after-school classes and clubs where they learn photography, music, crafts, sports A great number of Poles were lawyers, judges and engineers, yet it was only the and other activities. On leaving primary school children receive the Swiadectwo Equality and community doctors and pharmacists who had their qualifications recognised. As a result the Ukonczenia Szkoly Podstawowej (certificate of completion of primary school). cohesion majority of Poles worked in building and construction, coal mining and other forms Primary education is followed by middle school (Gimnazjum), which is compulsory of manual labour as well as in the hospitality trades. However, the Poles were very and lasts from thirteen to sixteen. The leaving certificate is called the Swiadectwo Addressing the child or family entrepreneurial and set up a number of businesses such as clock, watch and shoe Ukonczenia Gimnazjum. After middle school, students can choose to attend general repairers - many of which we can still see today. (Liceum Ogólnoksztalcace), technical (Technikum) vocational (Liceum Profilowane) or basic vocational secondary schools. The medium of instruction is Polish. Assemblies In recent years, since joining the European Union in 2004, large numbers of Polish people have emigrated to England and Ireland, where they have settled with their Until 1989 private schools were banned in Poland, but since the fall of communism families and entered the labour market. Today in England there are believed to be a private system has sprung up rapidly. The Catholic Church, formerly forbidden Cultural behaviour over a 100 Polish Community Centres, over 80 Polish Catholic Parishes, and nearly to run schools, also has its own system now. The government has also introduced 70 Polish Saturday Schools attended by over 5,000 children. In Milton Keynes, the courses in religious instruction into the public school curriculum. School attendance Polish School MK is currently operating from Walton High School. among many Roma children is poor. Although most (but not all) Roma children enrol Dietary requirements in primary school, their attendance may be sporadic and some drop out. The writing system The Polish writing system is based on the Latin alphabet but has a total of 32 Roma girls of secondary school age may be actively discouraged from attending Dress codes and school uniform letters. Some letters within the alphabet are specific to Polish – the vowels: ą ę by parents and community elders. Some Roma children experience bullying and ó and the consonants: ć ń ś ź. These characters include an accent or graphical discrimination and this contributes to poor attendance. Engagement with marked called a diacritic. There is no Q,V or X in the Polish alphabet. This is the parents and carers complete alphabet: Naming system Some family names in Poland are expressed differently depending on which family a ą b c ć d e ę f g h i j k l ł m n ń o ó p r s ś t u w y z ź ż member one is addressing. The masculine surname Kowalski changes to Kowalska Extended holidays Wszyscy ludzie rodzą się wolni i równi pod względem swej godności i swych praw. for a woman and Kowalscy for the family. Są oni obdarzeni rozumem i sumieniem i powinni postępować wobec innych w Festivals duchu braterstwa.
Translation: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They New arrivals are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Refugees and (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) asylum seekers
Foods Polish cuisine is a mixture of Slavic and foreign culinary traditions. Born as a mixture Setting and school ethos of various culinary traditions, from various regions of Poland and surrounding cultures, it uses a large variety of ingredients. It is rich in meat of all kinds and with School visits and spices, as well as in different kinds of noodles and dumplings, the most notable extra-curricular activities of which are the pierogi. It is related to other Slavic cuisines in usage of kasza and other cereals, but was also under the heavy influence of Turkic, Germanic, Supplementary schools Hungarian, Jewish, French or colonial cuisines of the past. Generally speaking, Polish cuisine is rich, substantial and relatively high in fat. Poles allow themselves a generous amount of time in order to enjoy their meals. The national dish of Poland Translation is bigos (sauerkraut with pieces of meat and sausage) or kotlet schabowy (breaded pork cutlet). Communities and Culture
Faith
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72 73 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
School system Diverse Black and minority Romanian ethnic communities in Romania has a literacy rate of 99%. Before primary school, children go to Milton Keynes kindergartens, but it is not compulsory. Primary school starts at 6 or 7 and is free The Romanian community in Britain is not very significant. Since Romania became and compulsory. It is divided in elementary school from year 1 to year 4 and general Our equality commitment a member of the EU in 2007, Romanian citizens have had the right to reside in the school from year 5 to year 8. Children in primary school learn a common curriculum. UK and have to apply for a work permit. Primary education is followed by high-school, which lasts for four years, but only Religion the first 2 are compulsory. Equality and community cohesion About 85% of Romanians are Christian Orthodox, closer to the Greek Orthodox Middle education is free. After year 10, children may leave school and start work rite rather than the Russian rite. Although in cities many people do not regularly and they can return to finish high school in evening classes immediately or after Addressing the child practice their religion, in general religion is important to Romanian life. There are some time. They can also start technical schools, learning a trade. At the end of or family also Catholics, more concentrated in the western part of the country. high school there is a baccalaureate exam to pass. A baccalaureate diploma gives young people the right to study for a degree. The state university is not compulsory Easter is an important celebration. There are specific foods cooked for Easter and Assemblies but is free if it is for the first degree and students pass an admission examination. eggs are died in different colours, there is a special greeting used for the 40 days of There are also private universities, but the state university is still stronger. Easter. Easter is spent with the family. Christmas is also a family celebration, with Cultural behaviour specific foods and rituals. Father Christmas visits children in person on Christmas Contact details: Eve and receives songs, poems and promises for the presents he gives. New Year The Romanian Orthodox Church: Romanian Orthodox church-goers meet in St is party time. Michael’s Church, St Michaels Mount, Northampton, at 11.30 a.m. every Sunday. Dietary requirements Parties start late in the evening on New Year’s Eve and continue till the first morning of the New Year. It is said that the way you spend the crossing night is the way you Dress codes and school spend the New Year, so people aim to be found by midnight holding a full glass of uniform champagne and a purse full of money, wearing their best clothes and surrounded by their dearest friends and closest family. Engagement with parents and carers Romanians also celebrate name days on the Saint days marked in the religious calendar. On name days, the celebrated people receive congratulations and must Extended holidays be prepared to have unannounced guests.
Languages Festivals The official language of Romania is Romanian. It is a Latin language, most closely related to Portuguese. Romanian Roma speak Romani. In the western part of the
country there are many Hungarian speakers, and in the South-Eastern part some New arrivals Turkish. The most widely spoken foreign language is English, which is studied in all schools. Refugees and Foods asylum seekers Romanian cuisine is a mixture of foreign culinary traditions. It is rich in meat of all kinds and with spices. Bread accompanies almost every dish. In the western part Setting and school ethos of the country, the Hungarian influences are quite strong, as the Russian cuisine influences the eastern Romania and the Turkish cuisine flavours the south-eastern School visits and parts. Generally speaking, Romanian cuisine is rich, substantial and relatively high in extra-curricular activities fat. Romanians allow themselves a generous amount of time in order to enjoy their meals. Breakfast is not so important, but lunch is the main meal of the day, with light suppers. Supplementary schools
Translation
Communities and Culture
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74 75 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Accommodation Diverse Black and minority Gypsy, Roma and Travellers ethnic communities in The accommodation status of Gypsies and Travellers fits into three categories: Milton Keynes Gypsy, Roma and Travellers of Irish Heritage are recognised as ethnic minority • unauthorised encampments (roadside) groups and are protected under the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000). In Our equality commitment Britain there are several distinct groups of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people: • permanent authorised sites
English Gypsies – Romanichal • housing Equality and community cohesion Welsh Gypsies – Kale Many Gypsy, Roma and Travellers live on authorised encampments. Those following Irish Travellers – Minciers seasonal patterns of movement find it difficult as they have no allocated plots on Addressing the child Scottish Travellers – Nackens permanent sites and often find themselves homeless. Life on the roadside is extremely or family Roma – who have migrated from Europe, particularly Eastern Europe, to Britain hard. Tolerance towards unauthorised encampments varies between counties, with an during the last century. increasing number of Local Authorities working in partnership with the police and using Assemblies Gypsy history increased legislation under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (1994) to evict. It is understood that Gypsies originated from North West India. During the 6th and Permanent sites are either council or privately owned. Residents pay rent, council Cultural behaviour 7th century, nomadic Indian tribes began to migrate, gradually moving across the tax and amenity bills. Sites are often found on the fringes of towns or in locations not Middle East and Europe and arriving in Britain during the early 15th Century. At the deemed suitable for housing. Many travellers try to buy land to build their own sites, time it was widely believed that they had migrated from Egypt and were referred to but the majority of planning applications are refused. This situation has resulted in Dietary requirements as Egyptians. This is where the name ‘Gypsy’ derives from. However, later historians some families purchasing land, building a site over a very short space of time, and then confirmed their origins to North West India through links with their language, applying for respective planning permission. This is often turned down. Romany, and existing Indian dialects. Dress codes and school It is estimated that two-thirds of Gypsy, Roma and Travellers are living in housing. uniform Today almost every European country has a Gypsy population. Gypsies claim Many feel trapped, almost caged in within such permanent structures. Those used to the nationality of the country in which they are born, and speak its particular living among extended families may feel isolated within a community who openly show Engagement with parents and carers language as well as their own. The characteristics and appearance of Gypsies differ hostility against their culture. For this reason, many Gypsy, Roma and Travellers living in according to the country of their birth and the degree of intermarriage they have housing choose to hide their identity. Gypsy, Roma and Travellers living on permanent experienced. The kind of occupations they engage in also varies, selecting those sites or in housing may still choose to travel for periods of the year. Extended holidays kinds most suited to their survival in any particular country. Language, dialect and accent Irish Travellers Anglo-Romani is the name given to the dialect of English spoken by Romany Gypsies, Festivals Travellers of Irish heritage have been in England since the 10th Century. The earliest which has been handed down orally over generations. The Romani language was first known Irish Travellers were believed to be wandering lords and poets. Numbers recorded in 1542 and in Britain this has gradually become more anglicised. Knowledge have increased over time, particularly after the potato famine, the post-war era and and use of Anglo-Romani varies from family to family and the words in common use New arrivals during the 1960s when there was a need for labour within the construction and road vary between regions. Many families consider that the language should be kept secret. building industry. Irish and Scottish Travellers use Cant, Gammon and Shelta languages, which appear to Refugees and be formed by adapting Gaelic words. asylum seekers Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people, wherever they are found, retain a distinctive identity, separate from the rest of the community. They generally remain Religious affiliation independent, maintaining close family ties and in many cases prefer not to adopt Religious affiliation often has enormous significance in the life of Traveller families. Setting and school ethos the social structure, beliefs and attitudes of life held by the settled population. In Britain they will be Christian and Irish Travellers are most often practising Roman Those who wish to retain their independence linked to their nomadic life style face Catholics and will request a Roman Catholic school for their children. In recent times, School visits and many difficulties and much discrimination in a highly planned, industrial society. The the evangelical Gypsy church has become significant in the lives of many English Gypsy extra-curricular activities majority of the settled population refuses to acknowledge Gypsy, Roma or Travellers Travellers. Weddings, funerals and christenings are occasions for large family gatherings of Irish heritage as ethnic minority groups and fail to recognise them as groups with with much ceremony attached to them. Other events of importance in the religious distinct and often unmet needs. All traveller families have inherited their ethnicity Supplementary schools calendar or of particular personal significance such as First Communion and grave from long-established nomadic origins. praying may also be reasons for extended family gatherings. Translation Customs and traditions Gypsy, Roma and Travellers maintain their tradition of a lengthy mourning period, with the family wearing black for up to a year after the death of a close relative. The trailer Communities and Culture and clothes of the dead person used to be burned as a sign of respect. Sometimes this still happens but it is not always practical. Most Gypsy, Roma and Travellers are very careful about cleanliness and have certain rules they follow for washing clothes and Faith food preparation.
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Traditional fairs Diverse Black and minority ethnic communities in Fairs have traditionally been important meeting places for Gypsy, Roma and Faiths Milton Keynes Travellers. Appleby Horse Fair in Westmorland is one very large traditional fair, which
takes place in June each year. As well as buying and selling horses and domestic Our equality commitment goods, Gypsy and Travellers come to meet their friends and family in a holiday The Bahá’í Faith atmosphere. Stow Horse Fair in Gloucestershire, Cambridge Fair and Epsom Races are also important annual venues. Bahá’ísm is a relatively new, worldwide religion. It is an independent religion which Equality and community originated in Persia (now Iran) in the middle of the 19th century. The central theme is cohesion Names the unity of mankind, based on principles of peace, justice, equality and human rights. Names may differ from those in common use in the settled community. In the Bahá’ís should work towards making this possible – service to humanity is seen as a Addressing the child or family Gypsy, Roma and Traveller groups, traditional names are in frequent use, often form of worship. associated with a grandparent or other important family member. Biblical names are often in common use. A feature of Irish Traveller groups is their use of maternal and The founder, Bahá’ú’lláh (meaning ‘Glory of God’) is regarded as the latest in a long line Assemblies paternal surnames interchangeably. Children may also have a baptismal name and of Messengers from God, which include Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus a ‘family’ name. It is traditional to name first children after a grandparent, which can and Mohammed. result in a large family with several cousins having the same name. Cultural behaviour Two pivotal figures gave birth to the Bahá’í Faith, the Báb (Ali-Muhammad), and Showmen, Circus People, Bargees and travelling fairs Bahá’u’lláh (Husayn-Ali). The men, women and children who live and work at travelling fairs are known as Báb (pron. ‘barb’) - The Báb (‘Gate/Door’) arose to usher in the dawn of a new spiritual Dietary requirements Showmen. Their lifestyle varies considerably according to the open season, which year for humanity. Born in 1819, Báb demonstrated such extraordinary abilities that usually runs from Easter to October. During the closed season the families will live in his teacher, unable to teach the Báb anything, could only send him home. As a young Dress codes and school their winter quarters and the children will attend their base school. When travelling, merchant, the Báb demonstrated a profoundly spiritual and pure character, transforming uniform the children complete distance learning materials, provided for by the base school. the customs and manners of those around him. He proclaimed his calling in the year They are supported by Traveller Education Service staff across the country whilst 1844 and, after several years of great activity and persecution, he was martyred in 1850. Engagement with parents and carers travelling. Developments within ICT enable children to keep in touch with the base His twofold mission was to infuse the land with a new spiritual attraction, challenge the school via the use of laptops and email. corruption of the land, and pave the way for the coming of Bahá’u’lláh. Extended holidays Circus People Bahá’u’lláh (pron. ‘bar-how-o-laah’) - Bahá’u’lláh (‘Glory of God’) arose to bring about Circus families also have a seasonal pattern to their lives. Circus proprietors are the new spiritual year promised by the Báb. Bahá’u’lláh was born in Tehran in 1817, and regulated by the Showmen’s Guild. Children who travel with the circus may be quickly became renowned as the ‘Father of the Poor’. Soon after the Báb’s martyrdom, Festivals performers themselves or the children of performers. They will often attend a school almost all the Báb’s followers had turned to Bahá’u’lláh, recognising Him as the One for the duration of their stay in towns. Some are supported on sites by local Traveller promised by the Báb. Despite a life full of persecution, he was globally triumphant and Education Service Staff. Circuses are more likely than travelling fairs to cross the centre of inspiration for innumerable individuals. Bahá’u’lláh’s ascension took place New arrivals national boundaries or possibly to winter in a country other than Britain. Performers in 29 May 1892. in the circus may come from many different countries and their first language may not be English. Bahá’ís believe that there is only one God, although known by different names in Refugees and different languages such Allah, Jehovah, Khoda, God. There are no clergy and work asylum seekers Bargees in the service of humanity is regarded as worship. Each believer can pray in their own This is a distinct group of Travellers who live and work on barges. There are now home, and there are no rituals. Fasting and obligatory prayer constitute the two pillars Setting and school ethos very few Bargees in Britain, as canals are no longer used to carry freight in the same of the Bahá’í Faith but as each person’s faith is regarded as a personal matter between way as in the past. himself and God, fasting and prayer are considered as spiritual duties which cannot be School visits and forced upon the individual. extra-curricular activities New Travellers Every place can be made sacred by the spirit of those present. Therefore Bahá’ís New Traveller groups began to form in 1960s. Many New Travellers come from the worship whenever best arises - in homes, hired venues or Bahá’í Centres. In each Supplementary schools settled community but decided to live a travelling way of life. continent there are houses of worship built wholly for the benefit of people of all spiritual paths, the most famous being The Lotus of Bahapur in India. All Temples have the unique feature of having nine entrances as a symbol for the followers of the world’s Translation major religions to join together and unite in prayer.
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Festivals Diverse Black and minority Buddhism ethnic communities in • The main festivals and Holy Days are: Milton Keynes • Náw-Rúz (21 March) – New Year’s Day. End of a 19-day fast period. Buddhism originated with the teaching of Siddartha Gautama (also known as Shakyamuni Buddha) who lived in Northern India around 500 BC. He became Our equality commitment • Ridván (21 April – 2 May): 12 day celebration of Bahá’ú’lláh’s declaration as the known as The Buddha or enlightened one after he had achieved enlightenment or new Messenger of God and of his mission. The 1st, 9th and 12th days are holy. insight about the nature of suffering in the world. His story, which has been told in Equality and community Bahá’í communities elect their governing bodies on the 1st day. legendary form in the writings of early Buddhist writers, can be traced in the form of cohesion the reliefs or pictures found around the Peace Pagoda at Willen Lake here in Milton • Declaration of the Báb (23 May) Keynes. Addressing the child or family • Ascension of Bahá’ú’lláh (23 May) Buddhism in Milton Keynes • Martyrdom of the Báb (9 July) According to census information, over 700 people in Milton Keynes describe Assemblies themselves as Buddhist and there are several groups which meet on a regular basis. • Birthday of the Báb (20 October) The most visible of these are the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhists at Willen Lake, where the Peace Pagoda and Buddhist Temple are located. • Birthday of Bahá’ú’lláh (12 November) Cultural behaviour Nipponzan Myohoji was founded by The Most Venerable Fujii Guruji, (Nichidatsi Marriage Fujii 1885 – 1985). Guruji made deep spiritual ties with Mahatma Ghandi, the Bahá’ís see marriage as a spiritual bond between two people, not just a physical Hindu leader who led a non-violent struggle for Indian independence from British Dietary requirements one and as the most important source of love and unity in the world. It is a shelter rule. After Japan experienced the nuclear holocaust in 1945, Guruji undertook the for the well-being and happiness of several generations. Men and women should be construction of peace pagodas, as a way to raise a profound, universal, spiritual Dress codes and school equal within the marriage, with no one partner being dominant. Husband and wife basis for peace. uniform should be faithful to each other under all circumstances. Divorce is permitted but strongly discouraged. Couples wishing to divorce must live separately for a year to The pagoda at Willen, completed in 1980, was the first peace pagodas to be built Engagement with give time to be reconciled. in Europe – and is one many built around the world. It was a Milton Keynes town parents and carers planner called Tom Hancock, who first put forward the idea of having a Peace Life and death Pagoda in Milton Keynes. He had met Guruji at the dedication of a peace pagoda Extended holidays Bahá’ís believe in an after-life. If the person has striven to follow spiritual teachings, in Sri Lanka in1978, and saw the possibility of having a peace pagoda to add a then when their body dies their soul will be closer to God in the spiritual world. The peaceful spiritual side to the plans for the new city. Agreement was given by the body is treated with great respect and cremation is not permitted. Burial should be Milton Keynes Development Corporation for the pagoda to be placed by Willen Festivals within an hour’s journey of the place of death. At the funeral an obligatory prayer for Lake. Guruji appointed a Japanese monk, Rev Handa Shonin to supervise its the dead person is recited. construction. Handa also oversaw the building of a temple nearby, and devoted his life to their maintenance until his tragic death in August 2007 whilst mowing the New arrivals Pilgrimage grass around the pagoda. Wherever possible, Bahá’ís are encouraged to travel to the central sites of the Faith in Haifa and Akka - the shrines, the gardens and the Universal House of Justice. As well as caring for the Peace Pagoda and the nearby Temple, the monks of the Refugees and Nipponzan Myohoji visit places associated with conflict, where they walk whilst beating asylum seekers Sacred Texts a hand-held drum and chanting namu-myo-ho-ren-ge-kyo. Their witness to peace is The original writings of the major world faiths are all considered sacred and now part of a world-wide movement. Setting and school ethos inspirational. Bahá’ís are encouraged to read books outside the faith. In English, Daily Routines and Annual Festivals in Milton Keynes: pronouns (‘He,’ ‘They’) are capitalised for all agents of God’s will to man, including School visits and the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and Abdu’l-Bahá, and the founders of the other religions. • each day, in both morning and evening, there is an hour of prayers and chanting at extra-curricular activities the Willen Temple (Monastery) between 0500 and 0600; and 1700 and 1800. Interpretation - No individual, group or body – not even the highest international body - is permitted to interpret the Faith. Individuals can have personal • New Year’s Day is a time for all day activities, as the Buddhists celebrate a new Supplementary schools interpretations and share them in a friendly atmosphere, but it is forbidden to assert start. one’s interpretation as right over another’s. Whenever possible elected bodies apply • a special celebration is The Flower Festival, held on a weekend close to the a pragmatic implementation relevant to the understanding and needs of the times Translation Buddha’s Birthday on 8 April. through consultation with others. • the Third Sunday in June is held as the MK Peace Pagoda Annual Ceremony, with There about five million followers in the world, with an influence disproportionate Communities and Culture chanting, performances and speeches, from many different traditions. to their numbers. The UK has 6000 Bahá’ís. Geographically, the Bahá’í Faith is the second most widespread religion after Christianity. • Hiroshima Day, 6th August. Chanting, prayers and speeches are given in memory of those who died in the dropping of the first atomic bombs on Japan in August Faith Websites/Contact: 1945. As the light fades, this is followed by the floating of candles on Willen Lake. www.bahai.org.uk • from 1st - 8th December, a period of fasting and chanting is observed. This follows Language a Japanese tradition, known as Rouhachi Sesshin.
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Birth rites Diverse Black and minority Christianity ethnic communities in No particular ceremonies are performed at birth, although monks may be invited Milton Keynes into the home to chant texts from Buddhist scriptures. The baby may also be taken Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of to the temple for a naming ceremony. Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. It teaches that Jesus is the Son of Our equality commitment Death rites God, the Saviour of the world, and that in him God became human. Because of this, Christians commonly refer to Jesus as Christ or Messiah. Buddhist funerals vary a great deal from one country to another. Buddhists see Equality and community cohesion death as natural and inevitable, and this is the main theme of Buddhist funerals. The The word ‘Christianity’ is the label that has been widely accepted by the secular and dead may be either cremated or buried. church-world to describe the practice of faith by the followers or disciples of Jesus Addressing the child Languages and script Christ. The term ‘Church,’ has many different senses, but is the word used to refer or family to the worldwide body of Christians. The Holy Books of Buddhism are written in the Pali Language, which comes from India. The three largest groups in the world of Christianity are the Roman Catholic Church, Assemblies the Eastern Orthodox churches, and the various churches of Protestantism. The Social structure Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox patriarchates split from one another in The parents of the bride and groom arrange many Buddhist marriages. The the East-West Schism of 1054 AD, and Protestantism came into existence during Cultural behaviour marriage is not a religious occasion. The wedding ceremony is not performed by the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, splitting from the Roman Catholic a Buddhist monk or in a Temple. After the civil ceremony the couple may either Church. invite the monks into their home or go to the temple to be blessed and be given the Dietary requirements sermon of the Buddha’s teaching on married life. Part of a wedding is the Poruwa Christianity began as a Jewish sect in the mid-1st century, originating in the eastern Mediterranean coast of the Middle East (modern Israel and Palestine). It quickly ceremony. The Poruwa is a platform, which is beautifully decorated with white Dress codes and school flowers. There the bride and groom exchange rings and the thumbs of their right spread to surrounding areas, growing in size and influence over a few decades to uniform hands are tied together by the bride’s uncle. After the blessing, a gift of food is become the dominant religion within the Roman Empire by the 4th century. During the Middle Ages, most of the remainder of Europe was Christianised, with Christians given to the monks. Divorce and re-marriage are rare. Engagement with also being a large religious minority in parts of the Middle East, North Africa, parents and carers Dress code Ethiopia and India. Following the Age of Discovery, through missionary work and colonisation, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub Saharan Africa Women usually wear the national dress of the country from which they come. Extended holidays This can be either a sari or a sarona jacket. Men and women in Britain often wear and the rest of the world. European clothes. On Full-Moon days when Buddhists visit the temple they wear Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, simple white clothes. Buddhist monks wear robes of an orange-yellow colour Festivals called saffron and go barefoot. They usually shave their heads. Traditionally they referred to as the Old Testament in Christianity. The foundation of Christian carry bowls, known as begging bowls, in which they carry gifts (food) that other theology is expressed in the early Christian ecumenical creeds. These professions state that Jesus suffered, died, was buried, and was resurrected from the dead to Buddhists give them. New arrivals open heaven to those who believe in him and trust him for the remission of their Food preferences and taboos sins (salvation). They further maintain that Jesus bodily ascended into heaven There are no forbidden foods for Buddhists. Diet is a matter of personal choice. where he rules and reigns with God the Father. Most denominations teach that Refugees and asylum seekers The main meal often consists of mild curries, vegetable dishes with boiled rice. Jesus will return to judge all humans, living and dead, and grant eternal life to his They also have many dessert dishes, such as rice cakes. Many Buddhists are followers. He is considered the model of a virtuous life, and both the revealer and physical incarnation of God. Christians call the message of Jesus Christ the Gospel vegetarians, who follow a strict diet and do not eat meat, fish or eggs. Buddhism Setting and school ethos emphasises the avoidance of intentional killing. (good news) and hence refer to the earliest written accounts of his life, death and resurrection as gospels. For more information on Nipponzan Myohoji, visit: School visits and Baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which a person is admitted to extra-curricular activities www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nipponzan_Myohoji http://wn.com/Milton_Keynes_ membership of the Church. As of the early 21st century, Christianity has around 2.2 Peace_ Pagoda billion adherents. Christianity represents about a quarter to a third of the world’s Supplementary schools population and is the world’s largest religion. Christianity is the state religion of Contact details for the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhists: several countries including England. Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Temple Translation Willen Road, Willen Lake, Milton Keynes, MK15 0BA The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity refers to the teaching that the one God comprises Tel/Fax (01908) 663652 three distinct, eternally co-existing persons; the Father, the Son (incarnate in Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. They are distinct from one another: the Father has no www.mkbuddhism.wordpress.com/contact Communities and Culture source, the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father. Though distinct, the three persons cannot be divided from one another in being or in operation. Faith
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Christianity regards the Bible, a collection of books in two parts (the Old Testament Diverse Black and minority and the New Testament), as the authoritative word of God. Notwithstanding debates Hinduism ethnic communities in Milton Keynes over issues of inerrancy, it is believed by Christians to have been written by human authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. History and current situation Hinduism is the name given to a family of religions and cultures, which began and Our equality commitment Christians assemble for communal worship on Sunday, the day of the resurrection, still flourish in India and throughout the world. Hinduism is a way of life, traditionally though other liturgical practices often occur outside this setting. Scripture known as Vedic Dharma in the Vedas. Vedas are the accumulated treasure of Equality and community readings are drawn from the Old and New Testaments, but especially the Gospels. Spiritual Laws or guiding scriptures discovered by different holy men, prophets or cohesion Often these are arranged on an annual cycle, using a book called a lectionary. messengers (Rishi) at various times in history. The most well known scripture is the Instruction is usually given based on these readings, called a sermon, or homily. Bhagavad Gita. Addressing the child There are a variety of congregational prayers, including thanksgiving, confession, or family and intercession, which occur throughout the service and take a variety of forms Hindu traditions are influenced by many factors and there are many central beliefs, including recited, responsive, silent, or sung. The Lord’s Prayer, or Our Father, is practices and concepts, but there is no central dogma or uniform rules. Hinduism Assemblies regularly prayed. The Eucharist (also called Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper) has no founder and there is no single idea of God. It is believed that there is one is the part of liturgical worship that consists of a consecrated meal of bread and God, but that a person can find him in different forms. Hindus believe that there are
wine Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Eastern Christians, and traditional Protestant a number of ways an individual can exercise his or her religion that will ultimately Cultural behaviour communities frame worship around a liturgical calendar. This includes holy days, lead to the same spiritual end. periods of fasting such as Lent, and other pious events such as memoria or lesser Despite the diversity of Hinduism, there are fundamental beliefs and values which festivals commemorating saints. Christian groups that do not follow a liturgical Dietary requirements tradition often retain certain celebrations, such as Christmas, celebrating the birth all devout Hindus acknowledge: of Christ; Easter, celebrating the resurrection of Christ; and Pentecost, celebrating • the belief in one supreme spirit the coming of the Holy Spirit. A few churches make no use of a liturgical calendar. Dress codes and school uniform • the immortal soul which exists in all living things Most churches have long expressed ideals of being reconciled with each other, and the 20th century saw Christian ecumenism develop, inspired by a vision of unity as • reincarnation Engagement with God’s purpose not just for the church but for the whole world. The World Council of parents and carers Churches was founded in 1948 by Protestant and Orthodox churches, and similar • Karma – the natural cycle of reward and punishment for every act and thought national councils also came into being. Churches Together in England today has Extended holidays 32 Member Churches and 27 Bodies in Affiliation. • non-violence (Ahimsa) • supreme duty of seeing truth and giving forgiveness In Milton Keynes, as the new city was first being planned, a brave step was taken Festivals by the then national leaders of the Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Roman Catholic • to live as virtuously as one can. and United Reformed Churches, who created ecumenical churches across the new city. The Church of Christ the Cornerstone is the first ecumenical city centre church The soul (Atman) is immortal and the body is mortal. The goal of all life is to escape New arrivals in the United Kingdom. Today, ecumenical parishes exist in the north, south, east, from the illusory world (Moksha) by worship and devotion so that the spirit can unite west and centre of the city and form part of a vibrant and ethnically mixed church with the supreme spirit. Until this happens all living things are reborn over and over Refugees and scene right across Milton Keynes of historic and independent. again as part of the reincarnation cycle. The life form in the present cycle is related asylum seekers to the actions in the previous life.
Karma is the system of reward and punishment for all acts and thoughts. Good Setting and school ethos Karma takes one closer to final release from the cycle of rebirth and bad Karma pushes one down in the cycle. Hindus believe that humans cannot understand School visits and the full nature of the supreme spirit, therefore they need to have an easier way extra-curricular activities to approach and worship it.
Worship is focused on the creations of the universe and they are often personified Supplementary schools as deities or Gods and Goddesses. Whichever God provides the focus, the worship is towards the ‘Ultimate Reality’ (supreme spirit). Translation The three main personifications are:
Brahma – the Creator Communities and Culture Vishnu – the Preserver Shiva – the Destroyer
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There are various forms of incarnation of these gods. For example, Rama and Krishna The Caste system Diverse Black and minority are incarnations of Vishnu. They are worshiped along with their consorts Sita and Radha. ethnic communities in Traditionally, Hinduism is divided into hundreds of interdependent castes based on a Milton Keynes Hindus with origins in the Gujarat in north western India are followers of Vishnu and his number of factors including social status, occupation, geographical area and religious incarnations. beliefs. The origin of the Hindu caste system dates back many thousands of years, with Our equality commitment the belief that caste represents the level of spiritual gain, all related to Karma. Some Three more gods and goddesses are associated with Hindus. castes and sub-castes developed rigid structures whereby religious belief, worship and Ganesh – the son of Shiva whose blessing is sought when a new venture is started e.g. social life were all strongly defined by the caste to which the person belonged. A Hindu Equality and community cohesion a business, a course of study or a wedding. He is symbolised as an elephant head. would abide by his caste structure and its rules. However, the caste system is beginning to change. Hanuman – is represented as a monkey and symbolises devoted friendship and loyalty. Addressing the child Birth and childhood or family Lakshmi – the goddess of prosperity and wealth. Puja (worship) is essentially individual. In Hinduism, customs and ceremonies related to birth and childhood vary between Most Hindu homes contain a small shrine where the family can worship. The shrine will families and communities. In some communities, after the birth of a baby a member of Assemblies have a Deity. the family writes ‘Ohm’ (the sign representing the Supreme Spirit) on the baby’s tongue (Murti) of the god or goddess. There is no set time for Puja. with ghee (clarified butter) or honey. This ceremony is usually delayed until the baby arrives home from the hospital. On the sixth day after the birth the women of the family Cultural behaviour Personal hygiene is regarded very highly before Puja. Puja is performed before eating gather to give thanks, to congratulate the mother and to give presents to the child. The or drinking in the morning. As well as praying at home most Hindus go to the Temple sixth day is traditionally regarded in Hinduism as the day that a child’s fate is written. (Mandir). Everyone removes their shoes before entering and women cover their heads. Dietary requirements In the Mandir there is a shrine and, as a mark of reverence, everyone entering bows or After the birth the parents would usually wish to have the child’s horoscope read by a priest (Pandit) or an astrologer. Hindus believe that astrological influences have a major kneels to the shrine which contains Murtis. The Pandit (Brahmin Priest) performs the Dress codes and school religious ceremonies, along with Bhajans (the singing of hymns). impact on each child’s character, personality and future. uniform
Some Hindus use a Mala (a string of beads) to recite their prayers. The Mala must be In some Hindu sects, the head of the child is shaved at a family celebration. The timing of this event varies from six weeks to a year or even later. Some families delay this until Engagement with touched with clean hands and treated with reverence. Many Sikhs would also use a Mala parents and carers in reciting prayers. Many Hindus go on a pilgrimage to receive blessings from illness the child makes a pilgrimage to a special shrine. The child’s name is usually chosen on and for sick members of the family, as well as receive religious rites. The holy place of the tenth day after birth. Normally the Pandit decides the first letter, but this decision Extended holidays pilgrimage is Varanasi on the sacred River Ganga (The Ganges). could also be made by the Astrologer. The oldest member of the family, usually a grandparent chooses the name beginning with that letter. Festivals Weddings Festivals Navratri – The festival of nine nights is one of the most prominent festivals of Hinduism dedicated to chiefly Mother Durga an incarnation of Goddess Parvati, the consort of Marriage in Hinduism is regarded as a sacrament as well as a major social change. It is usually seen as the bringing together of two families as well as the two individuals. Lord Shiva. New arrivals It is celebrated all over India from Bombay to Tamil Nadu. It coincides with the harvest Traditionally marriages were always arranged by the families of the young couple concerned, but these days the young people themselves play an important part in season and this year (2007) begins on 12 October. This is the most pious and pure Refugees and time in the complete Hindu calendar. These nine nights are dedicated to the three main choosing their partner. asylum seekers goddesses of Hinduism – Parvati, Lakshmi and Sarasvati. The first three nights are In some castes dowry is given to daughters on their wedding. Traditionally wedding dedicated to the goddess of action and energy. Her different manifestations viz Kumari, ceremonies, along with the celebrations, continue for several days. The actual wedding Setting and school ethos Parvati and Kali are worshiped during these days. Goddess Lakshmi is worshiped for the ceremony lasts for a few hours and is held in a hall in front of a large congregation next three days in her various aspects as the goddesses of peace, plenty and bliss. made up of relatives and friends. The bride and groom are seated in front of a small fire School visits and On Lalita Panchami (the fifth day), children gather all the books in the house before a alongside the Pandit who recites the marriage prayers. This recital symbolises purity. extra-curricular activities sacred lamp and invoke the blessings of Goddess Saraswati. It is also the occasion for Because of the diversity of culture, Hindu wedding ceremonies differ slightly depending upon which part of India the family comes from. Hinduism strongly stresses the sanctity all artisans to lay down their tools before the goddess and seek her benediction upon Supplementary schools their trade. Goddess Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge. She is the goddess of the of marriage. spiritual knowledge and the knowledge that frees us from the bind of this materialistic Traditionally, a widow would withdraw from social and family life and lead a quiet life world. She is worshiped during the final three days of the Navratri. On the eight and remaining spiritually bonded to her husband. This is because of the belief in Karma Translation ninth days of the festival, Yagnas are performed as a final act of farewell that marks the – the cycle of reward and punishment for previous deeds. Once widowed she would conclusion of the ceremonies. remove her wedding jewellery, refrain from wearing a Bindi (the spot on the forehead Communities and Culture On the tenth day or Vijaya Dasami, more popularly known as Dussehra, enormous to signify being married) and wear white clothing as a symbol of withdrawal from the effigies of Ravana stuffed with firecrackers are torched with flaming arrows to the delight world. Today with a change in attitudes and the influence of the Western society, young widows are likely to remarry. For the widower there are no restrictions. of throngs of revellers. It is also valued by devotees as an auspicious occasion to start an Faith enterprise and for the business communities to open their annual books of account. Divorce goes against Karma, thus breaking the tradition. Divorce in Hinduism is slowly surfacing, but it is still regarded as shameful and a disgrace to the family name and These days Navratri is celebrated across the Hindu Diaspora. There are major Language celebrations in North America, Europe, South Africa and Australia. In the UK, Navratri honour and will only take place when the marital situation is desperate. is celebrated in temples and halls across the country. In Milton Keynes it has also been celebrated at The Radcliffe School, Wolverton.
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Family Hindu dietary needs Diverse Black and minority ethnic communities in Traditionally, a large family is regarded as prosperity, survival and a blessing to the Owing to the belief in Karma (that all forms of life are sacred) many Hindus do not Milton Keynes marriage. In Hinduism, religion and culture stress the importance of the value of eat meat, fish, eggs or any food that is made from these ingredients. The cow is having family; i.e. that children are the purpose of the marriage and motherhood regarded as a sacred animal. The eating of beef is strictly prohibited. Our equality commitment is the woman’s fulfilment. It is also important that families have at least one son so that he can light the funeral pyre at his father’s cremation. Without the son to By not having a common authoritative set of regulations within the ideal of perform this crucial rite, the father will suffer in his next life. There is no religious vegetarianism, individuals, families, sects and castes can make their own decisions Equality and community prohibition against family planning, but couples are now beginning to restrict the on the diet. Alcohol is not permitted, but many Hindus do consume alcohol. cohesion size of their family. Abortion is strongly disapproved of. It would only be considered Tobacco is regarded as a harmful narcotic and most devout Hindu sects do not if the situation was causing great problems to the woman carrying the child. smoke. Addressing the child or family Bereavement Fasting plays a major role in Hinduism. Fasting is mainly undertaken by women and its duration varies from one day to several days. It is important for a devout Hindu who is very ill or is dying to receive spiritual Assemblies comfort from the holy scripts, especially the Bhagavad Gita. The reciting of these holy rites is performed by the Pandit, the Hindu priest. Some devout Hindu patients may wish to die at home. This has religious significance. Unnecessary distress may Cultural behaviour be caused to the dying person and to the family if the Hindu dies in hospital. The eldest son is usually in charge of the funeral arrangements. There is no prohibition on post-mortems, but it is very important that the body is released for cremation as Dietary requirements soon as possible.
Dress codes and school All adult Hindus are cremated. Young children and babies are buried. Cremation or uniform burial should take place as soon as possible. In the sub-continent it is within twenty four hours. Until the cremation, close members of the family fast. This is why it is Engagement with important that the release of the body should take place as soon as possible. parents and carers
The eldest son has the sacred responsibility of igniting the funeral pyre. During the cremation, prayers are recited and hymns read. Afterwards, the ashes are collected Extended holidays and scattered in a river. After the funeral ceremony everyone attending returns home in mourning and most people will take a shower. During the days following the death, relatives and friends unite and share in grief; giving the family comfort, Festivals company and support. Women wear white after the death to signify mourning. Some Hindu families may hold a reading of one of the holy books. New arrivals Hindu dress and personal hygiene
Hindu men and women should be modest about their own bodies and to some Refugees and Hindus any exposure is found offensive. Hindu women should cover the whole asylum seekers of the body. The common traditional dress is the sari and blouse and underskirt. Traditional dress varies depending upon which part of the subcontinent a person Setting and school ethos comes from. A Punjabi Hindu would wear a salwar and kameez. Hindu women in Britain often wear western clothes, trousers or a long skirt so that the legs are covered. Hindu men mainly wear western clothes. To some Hindus, nudity in the School visits and presence of other men may be offensive. The traditional costume is a kameez, a extra-curricular activities long loose shirt and a dhoti. The dhoti is usually five or six metres of white material wrapped around the waist and drawn between the legs. Supplementary schools
Some Hindu men wear a sacred thread called jannoi. This is given to the older boy as he enters adulthood and takes adult religious responsibilities. It is worn both day Translation and night.
Personal hygiene plays a major part in the Hindu way of life. They are more likely Communities and Culture to take a shower than a bath. Cleanliness is only considered when bathing under running water.
During menstruation and for the 40 days after giving birth, Hindu women do not Faith touch the holy shrine or visit the Mandir (Holy Temple).
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Different denominations Diverse Black and minority Islam ethnic communities in There are a number of Islamic religious denominations, each of which have Milton Keynes significant theological and legal differences from each other but possess similar History and current situation essential beliefs. The major schools of thought are Sunni and Shi’a. Despite Our equality commitment Islam is an Arabic word meaning peace and submission. Therefore all Muslims religious, and often political differences, Shi’a and Sunni Muslims share the should believe in non-violence. A Muslim is someone who submits to God’s will, as main articles of Islamic belief and are considered by most to be brethren in faith. expressed in the Qur’an, the holy book of Muslims. ‘Allah’ is the personal name God According to most sources, present estimates indicate that approximately 85% of Equality and community has chosen. the world’s Muslims are Sunni and approximately 15% are Shi’a. cohesion
Islam is the second largest religion in the world. It is based on the revelations given The most recent denomination is the Ahmadyyiah Muslim community was formed in Addressing the child by arch-angel Gabriel to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him - pbuh) in Arabia 1889 by Hadrat Mirza Ghulam-Ahmad (AS). They seek to re-establish the caliphate, or family during the 7th Century C.E. Muhammad (pbuh) is the last and final Prophet of Allah but are not recognised by the rest of the Muslim world. The Government of Pakistan and the Qur’an is the final book to be sent by God. Some Muslim beliefs are similar has officially declared them as Non-Muslims. There are about 100 adults practising Assemblies to those of Jews and Christians. They believe, for example, that there is heaven in Milton Keynes. and hell. They share a common historical root, as reflected in the story of Ibrahim The Muslim era is based on the Hijrah (emigration) of the prophet Mohammed (Abraham) and Ismail (Isaac). Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses) and Isa (Jesus) are Cultural behaviour respected as great prophets by Muslims. This is celebrated in the festival of Eid ul (pbuh) from Makkah to Medina in the year 622 C.E. This year was later adopted as Adha (Big Eid) Islam emphasises two elements – faith and practice. the first in the Muslim Era. The year 2002 C.E. is 1423 A.H and 2013 C.E. is 1434 A.H. (after Hijrah). Muslims believe that when all people submit to Allah’s will and live by the Qur’an, Dietary requirements peace will come to everyone. The Muslim greeting is “Assalaamu Alaikum”, which Festivals means “peace be upon you”. The response is “Wa Alaikumus Salaam”. There are two main ‘Eid’ festivals in the Muslim calendar. All Muslims celebrate Dress codes and school uniform Eid-ul- Fitr at the end of Ramadan the month of fasting, and Eid-ul-Adha, which There are six articles of faith (Imaan): celebrates the end of the Hajj. Children are entitled to a day off school for each. Engagement with • Belief in one God (Allah) Muslims would also celebrate other special occasions, for example Lailat-ul-Qadr, parents and carers • Belief in all of God’s angels (the Night of Power), Lailat-ul-Bara’ah (the Night of Absolution of sins) and Lailat-ul- Mi’raaj (the Night of Ascension). The Islamic year is based upon the lunar calendar Extended holidays • Belief in all of God’s books and therefore the festivals occur earlier each calendar year.
• Belief in all of God’s prophets Shia Muslims celebrate an additional three Eids in the Islamic calendar, although a Festivals day off is not required: • Belief in the Day of Judgement • Eid ul Ghadeer • Belief in the decrees of God (submission to His will) New arrivals • Eid ul Zahra Five duties are accepted. They are known as the ‘Five Pillars:’ • Eid ul mubahila Refugees and • Shahaadah – confess belief (there is no god but Allah, Muhammad asylum seekers is the messenger of Allah) Shia Muslims commemorate the tragedy of Kerabla in which the grandson of the Prophet pbuh, Imam Hussein (a.s.) and his household were martyred. Children and Setting and school ethos • Salaah– pray five times a day young people will be expected to take a day off school on the day of ‘Ashura’ to attend religious prayers in remembrance of this event in the mosque. Also, they • Zakaah– give obligatory charity for the needy School visits and observe the 40th day after the event of Ashura and children will also be expected to extra-curricular activities • Sawm – fast in the month of Ramadan take a day off school. During this Islamic month, known as Muharram, birthdays and special occasions will not be celebrated. Ashura falls on the 10th day of Muharram. • Hajj - pilgrimage to Makkah. Supplementary schools
Muslims also believe in Jihaad, which means ‘to strive and struggle’. The Lesser Jihaad is to fight the enemy (in self-defence) who is attacking the Muslims or their Translation interests.
The Greater Jihaad is to strive to overcome carnal desires and evil inclinations and Communities and Culture thus become a better person.
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Places of worship Marriage rites Diverse Black and minority ethnic communities in The place of worship for Muslims is a mosque. Muslims prefer to call it in its Arabic In Islam, marriage is seen as uniting not only a man and a woman, but also their Milton Keynes name ‘Masjid’ meaning a place of prostration. In Milton Keynes there are Sunni families. The majority of Muslim marriages are arranged by the parents of the boy or mosques in Wolverton, New Bradwell, and Bletchley, and a Shia mosque in Granby. the girl. Sons and daughters are allowed to refuse their parents choice, but usually Our equality commitment Apart from the Granby mosque which is in traditional style with dome and minaret, have complete faith in their parents’ ability to choose the right partner. Although the others are in buildings converted from other uses. Islam forbids any relationship before marriage, parents allow the bride and groom to meet beforehand in the presence of both families and thereafter usually on several Equality and community When entering a mosque, visitors should take off their shoes and worshippers must supervised occasions to get to know each other. Consent of the bride and groom is cohesion undergo ritual cleansing (wudu). The whole body must be covered. Men will cover a legal requirement. Forced marriages are forbidden in Islam. their head with a topi (cap) and women will wear a hijab (full body covered with Addressing the child loose clothing including head cover). A Muslim wedding can take place anywhere; in a hired hall, a local mosque or or family often in the bride’s home. Where it takes place and what is worn depends on which Friday is a holy day for Muslims and the prayer just after midday in congregation country the family originates from. The wedding ceremony itself is a very simple one Assemblies is obligatory. In Arabic the word for Friday means ‘day of assembly’. Men are lasting only a few minutes and Muslims do not require anyone to officiate. However expected to pray in congregation and a special act of worship takes place. Muslim the local Imam (religious leader) is usually asked to conduct the ceremony, which is women often prefer to pray in the comfort of their own homes. Wherever they are a civil contract. Cultural behaviour praying, Muslims face Makkah and use a prayer mat. Some mosques, for example the Granby mosque in Milton Keynes, have a separate place for women to pray. In In the UK, the couple either has a registrar present, or register their marriage at a other parts of the country and the world, women do attend mosques more regularly registry office, usually beforehand. At no point during the ceremony do the bride Dietary requirements and are allocated a separate area. In the Milton Keynes Islamic Community women and groom meet. The bride stays in one room with the female guests while the often carry out a teaching role within the home. groom remains with the male guests in another. Traditionally, the size and lavishness of the feast which follows will depend upon the means of the bride’s parents who Dress codes and school uniform Social structure will have saved up for many months or years to pay for the reception for their Muslim families are traditionally extended or joint families living together or in close daughter. However, modern Islamic marriages are being paid for by both the bride proximity to each other. Within Islam, men and women are treated as equals. Engagement with and groom due to working conditions, professionalism, etc. parents and carers Traditionally the man of the house has a responsibility to provide financially. Divorce (Talaaq) is met with disapproval, although on grounds of adultery, However, in modern times this responsibility is shared. Muslim women are impotence or wilful neglect to maintain one’s family it is acceptable. The only official Extended holidays allowed the right to education and a career. Muslim women also have the right to reason a Muslim man can divorce his wife is because her behaviour is immoral. If independent ownership of property and income. This right does not change with a couple reach a situation where they believe their marriage is not working, they marriage. must first try to sort it out with the assistance of their families. For similar easons,r a Festivals wife can also ask for divorce and this is known as ‘Khulah’. If the husband refuses Birth rites to divorce her, then she can take the matter to the Qadi (judge) who can annul the When a Muslim baby is born, it is bathed and the Adhan (birth rite) is said softly into marriage on the wife’s request, but this is not taken lightly. New arrivals its right ear. The Iqamah (minor adhan) is then said into the left ear. Thus the first words the baby hears are those which will be so important to him/her throughout Death rites Refugees and life. The selection of the right and proper name is very important in Islam and advice A dying Muslim’s face should be turned towards his right. After death the body is asylum seekers is often sought from an older relative. A boy’s name may be chosen from one of washed and covered with a white sheet, then buried as soon as possible with the the 99 names of Allah. If this is the case respect must be shown for this name face facing Makkah. In some traditions, continuous prayers are recited for 40 days and a prefix is put in front of it. The prefix ‘Abd’ means ‘servant of’, thus the name at the home of the deceased and family and friends visit during this period. On the Setting and school ethos Abdullah means, ‘servant of God,’ which will then be followed by other names. 40th day, a gathering is held to remember the deceased. There is a dedicated area Other names are chosen from great Muslims in the past, so many boys are called for Muslim burials in several cemeteries in Milton Keynes. School visits and Muhammad in honour of the Prophet (pbuh). extra-curricular activities
The child’s head is also shaved within the first week. This symbolises the removal of the uncleanliness associated with the act of birth and the purity of the baby. The Supplementary schools weight of the hair in silver is then given in charity, but most people will give many times that to the poor. In some cultures, sweets (mithai) are shared among friends Translation and families to celebrate the birth of the newborn child.
The circumcision of the male child usually takes place during the first month. It is an important ceremony of initiation into the faith. Muslims, like Jews believe that God Communities and Culture commanded Ibrahim (Prophet Abraham) to circumcise all males in his household.
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The third major aspect of Judaism is Israel, a word which denotes both a country, Diverse Black and minority Judaism now the new State of Israel, but also the Jewish people as a whole. Jewish identity ethnic communities in Milton Keynes includes both the religion of Judaism and also the membership of the people of History and current situation Israel. Our equality commitment Judaism is best understood in terms of three essential aspects. These are God, Torah and Israel. Jews believe in one God whose name, rendered by the characters There are three main groups in Judaism. The strictly Orthodox, (sometimes conspicuous by their dress), attempt to observe the law and custom as the Talmud YHVH, we do not pronounce, usually referring to God by the Hebrew word ‘Adonai’ Equality and community (‘Lord’). specifies, and in their prayer and ritual use only Hebrew. Progressive Jews of the cohesion “In Reform” or Liberal movements, attempt to bring traditional Judaism more into
In orthodox tradition, God is regarded as the creator of heaven and earth; a God conformity with the modern world, using both Hebrew and the vernacular language Addressing the child who oversees the world and the affairs of humankind. He is holy, awesome and in their prayer. Between the Progressives and the strictly Orthodox are groups or family righteous, yet compassionate, a personal God who understands our human variously known as Conservative (in the USA) or, in the UK, as Modern Orthodox. weaknesses, and to whom we can directly pray, without the need for a priest or Assemblies minister. It’s customary for Jews to cover their heads when in prayer to God as this Festivals is regarded as a sign of respect. The Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat) starts at sunset on Friday evening with the lighting of candles and blessings over wine and bread. The Shabbat meal follows, an occasion Cultural behaviour Jewish orthodox tradition also holds that God’s sacred revelation to Moses on when all the family comes together. It is considered that having one special family Mount Sinai is recorded in the Torah (teachings). The word ‘Torah’ may refer just gathering has been a factor in maintaining the integrity of the Jewish family. to ‘The Five Books of Moses’, as the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures are Shabbat concludes at sundown on Saturday. often known. Dietary requirements There are five main annual festivals: Passages from these books, in the form of scrolls, are read in synagogue services. Dress codes and school In a wider sense, Torah may also mean the whole of Jewish Law and teaching. • Rosh Hashana is the Jewish New Year and takes place in September or uniform In recent times, progressive forms of Judaism have looked at alternative ways of October. It celebrates the birthday of the world. interpreting the passing of God’s revelation to the Jewish people. Engagement with • Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) follows ten days later and is a whole day fast parents and carers Jewish scripture has in addition to the Hebrew Scriptures (commonly known as the when Jews think about their failings in the past year and seek forgiveness from Old Testament or Jewish Bible) a collection of writings on law and custom called God and from their fellow men and women. Extended holidays the Talmud. The Talmud arises from the traditional belief that God gave to Moses • Passover (Pesach) reminds Jews of the exodus from slavery in Egypt 3500 an oral law as well as a written law. This oral Law was intended to explain how the years ago. In the home a special Seder (‘order’) service, incorporating a meal, written law (Torah) should be interpreted, and was developed and recorded over symbolises this event. Festivals several centuries in the Talmud, a compendium of discussions by rabbis on Jewish Law and custom which runs to many volumes. • Sukkot is a week-long autumn festival which reminds Jews that their ancestors lived in tents as they wandered in the desert in their escape from Egypt to New arrivals In the 12th Century the great scholar Maimonides set out Thirteen Principles of the Israel. It is also a harvest festival. Shelters (sukkot) are built and meals are Jewish faith: taken in them. Refugees and • Faith in God as Creator asylum seekers • Hanukka (‘dedication’) is a winter festival of lights which celebrates the • God is a unity recovery and re-dedication of the temple in Jerusalem from invaders about 2100 years ago. It lasts for eight days and a candle is lit on a special Hanukka Setting and school ethos • He has no form Menorah each day.
• He is the first and the last Places of worship School visits and extra-curricular activities • It is right to pray to him alone Jewish prayer services can take place at any location, and can be led by any Jew with sufficient knowledge. Most services, however, are held in a synagogue and are • All the words of the prophets are true conducted by a rabbi. The word ‘rabbi’ means ‘my teacher’. The word ‘synagogue’ Supplementary schools means ‘a place of meeting’. As with all ecclesiastical buildings, synagogue design • Moses was the first and foremost of the prophets varies greatly across the Jewish world, but all synagogues have a cupboard (the ‘ark’) where the Torah scrolls are kept, a raised platform (bimah) from where the Translation • The whole Law is the same that was given to Moses service leader reads the service, and seats for the congregation. In Orthodox • This Law will not be changed and there will never be another synagogues women are separated from men, sometimes in an upstairs gallery. In Reform and Liberal synagogues, families may sit together. Most synagogues Communities and Culture • The Creator knows every thought and deed of humankind incorporate the six-pointed Star of David and the seven-branched Menorah in their decoration. • God rewards those who keep his commandments and punishes those who do not Faith Services contain prayers, praise (songs) and the reading of the Law from the Torah. • The Messiah will come There may be a sermon (talk) by the Rabbi. Although the synagogue is the centre Language • There will be resurrection of the dead. for Jewish worship and community events, the home is considered as the focus of Jewish practice, with many rituals taking place in the home, such as the Sabbath and food rituals.
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Foods Diverse Black and minority Sikhism ethnic communities in Jewish law lays down rules, the dietary laws, for which foods may be eaten, Milton Keynes excluding, for example, all produce from the pig and all shellfish. Food which meets History and Current situation the requirements is called ‘kosher’ meaning ‘fit’. There are also rules about how Our equality commitment animals for consumption should be slaughtered, and rules regarding the separation Sikhism originated in the Punjab (land of five rivers) in the north of India, just over of milk and meat. Many Orthodox Jews keep separate sets of household utensils 500 years ago. Nowadays, Sikhs live all over the world. Guru Nanak was the first for meat and milk meals. They will also buy their meat from a butcher licensed as guru of Sikhs. ‘Guru’ means ‘teacher. ‘Sikh’ means ‘follower of the Guru’. Punjabi is Equality and community kosher or in packaged form where the product has a stamp to say that a rabbi has the language of the Sikhs. It is also referred to as ‘Gurmukhi’ meaning proceeding cohesion declared it to be kosher. from the mouth of the Guru’. Addressing the child Birth and confirmation rites In 1947 when the partition between India and Pakistan split the Indian sub- or family continent, almost all the Sikhs emigrated to the Indian Punjab from the Pakistani Boys are circumcised when they are eight days old. This ceremony is called Brit Punjab. There are about 12-13 million Sikhs of which nine million live in the state of Mila. This is carried out by a Mohel. A Mohel is specially trained for this operation, Assemblies Punjab and the rest are well dispersed in many other states of Northern India and and will often be medically qualified. Confirmation rituals take place for boys when abroad. they reach the age of thirteen, called Bar Mitzvah (son of the commandment) and for girls at the age of twelve, when they become Bat Mitzvah (daughter of the Sikhs believe that there is only one God and that he is the creator of all life. As God Cultural behaviour commandment). They are then regarded as full members of the Jewish community made everyone, all are equal. When Guru Nanak died, other Gurus carried on his and expected to maintain the traditions of Jewish life. teachings. Just before his death, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, granted the status of Guru to the holy scriptures Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji (also known as the Dietary requirements Marriage rites Adi Granth) and ordered all the Sikhs to follow the teachings therein. These are Marriage is central to family life. Children should be born within marriage. Jews see the first holy scriptures in the world written by the Gurus during their lifetime. Guru Dress codes and school marriage to another Jew as very important, especially for women. This is because Granth Sahib Ji is used in all the services. On many occasions it is recited from the uniform Jewish ethnicity is carried by the maternal line. For orthodox Jews, the child of a beginning to the end without a break. This takes 48 hours and is called an Akhand Jewish man who is married to a non-Jewish woman would not be considered as Path. In 1699 Guru Gobind Singh created the ‘Khalsa Panth’ (Sikh Brotherhood). He Engagement with parents and carers Jewish. introduced a unique form of baptism ‘Amrit’ for the Sikhs. Those who take ‘Amrit’ Weddings are led by the Rabbi and take place underneath a ceremonial canopy, are known as ‘Amritdhar’ (practicing/baptised) Sikhs. He asked that they observe Extended holidays called a huppa. This is usually within a synagogue. The bridegroom gives the bride the five Ks as a matter of Sikh discipline or uniform. a ring, which must be a complete circle. The bride wears a traditional western white The five K’s are: or ivory wedding dress. After the marriage, the couple share a glass of wine and the Festivals groom stamps on the wineglass to break it. The origin of this custom is unclear, but • Kes may relate to remembering the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. Uncut, long hair
Death rites • Kanga New arrivals Jews are buried in a cemetery consecrated for Jewish burial. This will often be an A small wooden comb, to clean the hair. Keeping clean is part of the faith area of a municipal cemetery. It is normal practice for burial to take place the day Refugees and • Kirpan after death, unless this is a Sabbath or other holy day. Jewish tradition believes that asylum seekers A steel sword symbolising power and freedom of spirit, with a duty to fight evil the soul escapes the body after death and returns to God. • Kara Setting and school ethos The Jewish Community in Milton Keynes can be contacted through: A steel bracelet to show that God is one, as a never ending circle and to show www.mkdrs.org.uk belonging to Sikhism and universal brotherhood of humankind School visits and extra-curricular activities • Kachha A pair of under-shorts symbolising high moral character and readiness for action Supplementary schools
Practising Sikhs do not cut their hair. Men wear turbans. Young boys tie their hair in a knot on top of their head, which they sometimes cover in a Patka (small turban) Translation or a handkerchief. Women plait their hair or tie it up in a bun. Amritdhari women sometimes wear a turban known as ‘Keski’. Communities and Culture
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Place of worship Names Diverse Black and minority ethnic communities in The place where Sikhs worship is called a Gurdwara (Guru’s house). Gurdwaras Male and female names can be the same. Gender is differentiated by using ‘Singh’ Milton Keynes have a saffron coloured Flag pole called ‘Nishan Sahib’ outside to indicate that it (meaning lion) for males and ‘Kaur’ (meaning princess) for females after the first names e.g. is a place of religious worship. In Milton Keynes, there is a Gurdwara near Central Our equality commitment Milton Keynes. Another Gurudwara is in Kiln Farm. The main day for congregation is usually Sunday. Worshippers and visitors take off their shoes and wash their Amrit Singh (male) hands before entering the prayer hall. Both men and women dress modestly in Amrit Kaur (female) Equality and community cohesion long trousers and have their heads covered. Women wear a scarf called a ‘chunni’ Turban and men wear a turban or handkerchief. The Gurdwara also provides a vegetarian ‘lungar’ (free kitchen), on service days for all attendees. Gurdwara’s often hold When boys are old enough to wear a turban, a turban ceremony is held in the Addressing the child or family Punjabi language, scripture recital and ‘Kirtan’ (religious music) classes for children Gurudwara or at home, in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib Ji. and adults. Smoking, alcohol, intoxicants, drugs and non vegetarian foods are Marriage forbidden within the premises of the Gurudwaras. Assemblies Arranged marriages are still common and are seen to be ideally based on persons Festivals being from a similar background. Any Sikh person, selected by the families, can Sikhs celebrate Diwali, usually at the end of October, by setting off fireworks and perform the religious ceremony, which is generally held in the Gurudwara. The Cultural behaviour lighting lamps and clay divas. Sikhs celebrate the release from the prison of their highlight of the wedding is the four verses recited and sung as the bride and sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind. Along with his own release, he negotiated the release groom walk four times around the Guru Granth Sahib Ji in a clockwise direction. of 52 Hindu kings who were also in the same prison at the same time. The other The groom walks in front of the bride. When they have completed four circles they Dietary requirements major festival celebrated by the Sikhs is Vaisakhi. This is the New Year festival in are considered married. Marriage is regarded as a sacrament though divorce is accepted. Divorcees are allowed to remarry in the Gurudwara. the Sikh calendar. It marks the establishment of Khalsa (Sikh Brotherhood). This is Dress codes and school always in April, when traditionally ‘Nishan Sahib’ – the Sikh flag – is eplacedr by a Death rites uniform new one. Processions and fairs are also held. After death the body is washed, dressed and wrapped in a white sheet of cloth Engagement with Along with these, Sikhs also celebrate Avtar Divas (birthdays) of all Gurus, first by relatives of the same gender. The ceremony in the Gurudwara is very simple, parents and carers Parkash Utsav (first recital) of Guru Granth Sahib Ji and Gurugadi Divas (the day with no memorials allowed and a deliberate outward show of grief is forbidden. of giving status of Guru) of Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Shahidi Divas (martyrdom) of It is carried out as soon as possible after death. The body is accompanied to the Extended holidays fifth Guru, ninth Guru and four sons of tenth Guru (Guru Gobind Singh Ji) are crematorium by members of the family and friends. The ashes can be taken back to commemorated. Other historic days are also celebrated in various forms. the Punjab or scattered over flowing water.
Sikh values Dress Festivals The message of Guru Nanak is ‘Kirat karo, naam japo, wand chhako’ meaning Most Sikh men wear a turban, as do some Sikh women. However, all turban wearers are not Sikh. Sikh women may wear salwar, kameez (long-shirt and earn your living by honest labour, meditate on God’s name and share your fortunes New arrivals with the needy. An important Sikh value is Seva (Service) for the welfare of others, trousers) and a chinni/ dupatta (scarf). equality of human beings, equality between men and women, respect and tolerance Food for others are vital. In short the basic citizenship values essential for peaceful co- Refugees and existence in today’s pluralistic society are the fundamental values of Sikhism. All ‘amritdhari’ (baptised) Sikhs and most other Sikhs are vegetarian. Those who are asylum seekers not vegetarians do not eat beef, ‘halal’ or ‘kosher’ meat. Birth rites Setting and school ethos As soon as a baby is born Mool Mantar is recited. Mool Mantar is the first verse of Guru Granth Sahib Ji and highlights the most important Sikh beliefs. A newborn School visits and baby’s first visit outside the home is to the Gurudwara. Traditional gifts are extra-curricular activities presented and hymns sung. The baby is given a name starting with the first letter of a hymn on the page at which Guru Granth Sahib Ji opens. This naming ceremony takes place when the baby is a few weeks old. Supplementary schools
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Diverse Black and minority Gujarati ethnic communities in Languages Milton Keynes Language and people Bengali Gujarati is the language of the Indian state of Gujarat. It has a rich oral culture and Our equality commitment a literary tradition which dates back to the tenth century. Most Gujaratis are Hindu, Language and people but there are also large Shia Muslim minorities, the best known of which is the Equality and community Ismaili community headed by the Aga Khan. cohesion Bengali is the official language of Bangladesh and the state language of the West Bengal state in India. Other languages and dialects are also spoken within Bangladesh, Some Gujaratis use Kachchi as the language of home. However, because Gujarati Addressing the child including Sylheti, which is used by most Bangladeshi settlers in the UK. Sylheti, is the language of state government and education, Kachchi has tended to be or family however, does not have a well developed written tradition and Bengali is the medium considered a dialect of Gujarati, rather than a language in its own right. Gujarati of instruction both in schools in Bangladesh and in community run language classes Muslims also have varying degrees of loyalty to Urdu and Qur`anic Arabic. overseas. Qur‘anic Arabic is used for religious purposes and is widely taught in Islamic Assemblies schools both in Bangladesh and in Bengali communities overseas. Some overseas Gujaratis have come directly from India. Many more have arrived via East Africa where they moved at the beginning of the 20th century to work as The writing system farmers and traders. Political discontent in the 1960s, which culminated in the Cultural behaviour The Bengali writing system has developed from the Devanagari writing system used expulsion of the South Asian population from Uganda in 1972, led many British for Hindi. It runs from left to right and hangs down from rather than resting on the passport holders to settle in the UK. line. Bengali letters represent syllables rather than individual sounds. Dietary requirements The writing system Gujarati uses a syllabic writing system which goes from left to right and hangs from Dress codes and school (shagotom) the line rather than resting on it. It is closely related to Hindi and Punjabi scripts, but uniform without the continuous horizontal line running along the top. Engagement with parents and carers Chinese (padhāro)
Extended holidays Language and people Chinese has eight main varieties, none of which can be understood by speakers of others. Of these, the three most commonly spoken by overseas Chinese are Festivals Cantonese, Japanese
Hokkien and Mandarin. In China, Mandarin is found in the northern, western and central New arrivals regions and is used as the standard language for the country as a whole. It is also used Language and people in Taiwan Malaysia and Singapore. Cantonese is spoken in the south of China and in Japanese is sometimes classed as a member of the Altaic family, but its exact Hong Kong. One of the largest overseas groups of Chinese people come from Hong relationship with other languages remains to be determined. One of its most striking Refugees and asylum seekers Kong. Many refugees from Vietnam are ethnic Chinese who either speak Cantonese or features is the use of ‘honorifics’, different words and grammatical constructions use it as the language of wider communication in the Chinese community. which show varying degrees of politeness and familiarity. See Japanese Community. Setting and school ethos The writing system The writing system The different varieties of Chinese share a common writing system built around Japanese writing is extremely complex. It makes use of two syllabic systems, School visits and thousands of characters which have no relation to the spoken word. For example hiragana and katakana, as well as kanji, a logo-graphic system derived from extra-curricular activities the numeral 5 is ‘cinq’ in French, ‘cinco’ in Spanish and ‘five’ in English. Chinese Chinese characters. characters are pronounced quite differently in different parts of China. The main content words are often written in kanji whilst additional grammatical Supplementary schools Characters are written in a notional square. Children are taught how to write the information is given in the hiragana script. Katakana is used extensively for various kinds of strokes; lines, sweeps, angles and hooks, and the basic sequence representing English or any foreign words other than those of Chinese origin. In is left to right, top to bottom. In the People’s Republic of China, characters have newspapers and magazines, Japanese is usually written from top to bottom in Translation been simplified by reducing the number of strokes. columns which run from right to left. However, the print in many textbooks runs horizontally from left to right. Attempts have also been made to introduce a simplified romanised writing system Communities and Culture known as pinyin. Outside the People’s Republic, however, the original characters are still used, but some countries are gradually changing over to the simplified set. (yōkoso) Traditionally, characters descended from the top right hand corner of the page. Faith Today there is increasing use of left to right directionally.
Cantonese - (fùnyìhng) Language Mandarin - (huānyíng guānglín) Taiwanese - (hoan-gêng kong-lîm)
100 101 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Diverse Black and minority Mandinka Punjabi ethnic communities in Milton Keynes Language and people Language and people Our equality commitment The Mandinka language is a Mandé language spoken by millions of Mandinka Punjabi speakers came originally from the Punjab, or land of five rivers. The same people in Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Sierra geographical area was traditionally occupied by Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. Leone, Liberia, and Guinea-Bissau and Chad; it is the main language of The However, following the partition of India in 1947, the Punjab was divided between Equality and community Gambia. It belongs to the Manding branch of Mandé, and is thus fairly similar to India and Pakistan. It is estimated that 70% of Punjabi speakers are currently cohesion Bambara and Maninka or Malinké. In a majority of areas, it is tonal language with resident in Pakistan and the remaining 30% live in India. The overwhelming majority two tones: low and high, although the particular variety spoken in The Gambia and of Punjabi speakers in Pakistan are Muslim and look to Urdu as the language of Addressing the child Senegal is non-tonal and uses a pitch accent. religion and high culture. Most Punjabis have come directly from India and Pakistan. or family Some have arrived via East Africa where they settled as traders earlier in the The writing system century. Assemblies Latin alphabet and Arabic alphabet are widely used for Mandinka; the former is official, but the latter is more widely used and older. In addition, the pan-Mandé The writing system writing system, the N’Ko alphabet, invented in 1949, is often used in north east Cultural behaviour Punjabi is generally written in a script called Gurmakhi (meaning ‘proceeding from Guinea, and bordering communities in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali. the mouth of the guru’) devised by the second of the ten great teachers of Sikhism. Kairabe Gurumukhi is a syllabic writing system, characterised by an almost continuous horizontal line running along the top. Like most other Indian languages, it runs from Dietary requirements left to right and hangs from, rather than resting on, the line. Dress codes and school Muslims write Punjabi in the same Perso-Arabic script, which is used for Urdu. uniform Marathi Punjabi which is used in the Mirpur area of Pakistan is often spoken rather than written. Urdu is often the choice for written text. Engagement with Language and people parents and carers Marathi (Mara¯t,hi˜) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Maharashtrian people of western India. It serves as the official language of the state of Maharashtra and Extended holidays to a good extent in the neighbouring states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Recent estimations show that there are 90 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi is at least 1,000 years old, and derives its Somali Festivals grammar and syntax from the older Sanskrit. The Marathi language is also known as Maharashtri, Maharathi, Malhatee or Marthi. Language and people The official language of Somalia is Somali. The nomadic nature of much of the New arrivals Most Marathi people are Hindus, although there are sizeable minorities of Muslims population means that Somali is also spoken in parts of Djibouti, Kenya and and Neo-Buddhists. Many Marathi people have migrated to other countries and Ethiopia. It is the vehicle of a rich oral culture, including story telling, poetry and settled there. Significant numbers of Marathis have settled in the United Kingdom, Refugees and riddles. Arabic is also spoken as the majority of Somalis are Muslim. asylum seekers United States of America, Mauritius, Israel and Switzerland. Somali pupils in Milton Keynes may also speak additional European languages as The writing system many families have come to the UK via other countries. Setting and school ethos Marathi is written in the Devanagari script, an alphasyllabary writing system where letters represent syllables rather than individual sounds. It consists of 16 vowel The writing system School visits and letters and 36 consonant letters making a total of 52 letters. It is written from left Somali is based on an oral tradition. Since 1972, Somali has been written using the extra-curricular activities to right and hangs down from rather than resting on the line. The most common Roman alphabet, but with the letters following the same order as in Arabic. Sounds sentence structure is Subject Object Verb: subject=kartaa, object=karma and peculiar to Somali are represented by two letter combinations or by assigning new Supplementary schools verb=kriyaapad. values to existing letters. Soo dhawow Translation
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102 103 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Diverse Black and minority Swahili Tagalog ethnic communities in Milton Keynes Language and people Language and people Swahili (Kiswahili) is originally the language of the East African coast. Standard Tagalog is now the common name for the official Filipino language. There are Our equality commitment Swahili is based on Kiunguja, the dialect of Zanzibar, which spread deep inland also some 70 native languages spoken in the Philippines, which is divided into 72 with European trade and missionary activities. It belongs to the Bantu group of provinces and 61 chartered cities. Overseas groups of Filipino people in the UK Equality and community languages. Swahili is spoken by about one hundred million people in East, Central come from Luzon, Samar, Negros, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol, Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, cohesion and Southern Africa, but there are various ‘Kiswahili’ dialects. Swahili is the Masbate and Mindanao. national language of Tanzania and Kenya. The Roman alphabet is used, but the Addressing the child pronunciation is different. Once this is learnt, it is possible for teachers to decode Type of writing system: syllabic alphabet in which each consonant has an inherent or family dual language texts. See the examples of the writing system below. vowel /a/. Other vowels are indicated either by separate letters or dots. A dot over a consonant changes the vowels to an /i/ or an /e/, while a dot under a consonant Assemblies Vowels changes the vowel to /o/ or /u/. Spanish introduced a change by adding a + sign underneath a consonant and making a muted inherent vowel. Writing is from left to a apa ‘take oath’’ a in ‘father’ right in a horizontal line. e tembea ‘walk’ e in ‘self’ Cultural behaviour i ita ‘call’ i in ‘pin’ o ona ‘see’ o in ‘off’ u ua ‘flower’ u in ‘put’ Dietary requirements
Consonants Dress codes and school uniform b baba ‘father’ b in ‘bad’ p pata ‘get’ p in ‘pet’ Engagement with f futa ‘rub’ f in ‘fair’ parents and carers v vuta ‘pull’ v in ‘vote’ t taka ‘want’ t in ‘time’ d doa ‘spot’ d in ‘day’ Extended holidays th thamani ‘value’ th in ‘thing’ dh dhahabu ‘gold’ th in ‘then’ Festivals ch cheka ‘laugh’ ch in ‘chin’ j jaza ‘fill’ j in ‘jar’
n nani ‘who’ n in ‘name’ New arrivals m mama ‘mother’ m in ‘mother’ ny nyama ‘meat’ ny in ‘canyon’ ng’ ng’ombe ‘cow’ ng in ‘king’ Refugees and ng ngamia ‘camel’ ng in ‘language’ asylum seekers s sema ‘say’ s in ‘say’ sh shona ‘sew’ sh in ‘sheet’ Setting and school ethos z zama ‘sink’ z in ‘zip’ k kula ‘to eat’ k in ‘kit’ School visits and g gonga ‘knock’ g in ‘get’ extra-curricular activities gh ghali ‘expensive’ w wewe ‘you’ w in ‘way’ y yeye ‘he/she’ y in ‘you’ Supplementary schools h hapa ‘here’ h in ‘home’ l lala ‘sleep’ l in ‘land’ r ruka ‘jump’ r in ‘rain’ Translation nj njia ‘way’ ng in ‘engine’ nd ndoo ‘bucket’ nd in ‘understand’ mb mbuni ‘ostrich’ mb in ‘bombard’ Communities and Culture karibu Faith
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104 105 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
Diverse Black and minority Tamil Telugu ethnic communities in Milton Keynes Language and people Language and people Tamil is the most important of the Dravidian languages of southern India. It has two Telugu is a Dravidian language. It has the third largest number of mother tongue Our equality commitment main forms, a ‘high’ variety used in formal situations and in literature and a ‘low’ speakers in India (74 million according to the 2001 census) and is 15th of most- variety used in informal speech. Differences in the two varieties can be substantial. spoken languages worldwide. Telugu is known as the ‘Italian of the East’ since Equality and community almost every word in Italian and Telugu ends with a vowel. cohesion The Tamil language and people originated in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, but
has subsequently spread to many parts of the world. Many Tamils migrated as It is the official language of Andhra Pradesh, one of the largest states of India and is Addressing the child indentured labourers in the 19th Century to destinations which included Mauritius, also spoken in neighbouring states. Telugu Script is derived from Bhattiprolu script, or family South Africa, Fiji, Trinidad, Guyana, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. which is itself a variant of Brahmi script. The vocabulary has been influenced from Sanskrit, Prakrits and Urdu. The writing system Assemblies The Writing System The Tamil writing system is derived from a north Indian script with south Indian influences and is believed to be about 1500 years old. It is a syllabic system with 30 Telugu script is written from left to right and consists of sequences of simple Cultural behaviour different letters and runs from left to right. and/or complex characters. The basic units of writing are syllables. Consonant clusters take shapes that are very different from the shapes individual consonants The naming system take elsewhere. It is traditional to write and read consonants with an implied ‘a’ Dietary requirements In the case of Hindu boys the first element is the father’s personal name, the second vowel sound. When consonants combine with other vowel signs, the vowel part is element is the child’s personal name. indicated using signs known as vowel ‘maatras’. The shapes of vowel ‘maatras’ are Dress codes and school also very different from the shapes of the corresponding vowels. uniform Family Name Personal Name The overall pattern consists of sixty symbols, of which 16 are vowels, three Engagement with Grandfather: Suppiah Arumugam vowel modifiers, and forty-one consonants. Spaces are used between words as parents and carers Father: Arumugan Ponnambalam word separators. The sentence ends with either a single bar | or a double bar ||. Son: Ponnambalam Rajaratham Traditionally, Telugu words were not separated by spaces. Modern punctuation was Extended holidays Daughter: Haridevi Ponnambalam introduced with the advent of print.
Christian boys may follow one of the several naming systems, including the western There is a set of symbols for Telugu, although Arabic numbers are typically used. pattern of personal name and family name e.g. Andrew da Silva, and the Tamil Festivals Hindu pattern e.g. Selvadurai Andrew. Both Hindu and Christian girls follow the westernpattern of personal name and father’s family name e.g. Haridevi Selvadurai. New arrivals
(vaangha) Refugees and Twi asylum seekers
Language and people Setting and school ethos Twi (pronounced ‘Ti-wee’) is a language spoken in Ghana by about seven million people. It is one of the three dialects of the Akan language, the others being School visits and extra-curricular activities Akuapem Twi and Fante, which in turn belong to the Kwa language family. Ghana lies between Togo and the Ivory Coast in West Africa. Within Ghana, Twi is spoken in the Ashanti Region and in parts of the Eastern, Western, Central, Volta and Brong Supplementary schools Ahafo Regions. English is the official language of Ghana.
Twi is a language very rich in proverbs, the use of which is taken to be a sign of Translation wisdom. The Ashanti people of Ghana established one of the wealthiest and most culturally rich kingdoms in all of Africa. When the first Europeans arrived 500 years ago, they found an advanced African civilisation and, upon observing the elaborate Communities and Culture Ashanti gold artwork and jewellery, declared the area the Gold Coast. Ghana has the highest percentage of Christians in West Africa, but the belief in traditional animist religions is still extremely common (60% Christian, 15% Muslim, 25% Faith traditional African religions).
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106 107 Equality and Diversity Part B: Community information in Milton Keynes
The writing system Diverse Black and minority ethnic communities in Most African languages with a writing system use a modification of the Roman Milton Keynes alphabet; the systems were often the invention of Christian missionaries, though some have been devised by government commissions since decolonisation. The Our equality commitment ‘authors’ of these new writing systems usually aimed to make spellings logical and consistent by providing a written sign for each consonant or vowel sound in the language, and this often led to the adoption of newly-created letterforms. Like some Equality and community other West African languages, Twi has a relativistic system of three tones (tone cohesion terracing) but no tone markers are used in the writing system. Addressing the child Handa de nuaba a èyè dè ason agu kèntèn mu dek_ma n’adamfo Akeyo. or family
Translation: Handa put seven delicious fruits in a basket for her friend, Akeyo. Assemblies Handa’s Surprise, Eileen Browne, 1994, Walker Books Ltd.
Cultural behaviour
Dietary requirements Urdu Dress codes and school Language and people uniform Urdu is the official language of Pakistan and the first or second language of over Engagement with 30 million Muslims in India. Many Urdu speakers overseas use a variety of Punjabi parents and carers as the language of the home and Urdu as the second language. For religious and cultural reasons, however, they usually describe themselves as Urdu speakers. Urdu comes from the Persian zabane- urdu-e-mu’alla, language of the Imperial Extended holidays court, a gloss which gives important clues to its history.
The writing system Festivals Urdu is written in the Nastaliq script, which differs in small, but important respects from the Naskh script used for Arabic. It is a consonantal system in which vowels New arrivals are indicated by marks above and below the letters. Letters also change according to their position, initial, medial, final or isolated in the word. Writing progresses from the right side of the page to the left. Refugees and asylum seekers Translation and interpreting services Milton Keynes Council provides translation and interpreter services through the Setting and school ethos Community Language service. The service holds a register of over 300 bilingual interpreters who cover more than 100 languages. School visits and Contact them at: www.milton-keynes.gov.uk extra-curricular activities
Motto: ‘Eliminating barriers of communication in the community’ Supplementary schools Salam. How are you? Translation
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108 109 Further copies of this publication are available from EMA Network
EMA Consultant 502 Avebury Boulevard Central Milton Keynes MK9 3HS
T: 01908 270409 E: [email protected] W: www.milton-keynes.gov.uk