A TRADITIONAL gypsy caravan came to a school to teach youngsters about life on the road.

Pupils at Cheselbourne Village School took part in a series of activities with Karen Hunt of Dorset County Council as part of the school’s Traveller Week project.

Eli Benham, 14, who comes from a travellers’ family and lives nearby, taught the children about his family’s lifestyle.

He said: “This is the first time I have talked to a school.

“I was asked if I wanted to teach the kids about us and what we do.

“My dad’s auntie was born in a Romany caravan and I brought some things in to show the children.”

Eli also showed the youngsters how to build a bender tent out of branches.

Headteacher Bob Duffin said that as well as raising awareness he also hoped the activities would install a sense of pride for traveller children in their culture and background.

He said: “Having Eli here was an important part of the project because we want traveller children to be proud of their heritage.

“It has also helped change the perception of the community towards them. We’ve raised awareness about travellers and taught the children that there are six different types.”

Youngsters learned about water conservation, herbs and herbal remedies.

They tackled an obstacle course while carrying water to understand some of the difficulties of water collecting and took part in a task where they had to hunt for firewood.

Mr Duffin said pupils would learn a lot about the diverse cultures and lifestyles of the different groups of travellers.

He said: “There’s so much that can be learned from traveller and gypsy lifestyle and culture, especially their relationship with nature.

“We’re going to be doing activities around this topic all week.

“The caravan will be here in the playground during that time and we will be exploring all the different groups of travellers.”

The caravan remained on site at the school for a week.

• Head teacher Bob Duffin has been working at Cheselbourne Village School for four years and has held his current post since September last year.

He said the aim of the project was to break down typical stereotypes towards travellers to try to fight prejudice and discrimination.

Mr Duffin said: “There are a lot of travellers in Dorset, although there are only 125 officially, the reality is more like 1,000.

“They are Dorset’s largest ethnic minority and at some point they are all confronted with prejudice and discrimination.

“What we want to do is present them in a positive light and break down the typical stereotypes.”

• THE first school in Cheselbourne was built in 1861 – the current school building dates back to 1909 and has recently undergone extensive building work to improve the facilities and accommodation.

It is one of Dorset’s smallest schools and has 42 pupils aged between four and nine and four teachers.

In 2010 the school was rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted in 27 out of 28 areas.

There are various extra-curricular activities such as peripatetic music lessons, sports activities and after school clubs.

The school organises weekly toddler and pre-school groups to support local children, parents and carers.

It is also a member of DASP – Dorchester Area Schools Partnership which ensures strong relationships with the other 15 schools in the group.