Life as a Traveller: The Two Fires

An animation describing life as a young Traveller

A group of young Scottish Travellers from Coupar Angus Primary School have added their voices to help people increase their understanding of Traveller life and culture.  ‘The Two Fires’ animation offers a deep insight into the pride that the these young people feel for their culture and heritage.  The tradition of storytelling around the fire that they illustrate is long held through the generations.

STEP collaborated with expert animator, Jim Stirk, from Animation Jam to help the pupils to develop their digital animation skills to create the film.  For their project the pupils decided that it was important for their peers, teachers and wider community to know more about what it means to be a Traveller. 

Animation is one of many inclusive and accessible visual communication tools that help young people to express ideas and beliefs about their culture.

To view the animation:

https://www.step.education.ed.ac.uk/project/life-as-a-traveller/

STEP is a national knowledge exchange centre supporting equitable access to education for mobile communities. It is funded mainly by Scottish Government and is based at the University of Edinburgh. STEP’s vision is to be a centre for excellence supporting education leaders, teachers, and families to ensure that education is accessible, authentic and has the highest expectations for all children and young people from mobile cultures in Scotland. To learn more about STEP, you can visit the website: STEP – Providing Flexible Learning for Travelling Communities (ed.ac.uk)