Issue - meetings

This was held in London on 22^nd May 2014, and was attended by the Chairman, the RE Adviser and Mr Mahmood.

The key note speaker was Stephen Lloyd MP, convenor of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on RE. He spoke on the importance of religious education in all schools and talked about the two reports produced by the APPG.  The speech was well received  and a question and answer session focussed on the needs of SACREs and how they can be as productive as possible. The Chairman informed SACRE Members that Mr Lloyd had suggested they should lobby their MPs to “keep RE on the agenda” and to challenge any changes which might jeopardise RE.

Thoughts on the RE Review from John Keast (Chairman of the RE Council) were also passed on at the AGM, together with reports from the officers of NASACRE and their plans for the coming year.

The RE Adviser said that at the AGM eight different SACRE’s had given presentations on projects they had undertaken. These would shortly be available for SACRE Members to view on the NASACRE website. Mr Mahmood had given a presentation on the Islamic competition in Bromley which was well received and engendered many questions.

Mr Mahmood shared his presentation with those in attendance at  the SACRE meeting.

The purpose of the Islamic Competition was to encourage an accurate knowledge and understanding of Islam, and the title of the project set was “The True meaning of Islam”. Pupils were asked to explain what they considered to be the essential teachings of Islam, to discuss their implications for important issues of today and to finish with a statement about what they had gained from their work.

A summary of the projects had been detailed in the report considered by SACRE at their previous meeting, and Mr Mahmood’s presentation showed examples of the work submitted by the Year 7 and 8 children from the five schools that had participated in the event. He commented on the impressive variety of work undertaken by the students.

Mr Mahmood also described in detail and showed photographs of the prize giving event which had taken place at Darul Uloom. The event was attended by parents, students and their teachers and had been very encompassing.

Mr Mahmood said that the competition would not have been possible without the exceptional help and encouragement from the teachers concerned.  Mr Gupta thanked Mr Mahmood for providing the platform for this excellent event to take place. He remarked that the event enabled young students to share their knowledge with adults.

The RE Adviser said that the Islamic Competition was much appreciated and valued and helped to build up good relationships. The Chairman thanked Mr Mahmood for his  excellent presentation. 

(The next prize giving event for the 2014 Islamic Competition would be held at Darul Uloom on 13^th November 2014. An invitation to attend the event would be sent to SACRE Members in due course.)