Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Martin Sweet (Chairman), and Councillor Mrs Manning Chaired the meeting on his behalf. Apologies were also received from Councillor McBride, Mrs Michaelis, Mr Stone and Dr George Searle. Councillor Charsley left the meeting at 7pm to attend another meeting. The Chairman welcomed Arlene Fane, Teacher from St George’s CE School, who was attending the meeting as an observer. She is also a Churchwarden at St Mary’s Church, Bromley.

None.

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting on 20^th October 2010 be confirmed.

B) MATTERS ARISING:

  There was no discussion on matters arising.

a)  SACRE Annual Event

b)  Islamic Competition (see attached)

c)  SACRE Annual Report 2009/10

d)  Youth SACRE – update

e)  Holocaust Memorial Day

f)  RE in Secondary Schools

g)  Science and Religion Seminar

(The item on Youth SACRE was considered first)

a)  SACRE Annual Event

The SACRE annual event was held at the Education Development Centre on 24^th November 2010. The event which looked at Philosophy for children was led by Jed Stone (a teacher at Bullers Wood School and a Member of SACRE). The RE Adviser informed SACRE Members that the event had been successful and had given a good insight into the subject. Mr. Mahmood commented that whilst he considered the event had been excellent he had found the environment noisy and distracting when group discussion had taken place. He suggested that in future perhaps screens could be used to help alleviate this. The RE Adviser said that this suggestion would be borne in mind for future events. The Chairman commented that she had found the event interesting and it had encouraged lateral thinking. She remarked in particular on the contribution made by the children from Pickhurst School who were very confident, and asked that Jed Stone be thanked on behalf of SACRE for leading the event.

b)  Islamic Competition

The Islamic Competition had taken place at Darul Uloom on 4^th November 2010. Mr Mahmood said that the quality of projects had been very good, and as usual the event had been most enjoyable and appreciated by all. Fiona Hawkes who attended the event commented that it had been good for the children to receive feedback on their projects. The RE Adviser said that it had been a very interesting evening and the hospitality at the event had been excellent. Details of the next Islamic Competition on 24^th November 2011 were circulated to SACRE Members.

c)  SACRE Annual Report 2009/10

It was reported that this had been sent to the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency and had also been circulated to schools. The Chairman was surprised to note that St Olaves School did not enter pupils for the full GCSE Course in Religious Studies and only entered them for the short course. Jan Thompson, Diocesan Adviser commented that the short course was undertaken by St Olaves pupils whilst they were in years 9 and 10.

The Chairman thanked the RE Adviser for her hard work in producing the annual report. 

d)  Youth SACRE

The Chairman welcomed two members of Bromley Youth SACRE to the meeting. The young men who attended Coopers Technology College showed a film which they had helped to produce following a visit to the synagogue in Highland Road, Bromley. The film showed a “virtual tour” of the synagogue and included an interview with Rabbi Tony Hammond. The film had been produced by the Coopers Humanities Department working with Bromley Youth SACRE. The RE Adviser informed the meeting that the purpose of the film was for it to be used as a learning resource by schools, and it would be put on the Managed Learning Environment ‘Fronter’. She thanked the boys for their work in helping to produce the film and also extended  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Report No. DCYP11027

Members considered the draft development plan which had been drawn up with due consideration to the statutory duties of SACRE which are to:

·  require the LA to review the locally agreed syllabus at least every five years;

·  produce an annual report, to be distributed to schools and interested parties, to NASACRE and as directed by education department;

·  advise on matters relating to teaching methods, the choice of teaching material and the provision of training for teachers in RE and collective worship.

 A few minor typographical errors were pointed out in the development plan and details were passed to the SACRE clerk for amendment.

Members noted the following comments on the SACRE budget which had been submitted by Dr George Searle:

  In the light of the rapidly worsening financial position of Councils and the proposed changes to National Curriculum, examinations and requirements on SACRE within the Education Bill 2011 introduced to Parliament, the following proposals for the SACRE budget have been made:

(i)  For the financial year 2011/12 leave unchanged at 2010/11 level the budget for support of the SACRE.

(ii)  Undertake a review of support to the SACRE (with the aim of reducing or containing future funding for support) during Summer/Autumn 2011.

(iii)  New budget proposals for forthcoming year(s) (2012/13 – 2015/16) to be presented at the SACRE meeting in February 2012.

 Members were unaware of proposed changes in the Education Bill relating to the requirements on SACREs and asked for further clarification. The RE Adviser and Diocesan Adviser commented that there were no proposed changes to the requirements on SACRE in the Education Bill. SACRE Members wished to know who would be involved with the proposed review of funding for support to SACRE, and if SACRE would be involved with the review. The Chairman agreed to contact George Searle to seek further clarification on these matters.

Jan Thompson, Diocesan Adviser, informed the meeting that it had been necessary for the Religious Education Centre located at Bishop Justus School to vacate the premises, as the school had reached capacity and run out of space. The RE Centre had been established ten years ago to support RE and collective worship. Originally a joint Bromley/Diocesan project it moved out of the Education Development Centre after six years to be accommodated at Bishop Justus School. Throughout all this time it had been opened on Wednesdays to offer advice, resources and in-service training. The Diocesan Adviser was there most Wednesdays but it also relied heavily on voluntary help. Consultation had taken place with the local authority and with SACRE through its Chair and RE Adviser, but alternative suitable premise were unable to be found. In the circumstances the RE resources had been distributed as follows:

• The RE Resource Boxes had been shared between the EDC and Bennett Memorial Diocesan School in Tunbridge Wells

• Collective Worship Books had been taken by Spinnaker trust on behalf of Bromley SACRE, to support assemblies in Bromley community schools

• RE Books - Primary books  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Report No. DCYP11028

 In view of time constraints it was agreed that the SACRE training session should be deferred until the next meeting. At that meeting the results of the first training session (held at the SACRE meeting on 20^th October 2010) would be discussed. This training activity had considered, “What should a good SACRE be doing?” and it would be useful to link this to the SACRE self-evaluation due to be considered in the Summer term.

RESOLVED that the training session be deferred until the next SACRE meeting.

  Report No. DCYP11029

 In order to celebrate the importance of religious education in schools there would be a national month of celebration in March 2011. It was noted that the following events were scheduled to take place:

9^th March 2011 at 1pm - Bishop Justus School

An event would be held on the theme of Easter. Further details would be circulated to SACRE Members when available.

10^th March 2011 at 5.30pm – Bromley SACRE Members had been invited to attend an additional special meeting of Greenwich SACRE to be held at The Heritage Centre, Woolwich Arsenal, where an exhibition on “The Jewish Way of Life” was taking place. Details of the event were circulated at the meeting.

25^th March 2011– Royston Primary School, Penge

An event would be held after school to celebrate the end of their RE week.

31^st March 2011 at 10am – NASACRE Conference (Free)

The conference, entitled “Whose RE is it anyway?” would be held at Carrs Lane Church Centre, Birmingham. The Diocesan Adviser commented that many good speakers on RE would be attending. Details of the event had previously been circulated to SACRE members.

 1^st April 2011 at 1.30pm – St George’s CE Primary School, Bickley

 An event would be held to celebrate the end of their RE week.

Bromley SACRE had not planned to lead any activity during Celebrating RE month but the RE Adviser suggested that members visit the Celebrating RE website (www.celebratingre.org) to look at the events taking place all over the country. The Chairman encouraged Members to attend an event if possible.

RESOLVED that the RE Adviser email SACRE Members details of local events taking place during Celebrating Religious Education Month.

Report no. DCYP11030

 The RE Adviser reported that the work on the faith directory for schools was still continuing, and considered  that volunteers from faith groups who had offered to talk in schools should meet for a short  ‘training’ event. This would outline the legal requirements for RE teaching and strategies for use in the classroom. It was proposed that the training session should last for approximately an hour and a half and take place one evening. The RE Adviser would contact the SACRE clerk to see if a room was available at the Civic centre and would contact people who had previously put their names forward, as soon as a date had  been arranged.

 SACRE Members were asked to let the RE Adviser know of any suitable people in their faith groups who would be interested in volunteering to speak in schools. Councillor MacMull thought that Russell Chadwick the Town Centre Chaplain might be interested and suggested that he be contacted. As soon as the training had taken place, a list of speakers would be put on the SACRE page on the Managed Learning Environment for Bromley Schools. The list of speakers would also be held by the RE Adviser for those schools who had not bought in to the MLE. Fiona Hawkes commented that those people volunteering to speak in schools should provide details of their date of birth so that they could be checked against “List 99”. The RE Adviser said she would ensure that this was done.

RESOLVED that:

(i) SACRE Members let the RE Adviser know of anyone interested in joining the SACRE Faith Directory;

(ii) The RE Adviser make arrangements for the necessary training to take place.

 Report no. DCYP11031

The RE Adviser reported on a successful visit to Kemnal Technology College during the Autumn Term 2010. SACRE had been invited by Ms Emma Honey, Head of the RE Department and the visit was made by the RE Adviser and Jan Thompson, Diocesan Adviser. The RE Adviser commented on the excellent and enjoyable visit which had taken place.

Members of Bromley SACRE had historically visited two schools per term in order to enable members to experience RE and collective worship in schools. Increasingly these visits had been undertaken by the RE Adviser alone or with one other Member. A discussion took place on the value of SACRE visits to schools and whether these should continue.  It was agreed that these visits were of value to both SACRE and the schools, and that they should continue. However, it was difficult for some SACRE Members to attend visits due to their work commitments. Visits usually took place on a Wednesday but this was a difficult day for some Members. It was suggested that visits could also be arranged to take place on Tuesdays. The RE Adviser agreed to try and arrange two visits for the Summer Term. She would notify SACRE Members of the dates as far in advance as possible to see if they would be able to accompany her on the visits.

 RESOLVED that the reports of the school visit be noted, and arrangements be made for visits to take place during the Summer Term.

None.

Wednesday 25^th May 2011

Wednesday 19^th October 2011

Wednesday 1^st February 2012

Wednesday 30^th May 2012

All meetings to start at 6.30pm.

Wednesday 25^th May 2011

Wednesday 19^th October 2011

Wednesday 1^st February 2012

Wednesday 30th May 2012

All meetings to start at 6.30pm