Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed Virginia Corbyn and Samantha Barnett as new members of SACRE. Ms Corbyn had replaced Jan Thompson as the Church of England representative and Ms Barnett had been appointed as the new Jewish representative following the sad death of Rae Michalis the previous year.  Canon Reverend Michael Camp had resigned from SACRE due to his appointment as Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury and he sent his best wishes to SACRE for its continued work.

Mrs Colling left the meeting early due to another commitment.

Apologies for absence were received from Mr Gupta, Mr Hagley, Mr Mahmood, Mrs Tranchina and Beverley Johnston, Head of Education Commissioning and Business Services.

None.

MATTERS ARISING

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting on 19^th October 2011 be confirmed

B) MATTERS ARISING:

Minute 15B

The Chairman reported that unfortunately Bob Stewart, MP for Beckenham Constituency was unable to attend the meeting. It was hoped that he might be able to attend on a future occasion. 

The RE Adviser clarified the position regarding academies and confirmed that by law they still have to provide religious education at both primary and secondary level (from four to eighteen years). Although academies have to follow a syllabus it does not have to be one which is agreed locally. Ms Corbyn suggested that it might be a good idea for academies to be reminded of this statutory requirement and that the locally agreed syllabus was available for them to use if they so wished.

a)  Islamic Competition

b)  National Picture of RE

c)  SACRE Annual Report for 2010-11

d)  Youth SACRE

a)  Islamic Competition

This very successful event had taken place at Darul Uloom on 24^th November 2011. The Islamic Competition was much appreciated and valued and the Chairman would write to Mr Mahmood on behalf of SACRE to express thanks to him for organising the event.

(Action MS)

Details of the next Islamic Competition on 15^th November 2012 which had been circulated to schools were circulated to SACRE Members. Ms Honey from Kemnal Technology College said that she had not received this information. The RE Adviser agreed to contact Mr Mahmood to ensure that he had the up to date contact details for the schools and academies.

(Action PSO)

b)  National Picture of RE

The RE Adviser commented that a synopsis had now been received from the Wokefield Park weekend conference she had attended in October 2011 with teachers and others involved in RE (see minute 16a of the previous SACRE meeting). It had been suggested that the RE Council who represent the collective interests of a wide variety of professional associations and faith communities should be the “national voice of RE”. John Keast the Chairman of the RE Council had chaired the event and outlined not only the problems relating to RE but also looked at the positive aspects. The legal requirement to teach RE in schools was affirmed and the importance of faith communities was emphasised.

The RE Adviser commented that as from the beginning of the current term equalities and human rights would be at the heart of the Ofsted inspection framework. and they would now be inspecting Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Education  (SMSC) expecting to see that this underpins the whole school ethos, (see Appendix 1). Ms Honey suggested that if a letter was to be sent to schools and academies reminding them of the statutory requirement to provide RE the information from Ofsted could be incorporated.

c)  SACRE Annual Report for 2010-2011

It was reported that this had been sent to NASACRE and had also been circulated to schools, libraries, the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People and to SACRE Members. Mrs Colling said that she had not received a copy and the SACRE clerk agreed to forward another copy to her.

(Action CR)

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

d)    Youth SACRE

The first meeting of the new Youth SACRE took place on 18^th November 2011 at Coopers Technology College when pupils from Bullers Wood School also attended. At the meeting the pupils discussed what they enjoyed about RE and also spoke about the forthcoming Islamic Competition. The RE Adviser commented that the pupils who attended the Youth SACRE were very enthusiastic. The members of the youth SACRE who attended the Islamic Competition had taken photographs of the event and planned to interview and film the winners of the competition. The Youth SACRE then hoped to make a film of the photographs and  interviews.

Jed Stone reported that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

Report No. DCYP12015

As part of the training for SACRE members, the three SACRE secondary school teachers spoke about RE teaching in their schools.

Fiona Hawkes from Coopers Technology College gave details of the units which were studied by Year 7 pupils. These included an introduction to world religions, ‘one church – many branches’, Easter,  and Sikhism. She commented in particular on teaching about the Five Ks, to increase pupils understanding of Sikhism. Pupils also took part in the annual Islamic Competition. Year 8 pupils focussed on ‘Religion and Science’ and also studied animal rights. Judaism was also studied and was linked closely with history and teaching about the holocaust. 

Mr Riat commented that there appeared to be some confusion when teaching Sikhism particularly in primary schools. He emphasised that not all Sikh men wore the Five Ks (the five signs of their faith) and only those who were committed Sikhs did so. Sikhs laid great emphasis on equality and service to others regardless of status, and Mr Riat outlined the history of Sikhism and the teaching of the human Gurus. Mrs Hawkes confirmed that the teaching of Sikhism at Coopers Technology College reflected this. Mr Riat further commented that pupils were always welcome to visit the Gurdwara at Gravesend.

Mrs Hawkes remarked that the time allocated to the teaching of RE at Coopers Technology College had decreased over the past six years and Religious Studies GCSE was not currently an option. (This had in part been due to the introduction of the English Baccalaureate.)  In the previous academic year the short RE course had been taught to the whole of years 9 and 10.

Jed Stone from Bullers Wood said that RS was taught to all pupils in years 9, 10 and 11 at the school. Year 9 had two 50 minute lessons per week whilst years 10 and 11 both had one 50 minute lesson each week. The majority of pupils took the AQA short course whilst those who were more academically able took the full GCSE course.

Emma Honey remarked that in relation to current year 9 pupils the Department for Education had said all exams would be taken at the end of year 11. Some discussion followed, as Mr Stone did not believe that this was the case, according to information he had received. The Chairman expressed concern at the lack of clarity being given to schools regarding the future of RE. Reverend Varney did not feel the lack of clarity was acceptable. He went on to express appreciation and sympathy for the teaching staff in dealing with the unrest and uncertainty of the Government’s curriculum review.

The Chairman commented that the uncertainty could affect the welfare and development of children in the Borough and asked there was anything SACRE could do to help. Virginia Corbyn suggested that further clarification be sought from the Department of Education and Councillor Manning suggested that perhaps Bob Stewart MP could ask a question in Parliament about this.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

Report No. DCYP12016

The Chairman and RE Adviser had met with Beverley Johnston, Head of Education Commissioning and Business Services to discuss the development plan for Bromley SACRE for the next 15 months.  A draft development plan had been prepared and was circulated at the meeting for discussion. (See Appendix 2). It was noted that the priority of a SACRE is to monitor RE and collective worship in schools and support schools in the provision of excellent RE.

Over the previous year SACRE had discussed the need for a review of the Bromley Agreed Syllabus, which was launched five years ago, and a review of the 2004 handbook used in primary schools (scheme of work).  This needed to be decided upon, as the law dictated that a review must take place every five years. Some of the more recently appointed SACRE members* did not have a copy of the Agreed Syllabus and the RE Adviser agreed to email a link to them. (*Councillor Adams, Councillor Norrie, Samantha Barnett and Sue Polydorou) (Action PSO)

It was reported that the budget for SACRE for the financial year 2012/13 would remain the same as that for 2011/12, with the number of days allocated for the RE Adviser remaining at 35 days per annum. Therefore in order to carry out a review of the syllabus some aspects of the development plan might have to be given a lesser priority.

Reverend Varney expressed the view that it was important not to drop SACRE objectives and suggested that perhaps some of the work currently carried out by the RE Adviser, such as school visits could be delegated to SACRE members. The RE Adviser stated that delegation was something she had considered.  However, with regard to school visits she felt that these were also a useful opportunity for her to discuss issues with teachers. Reverend Varney suggested that perhaps one of the SACRE members attending a visit could write up the report. He also questioned whether the SACRE Annual Report needed to be produced and was advised that this was a statutory requirement. Reverend Varney said that perhaps this was something which could also be delegated. The Chairman concurred with the view that delegation was a good idea.

Virginia Corbyn commented that the law stated only the Agreed Syllabus had to be reviewed and it was not essential that the scheme of work had to be updated at this time. The RE Adviser suggested that it is the 2004 scheme of work that needs updating to include new cross curricular activities as much as the Agreed Syllabus. Emma Honey remarked that one of the strengths about the Bromley Agreed Syllabus was that it was supported by guidance from the scheme of work.

The RE Adviser confirmed that the review would not start with a blank sheet of paper and the current Agreed Syllabus would be used as a basis. She advised that the review would involve contacting schools to ask the RE co-ordinators  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

Report No. DCYP12017

The RE Adviser, Jan Thompson and Mr Riat had visited Raglan Primary School on 19^th January 2012, and a report of the visit was circulated. (See Appendix 3). The RE Adviser commented on the successful visit which had taken place. The school showed excellent practice in RE and was a good example to others. It was noted that a visit to Balgowen Primary School was planned for Monday 6^th February 2012. Councillor Adams and Councillor Mrs Manning would be accompanying the RE Adviser.

Details of school visits for the summer term were not yet available.

RESOLVED that  the report of the school visit be noted.

a)  2012 Inter Faith Walks – 14^TH and 15^TH JULY 2012

The South London Inter Faith Group was celebrating thirty years of activity. For the last fifteen years they had organised an annual inter-faith walk and instead of one walk happening in July 2012 their vision is that there would be numerous walks happening all over South London on the same weekend (July 14/15). The RE Adviser said that the idea of the walk was to stop at different places of worship on route. She understood that the nearest ready made walk  centred around Catford. A planning meeting would be taking place in the Education Centre at Southwark Cathedral at 6.30pm on Wednesday 8^th February 2012. If any one was interested in organising a walk for Bromley and attending the meeting  they were asked to speak to the RE Adviser after the meeting for further details.

b)  Young Inter-faith Projects -  The NASACRE/Westhill Awards 2012/13

Three years ago an award from the above had helped to set up the Youth SACRE. The Westhill Foundation Trustees had allocated a sum of money for further awards to SACREs of up to £4,000 for comparable projects during the academic year 2012/13. Applications were invited for this next round of awards and details were passed to Fiona Hawkes and Jed Stone for further consideration.

c) Visit to St Vincent’s Catholic Primary School

Mr Riat informed SACRE members that he had recently attended St Vincent’s Catholic Primary School in Mottingham, where he had spoken to the children about Sikhism. The children had shown a lot of interest and he had enjoyed the visit very much.

Wednesday 30th May 2012

Wednesday 7^th November 2012

Wednesday 6^th March 2013

Wednesday 5^th June 2013

All meetings to start at 6.30pm

Emma Honey commented that the meeting date for 5^th June 2013 might be difficult as this would be in the middle of the exam season. (The proposed date would receive further consideration.)