Agenda item

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 thanks to Fiona Hawkes (a teacher at Coopers Technology College and a Member of SACRE), for the huge support she had given to the Youth SACRE.

The Chairman thanked the members of Youth SACRE for attending the meeting. Members of SACRE found the film very interesting and agreed that it would be a useful learning resource for other pupils. They noted that a similar exercise would be carried out at Bromley Parish Church.

e)    Holocaust Memorial Day

This event had been organised by Mandy King (Pupil Support Service) and had taken place at Ravensbourne School. Two holocaust survivors had spoken at the event and the local synagogue had also been involved. The event had been well attended by pupils from both primary and secondary schools. Emma Honey suggested that schools could be encouraged to undertake a holocaust memorial lesson themselves and there was a short free video available which they could use. The RE Adviser said that Primary schools had been encouraged to mark the 27^th January in their  collective worship and some RE co-ordinators had done this. Reverend Varney commented on the importance of such events but was unaware that it had taken place. The Chairman asked the RE Adviser to contact Mandy King to find out the date for the Holocaust event in 2012 and notify SACRE Members of this at their meeting in the Autumn Term.

f)    RE in Secondary Schools

 The RE Adviser informed Members that a response had been received from the Department for Education relating to the introduction of the English Baccalaureate. The DFE had stated that RE is not included as fulfilling the humanity requirement of the English Baccalaureate, because it is already a compulsory subject. One of the intentions of the English Baccalaureate is to encourage wider take up of geography and history in addition to, rather than instead of, compulsory RE.

A letter received by Cornwall SACRE from Michael Gove, Education Minister, made it clear that Religious Education is still a statutory subject to be taught from a locally agreed syllabus in all schools to all registered pupils and, as such is not part of the National Curriculum review.The RE Adviser also referred to a recent statement of the government’s position as recorded in the Parliamentary record, Hansard.

The RE Adviser commented that there appeared to be some confusion nationally, as some schools did not appear to be clear about the statutory requirement for RE to be taught in schools and were no longer teaching RE. Emma Honey suggested that it would be helpful for secondary schools to be reminded that the teaching of RE is a statutory requirement.

General discussion on the subject took place and the Diocesan Adviser suggested that Bromley SACRE write to the Government to ask what they are doing to enforce the law on teaching RE in schools. She suggested that the RE Adviser draft a letter to the Minister of Education for the Chairman to sign on behalf of Bromley SACRE.

The Chairman suggested that it would be helpful to know how academies and free schools will work with SACRE, and she would contact George Searle to seek clarification.

g)  Science and Religion Seminar

On 3^rd February 2011, The Company of Educators held a seminar on Science and Religion and it was understood that Mr Gupta had planned to attend. As Mr Gupta was unable to attend the SACRE meeting and give some feedback on the seminar, the Chairman requested that he be asked to provide comments for the next SACRE meeting.