a) NASACRE AGM
b) London SACRE
c) Islamic Competition 2011
d) Churches Networking Event
e) School Visits
Minutes:
a) NASACRE Annual Conference
The Chairman had attended the NASACRE Annual Conference on 11th May 2011, when Dr Robert Beckford had given a keynote address on “Effective SACREs engaging with Young People in the Big Society”. There was also a report on the NASACRE conference “Who’s RE is it anyway?” which had been held on 31st March 2011.
(The report is available on the NASACRE website on the following link: http://www.nasacre.org.uk/downloads/WhoseRE.pdf ).
In addition, John Keast (future Chairman of the RE Council) addressed the Annual Conference and spoke on the state of RE and future issues. Finally, Claire Dempsey, (who was about to start post 16 education), spoke movingly on the subject of “Why is RE important?”. (Notes of the NASACRE Annual Conference are attached to these minutes – Appendix 1.)
The Rev Canon Michael Camp said that it would be helpful to clarify the relationship between SACREs and academies. The Chairman remarked that comments were awaited from the Minister for Schools which would hopefully clarify the position. The RE Adviser informed the meeting that it was still a legal requirement for Academies to follow RE, and although they had to follow an agreed syllabus this did not have to be one which had been agreed locally. The Diocesan Adviser commented that Voluntary Aided church schools did not have to follow the locally agreed syllabus, and if they converted to an Academy this right went with them. It was up to the governing body to decide which syllabus to use. The Rev Canon Camp advised that most of the church schools followed the Diocesan syllabus.
Councillor Manning remarked that even though some schools were converting to academies she felt that many Head teachers wanted to maintain links with the Local Authority.
The Chairman commented that even though clarification of matters was awaited it was important for SACRE to be proactive and begin to plan the RE syllabus (see item 6 on this agenda).
b) London SACRE
A meeting was due to be arranged during the Autumn and members of SACRE would be notified of the details as soon as possible.
c) Islamic Competition 2011
As mentioned at the previous SACRE meeting, the next Islamic Competition would be held at Darul Uloom on 24th November 2011. Mr Mahmood hoped that more schools would take part this year. The RE Adviser informed the meeting that details relating to the Islamic Competition had been put on the Managed Learning Environment (MLE) SACRE page for Bromley schools. Mrs Hawkes who had attended the Competition with her pupils in 2010 said that she had a Powerpoint presentation and poster relating to the event and would email this to the RE Adviser to put on the MLE.
d) Churches Networking Event
During Celebrating RE Month (March 2011) the Chairman and RE Adviser had attended this event at Orpington Baptist Church, to which teachers and others had been invited. The Chairman commented that it had been encouraging to attend such a proactive event, which had been a good opportunity for local networking between teachers and groups of churches. The Chairman commented on the importance of encouraging relationships between schools, churches and other faith organisations.
e) School Visits
The Chairman, RE Adviser, Councillor Manning and Reverend Varney had visited Princes Plain School the previous week. A report on the visit would be submitted to the next SACRE meeting. The RE Adviser commented on the difficulty in arranging SACRE visits with schools, and would try to arrange another school visit during the next half term. She would give members as much notice as possible to see if they would be able to accompany her on the visit. Ms Tranchina suggested that if possible a rolling programme of planned school visits would be useful. SACRE members agreed that this would be a good idea. Councillor Manning suggested that Kevin Gerrard, the Partnerships and Planning Officer at the Local Authority might be able to assist as he arranged a programme of school visits for the Councillors. The RE Adviser agreed to contact him to see if he might be able to help. The Chairman suggested that perhaps a list could be drawn up of RE related questions which Councillors could ask on their planned school visits. The RE Adviser said that she would discuss this with the Partnerships and Planning Officer and emphasised that the school visits made by SACRE members were not inspections.
Mrs Hawkes asked about the RE Audit of schools which had been carried out several years earlier. The RE Adviser commented that this exercise had been interesting and had provided useful information on schools’ RE requirements. Although several secondary schools had completed the questionnaire, unfortunately not many primary schools had done so. Ms Tranchina wondered if it would be worth carrying out the audit again. The RE Adviser would make enquiries with the Education Department to see if this would be allowed