Agenda item

A.)  ‘Ramadan 2019 - A Guide for Schools’ – Dr Omar Taha

B.)  NASACRE AGM

C.)  ‘How should Religious Education respond to a changing religious landscape?’ – NatCen Social Research

A.)    ‘RAMADAN 2019 – A SIMPLE GUIDE FOR SCHOOLS’ –

    DR OMAR TAHA

The Chairman welcomed Dr Omar Taha, Al-Emaan Centre (Keston Mosque) to the meeting, and thanked him for working with the SACRE RE Advisor to produce the amended version of the document ‘Ramadan 2019 – A Guide for Schools’, following suggestions made at the last meeting of the SACRE Members had been provided with a copy of the document in the agenda pack.

A member enquired what the dates would be for Ramadan 2019. Dr Taha responded that the precise dates would not be known until nearer the time, but it would begin around the 5^th or 6^th May, and end around the 3^rd or 4^th June 2019. This was because the Islamic calendar was a lunar calendar, which meant that the dates moved by approximately eleven days each year. Mr Mahmood requested that a sentence be included to explain how the dates moved each year.    ACTION: SACRE RE ADVISOR

Once the additional text had been included, it was agreed that the document could be uploaded to Fronter and circulated to schools via the School Bulletin and teacher RE networks. The Clerk would also provide Mr Kings with a copy to share with the schools across the Aquinas Trust.

  ACTION: SACRE RE ADVISOR / LBB Head of School Standards / Clerk

B.)    NASACRE AGM

The Chairman advised members that he would be attending the NASACRE Conference and AGM, which was being held on Wednesday 22^nd May 2019 at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Manchester. The theme of the conference would be ‘Cohesive Communities and Effective Partnerships; RE near and far (local, national, global)’, and he would report back on the NASACRE Conference and AGM at the next meeting of the SACRE.

C.)    ‘HOW SHOULD RELIGIOUS EDUCATION RESPOND TO A CHANGING RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE?’ – NATCEN SOCIAL RESEARCH

The Chairman reminded members that he had attended a presentation entitled ‘Howshould Religious Education respond to a changing religious landscape?’, at NatCen on 29^th November 2018. A summary of the event was tabled at the meeting, and is attached to the minutes at Appendix A. the Chairman said that it had been an interesting event with three main speakers: Rudi Lockhart (Chief Executive Officers, Religious Education Council for England and Wales), Andrew Copson (Chief Executive, Humanists UK) and Dr Lois Lee (Programme Leader, Understanding Unbelief). It was felt that as there had not been a speaker putting across clearly positive views of religion, the speakers were not balanced and had been chosen deliberately to cater to an opposing view.

The Chairman noted that the figures provided in Rudi Lockhart’s presentation stated that in 2010, 84% of the global population were religious, which was predicted to increase to 87% by 2050. The Chairman highlighted that this suggested that religion was growing worldwide, and that teaching about religion was therefore more important, not less. A member noted that the statistics provided stated that in 2017, 65% of the UK was non-religious, however that would not necessarily mean that they were not interested in Religious Education. The SACRE RE Advisor said that when pupil surveys were carried out, Religious Education tended to be a popular subject. Members agreed, and considered that this was because it gave everyone a chance to engage and share their own views.