Agenda item

Members had been provided with a copy of the SACRE Action Plan, covering the last year, which had been produced by the SACRE RE Adviser.

The SACRE RE Adviser noted that, despite the pandemic, the majority of items included in the Action Plan were marked in ‘green’ as completed. As the inter-faith calendar had now been printed and sent out to schools and SACRE Members, this could also be marked as complete. This highlighted that they had achieved everything they had set out to do during the year.

The items marked as ‘amber’ related to the Agreed Syllabus support materials, discussed earlier in the meeting, and the secondary RE network meeting that had been scheduled for the summer term. This had not taken place; however, a meeting had taken place early in the autumn term.

Following a suggestion from a SACRE Member, consideration would be given to producing online learning resources for pupils during the current academic year. Schools had also commented that this would be beneficial due to the likelihood of them needing to develop their blended learning. It was highlighted that religion was different for every individual, and that everybody had a different understanding.

One of the things that the SACRE RE Adviser wanted to try and develop, together as a SACRE, was some real resources for pupils. There was huge diversity within religion, and in addition to building up teachers’ subject knowledge, it was hoped there would also be an appreciation of diversity and inclusivity. The suggestion was to produce some electronic resources that teachers could use in school, of religious practice by real people – such as SACRE Members. An example of this was the production of video tours inside Bromley places of worship. It was noted that GCSE students would also benefit from copies of sermons, as they provided discussions of religious teachings, followed by the debate and understanding.

A Member stated that this sounded like a good idea. The initial suggestion had been sparked by an article in the latest NASACRE Briefing, which noted that funding (up to £4k) could be bid for through the Westhill / NASACRE Award for 2021-22. It was thought that, if successful, the funding could be used to buy-in the technology support to produce some high-quality videos. The SACRE RE Adviser highlighted that this also linked with a previous action of collecting contacts for visitors to go into schools. Due to the current situation, these visits would not be able to take place, and going forward people may be more comfortable recording a video than going into schools. The Chairman noted that a number of churches he was in contact with already put their sermons online, and since lockdown, he had uploaded all services onto YouTube.

A Councillor representative emphasised that he strongly supported the suggestion, and it was a great idea to make online resources available. It was noted that it may take a few years to build up a bank of materials, but this was something positive that should be welcomed.

The SACRE RE Adviser suggested that she would draft a strategy for collating these resources, which would then be put to SACRE Members. 

    ACTION: SACRE RE Adviser