a) Agreed Syllabus – Update
b) Report of London SACRE AGM
c) Islamic competition 2010
d) Youth SACRE
Minutes:
a) Agreed Syllabus - Update
The RE Adviser informed the meeting that Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) had published a report in June 2010 entitled “Transforming Religious Education”. The report evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of religious education in primary and secondary schools, and was based on evidence from visits to 94 primary and 89 secondary schools in England between 2006 and 2009. The RE Adviser remarked that the number of schools inspected represented only half a percent of the number of schools in the country and only two schools in the Greater London area had been included. The RE Adviser gave a presentation to the meeting of the key messages outlined in the report (Appendix 1).
The RE Adviser reported that a number of Local Authority RE Advisers were looking at a revised RE syllabus across the country and 42 different local authorities were involved. They were not looking at a national syllabus but at something which had national base with local arrangements. The Bromley SACRE RE Adviser informed the meeting that she had joined the group on behalf of the three SACREs she represented, so that she could keep abreast of what was happening. Members of the group involved Alan Brine (Ofsted Specialist RE Adviser) and Mark Chater (QCDA RE Consultant). The next meeting of the group was due to be held on 9th December 2010.
Following a general discussion the Chairman suggested that the RE Adviser give an update on the work of the group at the next SACRE meeting, and consideration be given as to how this might affect the future agreed syllabus conference.
b) Report of London SACRE AGM
The Chairman, RE Adviser, Councillor Manning and Mr Mahmood had attended the annual meeting of the London and South-East SACREs held at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church on 18th June 2010. The RE Adviser had spoken on the 6th Form Event and a lot of enquiries were received asking how the event had been set up. Mr Mahmood had also spoken about the Islamic competition. The Chairman made the comment that Bromley SACRE was regarded as a “keen and enthusiastic”.
c) Islamic competition 2010
Mr Mahmood confirmed that this event would take place at Darul Uloom on 4th November 2010 between 7-9pm. If Members of SACRE wished to attend they were asked to notify Mr Mahmood at least one week before in order to assist with catering. There was a “modesty” dress code and ladies were asked to wear a head covering. The Chairman asked if it might be worthwhile inviting local church ministers to attend. Mr Mahmood said that he would email details to the Chairman for him to pass these on.
d) Youth SACRE
The RE Adviser informed SACRE members that so far there had been one meeting of the Youth SACRE during the Autumn Term and the next meeting was due to be held on 8th November 2010. Rae Michaelis, the Jewish Representative on SACRE had agreed to attend the meeting with the RE Adviser as she was keen to talk to the Youth SACRE.
On 17th November 2010 some children from Coopers School and some of the Youth SACRE were going to attend the synagogue in Highland Road, Bromley. They were going to film an interview with Rabbi Tony Hammond and make a film showing a “virtual tour” of the synagogue. It was hoped that a similar exercise would be carried out at Bromley Parish Church on another day and that the films would be a useful learning resource for others.
Mr Mahmood asked if the SACRE website was yet in existence and was told by the RE Adviser that there was a page for Bromley SACRE on the internet Managed Learning Environment ‘Fronter’. The RE Adviser confirmed that access to ‘Fronter’ was restricted to schools in the borough who had bought into the system and there were different levels of access. SACRE Members agreed that the RE Adviser could pass on their email addresses to the IT officer concerned, so that they could be issued with a password in order for them to access the SACRE page on ‘Fronter’.
e) Philosophy Dissertation
A Masters dissertation by Jed Stone (SACRE Teacher representative from Bullers Wood School) had previously been circulated to SACRE Members, who had been invited to give him feedback if they so wished. Jed Stone spoke at the SACRE meeting and outlined the content of the dissertation entitled “Philosophical Enquiry in Religious Education: Pupil Perspectives”. The research undertook to answer the question of whether Philosophy for Children should be used in religious education. Philosophy for Children is an enquiry driven way of learning and encouraged pupils to be thinkers rather than rote learners.
The Chairman advised SACRE Members that any questions or comments on the dissertation should be referred direct to Jed Stone.