Meeting documents

RESOLVED that Lynda Ford-Horne be elected Chairman for the ensuing Municipal Year.

RESOLVED that Reverend Michael Camp be elected Vice Chairman for the ensuing Municipal Year.

Apologies for absence were received from Chris Farrow, Councillors Howell and Wilkins.

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meetings held on 21 March and 18 April 2016 having been previously circulated, be confirmed as correct records and signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman welcomed Sally Hawksworth as the new Co-opted Humanist Representative and Hayley Lynam as the new Teacher Representative (Group C).

It was noted that consideration needed to be given to increasing the Membership of Poole SACRE.
 

Sue Langdon introduced Jan Lever to the Council. It was explained that since Derek Holloway had resigned his position as Chairman, it had become necessary to formally appoint an adviser for Poole SACRE. The Council noted the amount of support which had been purchased and that Jan provided professional support to other SACREs.

Jan Lever informed SACRE of her background and expertise including having recently assisted Poole and Bournemouth SACRE in updating their Locally Agreed Syllabus for the second time together with running network meetings and conferences on this matter.

Jan also advised SACRE of the creation of the ‘Discovery RE’ scheme of work which helped translate the Syllabus into action in the classroom. She advised she had brought copies for SACRE Members to take away.

Jan advised that Dave Rees would also be assisting her in providing support for Poole SACRE. Dave Rees also informed SACRE of his background and expertise.

The Chairman thanked Jan and Dave and welcomed the support Poole SACRE would receive.
 

Jan Lever provided the feedback regarding the joint Bournemouth and Poole revised syllabus launch conference. The Council noted that there were about 50 delegates who had attended the Conference.

Jan advised that the revisions to the Syllabus were highlighted including mandatory teaching at which key stage level. SACRE also noted that Members of the Council from the Jewish, Muslim and Humanist communities helped illustrate their faiths and beliefs by giving presentations.

Poole SACRE discussed the Conference and the following was highlighted:

• That when faith members present to audiences they may not necessarily have had training on how to teach or present their religion and this could be something that SACRE should consider in the future;
• The comments from SACRE Members who attended the Conference were very positive, that it “brought RE to life” and made the Syllabus very manageable, was good value for money and very beneficial to non RE specialists as well as those more experienced in delivering RE.

Jan Lever advised she would send through a link to SACRE members which would provide Members with access to the Powerpoint presentations used at the Conference.

In response to a query regarding why only one secondary school teacher attended and the possible reasons for that, SACRE considered ways in which it could engage secondary school teachers regarding the Syllabus and inviting them to the Poole RE Primary Network was considered.

The Chairman thanked Jan Lever and Dave Rees for all their help with the Syllabus and Conference.

With the consent of the Chairman, Agenda Item 11 was moved next on the Agenda for consideration.
 

Sue Langdon circulated a report regarding a proposal for a Joint SACRE with Bournemouth. The Report covered the background, the joint locally agreed syllabus, considerations, proposals, benefits and issues.

The Council noted that there were currently 4 Members who were Members of both Poole and Bournemouth SACREs.

The Council discussed the issue and generally felt that it could be beneficial. It noted that Bournemouth was keen to explore the possibility further.

It was requested that the Clerk send out the Constitution to SACRE Members. The Clerk advised that it would be prudent to wait and see what is happening with the potential local government reorganisation before progressing any further with this work.

It was requested that an update on this be put on the Agenda for the next meeting.
 

Dave Rees presented the feedback form the Poole Primary RE Network meeting and circulated the Minutes to SACRE.

The Council considered the Minutes and the following were discussed:

• A Member expressed concern that pupils were being withdrawn from RE when an Islamic speaker came in to schools
• A Teacher Representative explained how she dealt with parents who wished to withdraw their children from classes for whatever reason and it was felt that this good practice should be shared. It was requested that the Teacher Representative do a presentation on this at the next conference
• The definition of blocking was clarified and JL advised that blocking was more beneficial when teaching RE using the enquiry approach method
• Pupils visiting places of worship was discussed and it was felt that a ‘child friendly’ list of places of worship would be beneficial. Giving guidance to places of worship on how to be more child -friendly and to ensure the visit was beneficial for RE learning was discussed and it was felt that a good piece of Pan Dorset work could be undertaken regarding this.
 

Jan Lever circulated a document with her notes from the “Shaping the Future” NASACRE Conference and AGM and talked through it.

The Chairman advised that the UK was ahead of other countries with its delivery of RE.

Two recent research papers were shared at the NASACRE Conference and both suggested that work was needed on RE to ensure that this vital subject is not held back in its development by the education guidance issued regarding it, which was considered in the papers to not be keeping up with the needs of this subject.
 

Jan Lever circulated a Poole SACRE draft action plan 2016/2017. She advised that SACRE Members may wish to give it consideration for discussion at the Council’s next meeting.

The Council noted that under C1 the venues for the Primary network meetings were still to be advised and Jan Lever advised she would send them through to the Clerk for circulation.
 

The dates of future meetings were noted as follows:

• 22 November 2016 at 4pm (Room 133, Civic Centre)

• 21 March 2016 at 4pm (Council Chamber, Civic Centre)
 

The Chairman requested that future SACREs should start with a reflection which could be alternated between SACRE Members. The Chairman advised she would be willing to do the next reflection.

The safety pin campaign against racism was highlighted to SACRE Members.