Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were received from Sally Tempest; Malkit Panesar and Councillors Mrs Walton and Wilkins.

Dave Rees declared an interest as an employee on an occasional consultancy basis of ‘Jan Lever Education Consultancy and Training’.

There were no other Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

RESOLVED that Derek Holloway be elected Chairman of SACRE for the ensuing Municipal Year.

RESOLVED that Angela Muir be elected Vice-Chairman of SACRE for the ensuing Municipal Year.

RESOLVED

that subject to correcting the list of apologies to read Sally Tempest and subject to including Karen Preston in the list of those attending the Meeting, the Minutes of the Meeting held on 18th March 2014 having been previously circulated, be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
 

The Meeting was advised that preparations were underway for Holocaust Memorial Day on 27th January 2015.
 

As this was the first Meeting of SACRE of the Municipal Year, a copy of the Terms of Reference was received for information. It was understood that, in the case of SACRE, the Terms were largely specified by Government Circular and that the opportunity for making changes was therefore limited. It was accepted that, within the constraints of limited available resources it would never always be possible to achieve everything set out in the Terms of Reference.

Although no substantive changes to the Terms of Reference were suggested, it was agreed that every effort should be made to achieve the widest possible representation from the different Faith Groups across the Borough.  It was considered particularly essential to encourage representatives of Young People as envisaged.

Representatives of Junior School Teachers would also be useful and there remained the opportunity to utilise the ‘Co-opted Members’ category to include these within the work of the SACRE.

RESOLVED

that the Terms of Reference be noted.

For information, an All Party Parliamentary Group Report on the role of RE and Good Community Relations had been circulated with the Agenda and it was noted that it contained a number of suggestions relating to and affirming the role of SACRE. A more detailed commentary was expected by way of follow-up to this initial document and there would need to be further discussion at that time.
 

Consideration was given to the budgetary and financial implications of proposals for use of the SACRE budget.

The Meeting referred to the potential benefits of closer joint working with Bournemouth SACRE and there was an opportunity to raise that possibility at a forthcoming Bournemouth and Poole Network Meeting. It was noted that many representatives served on both SACREs.

It was reported that the total budget was £4,000 and that £295 was currently allocated or retained.

It was particularly noted that continuing with termly RE network meetings would consolidate excellent progress made during the current year. It was also reported that the structured programme of support for new RE subject leaders had been very successful and had provided essential support to teachers both in terms of background training in RE and support generally in managing a curriculum area.

Consideration was given to the possibility of commissioning a detailed review of the RE service across the Borough and the intention would be to systematically evaluate current provision. It was agreed that the scope, operation and Terms of Reference of such a review would need to be carefully specified. It was suggested that an informal Sub-group would be useful to help design the review.

RESOLVED

(i) That £1,500 be allocated from the SACRE 2014-15 Budget towards the continuation of the termly RE network meeting;

(ii) That £1000 be allocated from the SACRE 2014-15 Budget towards the new RE Subject Leaders support programme;

(iii) That there be further discussion with the Bournemouth SACRE about the potential for working jointly on providing a programme of sessions aimed a providing RE teachers with an opportunity to meet with people from different faith communities to hear about their day-to-day religious life under the banner of ‘Dialogues with Religions’ and that a further report be brought to the next SACRE Meeting;

(iv) That a further report also be submitted to the next Meeting of SACRE regarding setting up and undertaking a review of RE in the Borough.
 

Expert Advisory Group

It was reported that three people from Dorset sat on the Group which was funded by Central Government and it was becoming an important reference point for RE issues and for provision of guidance and advice to Government.
 

GCSE and ‘A’ Level

The ‘A’ Level curriculum content was being reviewed to bring it into line with other subjects at that level. At the same time, the GCSE syllabus was being reviewed for the 2016 assessment and it appeared likely that there would be the opportunity to study a wider range of religions.
 

Hubs
 

It was reported that funding for ‘hubs’ was now available and it was expected that Hampshire and Dorset would both have ‘hubs’ in the initial phase. There would need to be a close look at how these fitted with the existing ‘RE

Networks’.

It was noted that Meeting dates during the current Municipal Year had been confirmed as 25th November 2014 and 10th March 2015 commencing at 4pm. The latter date was different from the date previously suggested as part of the draft arrangements.

Academies

Schools established as Academies would not be required to follow the syllabus established by SACRE although the functions of SACRE would still exist. In the Borough of Poole this was likely to have a particular impact at Secondary School level. It was noted, that at some stage in the future, SACRE would need to examine and discuss its own role.