Meeting documents

RESOLVED that Derek Holloway be appointed Chairman of SACRE for this meeting only.

Derek Holloway advised that he was stepping down from the role of Chairman after this meeting and invited other members to consider whether they wished to take up the position; Derek asked if Legal and Democratic Services could check prior to the next meeting whether co-opted Members could be appointed Chairman or Vice Chairman of SACRE.
 

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

Apologies for absence were received from Reverend Michael Camp, Councillor Mrs Walton, and Sue Langdon.

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting held on 10th March 2015, having been previously circulated, be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

(Minute 10- 10.03.15) Consideration of Conference Attendance by Teachers

The Chairman suggested there was a need to consider if there were any particular conferences that RE Teachers might find beneficial to attend and undertook to provide details to Sue Langdon (Senior Adviser for School Monitoring & Intervention).
 

Ren Diallo undertook to prepare a Reflection for presentation at the beginning of the next SACRE meeting.

Derek Holloway referred to the Report which outlined a number of areas for SACRE to consider in relation to the Bournemouth and Poole agreed syllabus for Religious Education (RE) for 2015-16. A wide ranging discussion took place, during which the following points were noted:

• There was a need to consider how much regard to give to the 2013 Religious Education Council `National Curriculum Framework for RE (NCFRE); the guidance documents confirmed that the Curriculum for RE aimed to ensure that all pupils:
(a) Knew about and understood a range of religions and worldviews;
(b) Expressed ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions and worldviews;
(c) Gained and deployed the skills needed to engage seriously with religions and worldviews.

• The SACRE felt that (a) and (b) above could potentially be incorporated as individual strands in the Syllabus and that (c) above could be melded with them;

• (Component Part 1)- There was a need to consider: (i) which religions and worldviews should be studied and when; (ii) which religions should be studied in greater and lesser depth; (iii) should teaching on Islam be included as a requirement in both Primary and Secondary Phases; (iv) should Buddhism be added to the list of religions to be taught if Schools choose, in the Primary phase (etc);

• It was felt that Islam could be covered in greater depth and agreed that Miriam Abdelhalim would contact Jan Lever to discuss this in further detail;

• Should Schools emphasise the underpinning concepts, beliefs and theology? It was suggested that it could be helpful to put religions into historical context and felt that this could be a scheme of work rather than a syllabus module;

• It was suggested that a “Concept Tree” could be provided for each of the religions and worldviews to be studied; the concept of the 7 days of creation could also be included, with consideration given to incorporating the science-vs-religion debate; there was now a greater emphasis on “character education” rather than only on “academic education”

• (Component 5)- SACRE felt that the enquiry-approach pedagogy could be retained;

• (Component 6)- it was suggested that if the NCFRE 3 strands were adopted, the Key Stage Progress Grids and Performance Levels could be retained; there was a need to consider how measurable progress could be shown for children with special needs in mainstream schools;

• For Key Stage 3, the SACRE considered whether to be consistent in following the NCFRE approach with the 3 strands, or to keep with the current 5 questions; it was felt that at least 3 of the current questions could be retained; the new GCSE’s would have a more practical, contextual base, and guidance could be sought from Key Stage 3 Teachers on what they felt would work;

• For young people aged 14-19 years, it was felt that that students could be entitled to follow an accredited course in RE/Religious Studies;

• SACRE was advised that there had been an increase in hate incidents against Muslim pupils in Schools in recent months; Miriam Abdelhalim explained that the Bournemouth Islamic Centre worked with Schools if an incident occurred and it was agreed that information on this service should be provided to all Schools in Bournemouth and Poole at the earliest opportunity; Miriam Abdelhalim undertook to forward this information to Vicky Wales (Poole’s Head of Children, Young People and Learning);

• Further opportunities could be explored to inform the local community of different religions, with a view to celebrating similarities, and respecting differences; there was a need to build greater religious literacy for children and adults and this could be achieved through seminars, debates, etc; the Faith Links organisation was offering awareness days in the local area, which residents and other interested parties might not currently be aware of;

• SACRE noted the recommendation that when the syllabus structure was agreed and re-worked (e.g. under 3 strands), faith and worldview representatives would be invited to work with Jan Lever, to agree the wording etc for their sections.

RESOLVED that the feedback provided by SACRE in relation to an agreed syllabus for Religious Education for Poole and Bournemouth be provided to Jan Lever.
 

SACRE was referred to the report “A New Settlement: Religion and Belief in Schools (Westminster Faith Debates)”, which provided a number of recommendations on the act of collective worship, the curriculum, and the future of Faith Schools. It was felt that reform was needed on each of these areas and that a holistic approach could be helpful in updating the relationship between religions and schools.

The Government was also proposing to transform the role of local SACREs, with a potential move towards a national SACRE. A NASACRE (National Association of SACRE’s) briefing paper was provided to SACRE, which identified a number of areas for consideration on these proposals. It was noted that once the SACRE’s had considered a response, it would be useful if they could be sent to NASACRE, to ensure that its own position reflected that of its membership when speaking to Government.

GCSE’s
The Chairman reported that new GCSE’s were being introduced for every subject in the Curriculum, the Examination Boards had needed to produce new specifications, and all pupils now needed to study 2 different religions.

RESOLVED that the Report be noted.
 

SACRE was informed of the following, forthcoming Holocaust Memorial Events:

26th January 2016- A Memorial Event would be held on 26th January 2016 for Schools in the conurbation and a survivor would be attending to speak of their experiences; only a small number of Schools had responded so far, and it was agreed that a reminder invitation would be sent to all Schools in the area (including Preparatory Schools), and to the Chairs of Governing Bodies;

27th January 2016- A short Memorial Event would be taking place at the Holocaust Memorial in Bournemouth’s Winter Gardens;

31st May 2016- Memorial events would also be held at the Bournemouth International Centre and at the Poole Lighthouse (Centre for the Arts) on 31st May 2016.
 

Derek Holloway informed SACRE of the Learn, Teach, Lead RE Project (LTDRE), which aimed to improve the quality of Religious Education in all schools in the South West Region through: “(i) building communities of RE Teachers across the region in “hubs”; (ii) engaging in research projects; (iii) disseminating best practice; and (iv) creating partnerships with others”.

The Project had been launched in October 2012 through funding by the St Luke’s College foundation and expertise and funding was provided by local Diocese for individual regions. Funding had become available from Salisbury Diocese, to extend the scheme to the East “Region 3”, which would include the Poole area.

A discussion ensued during which the following points were noted:

• LTLRE worked alongside many national research projects and initiatives to improve the quality of RE teaching and learning in Schools;
• LTLRE could be a very useful resource for Poole SACRE as a means of addressing local need (e.g. a Conference could be held for Region 3) and only a small, token amount of funding would be required to become a member;
• Local Teachers could become “hub leaders” which could be beneficial for career progression;
• A representative from LTLRE could be invited to attend a future meeting of SACRE to explain the role of the organisation.

Dave Rees agreed to be Poole SACRE’s contact for LTLRE and undertook to keep SACRE Members updated on developments.

RESOLVED that the information provided regarding the “Learn, Teach, Lead RE Project” be noted.
 

Tuesday, 8th March 2016, at 4:00pm; the SACRE suggested that this Meeting could take place at Bournemouth Islamic Centre and asked the Clerk to make arrangements with Miriam Abdelhalim.

Derek Holloway- Thank you

SACRE Members expressed sincere thanks to Derek Holloway for the commitment, dedication, and expertise that he had brought to SACRE, over several years in his role as Chairman; SACRE confirmed that Derek would be greatly missed and wished him all the very best for the future.