Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Cllr Mike Cox, Dave Pegg, Trevor Willis, Peter Thomson and Shelley Jones.  Lynda Ford Horne and Cllr Burton would be joining the meeting later.

Due to the planned and anticipated lateness of the Chair, it was agreed that the Vice Chair would Chair this meeting of the Committee.

As there was no one new in the group, there was no need for introductions.

To receive an opening reflection from the Vice Chair.

The Vice Chair in Chair read a poem by Elizabeth Daryush – For a Survivor of the Mesopotamian campaign about war, reflecting on the current wars across the world.

The Vice Chair welcomed someone to deliver the opening reflections at the next meeting in June.

To confirm the minutes of the meetings held on 17 July 2024 and 20 November 2024

The Minutes of the meetings held on 17 July 2024 and 20 November 2024 were confirmed as accurate records to be signed by the Chair, subject to the following amendment to the minutes of 20 November 2024:

• in point 16, 3^rd paragraph it reads: It was noted Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole had a newly formed interfaith group where 150 people came to tell their stories. This should be amended to read: The newly formed BCP interfaith group held a Living Book event at Bournemouth Library. 150 came to hear about the stories of people from 6 different faiths.

A Committee Member enquired about the outstanding actions detailed within the minutes and the Chair advised he would undertake to check whether any were outstanding and bring them to the next meeting for an update.  ACTION.

The Committee was advised that the Annual Report was completed in September 2024 and there was no further update to be provided at this time.

In response to a query about whether the Committee would see the report before submission to NASACRE, the Education Advisor confirmed she would check the current situation and report back as she understood that had already happened.  ACTION.

Post meeting note – having checked the minutes of the November meeting, the annual report was not considered at that meeting.

The Education Advisor advised the Committee that letters were sent out for expressions of interest for the SACRE Advisor position, with the deadline for applications being 10 March 2025.

The reviewing and shortlisting timescale was detailed with the interview process anticipated during week commencing 21 April 2025.

In response to a query from the Vice Chair in the Chair regarding who would be involved in the decision-making process, the Committee was advised that the Education Advisor would check the commissioning arrangements and confirm back.  ACTION.

There was some discussion over the funding BCP SACRE was allocated and it was noted it got £5,000 per year with an increase to approximately £15,000 on years when it was necessary to review the syllabus.  The Education Advisor provided an approximate breakdown of how the budget was distributed annually.

In response to a query about the income generated from sharing the syllabus with Dorset and Wiltshire, the Committee was advised that it went back into the budget for syllabus.

The Diocesan Representative circulated a report and chart which highlighted differences between budgets for Dorset, BCP and Wiltshire and acknowledged the difference in budget allocated to BCP during syllabus years which would increase the overall budget provided.

It was noted that BCP had a high number of academies which meant the money received to BCP SACRE could potentially be lower than those of neighbouring authorities, so that context needed to be considered.

It was highlighted that BCP SACRE was working well on the funding provided and that any request for an increase would need to be demonstrated with a need.

There was some further discussion about comparisons and the potential of a review of the funding provided to BCP SACRE and it was highlighted by the Diocesan Representative that the cost of the Clerk and funds the Diocese provided for the local network groups were not included, which increased the overall provision for BCP SACRE.

The Vice Chair in the Chair concluded it was beneficial to have a full understanding of the provision, the need for transparency and to consider what SACRE could do in the future to gain more funding should it be required.

The RE advisor went through the Action Plan which had been circulated with the agenda.

The Committee was provided an update on Aim A - Core Work and the RE Advisor reassured the Committee that when he attended conferences and events on behalf of SACRE, he split the cost with the other SACRE’s he supported.

The RE Advisor provided an update on Aim B and advised of the termly newsletter which was circulated.  He requested should any SACRE Members have any information they would like included, then to let him and the Education Advisor know.  ACTION.

The Committee was of the need to keep an up-to-date database of RE Leads, with the benefits highlighted including gathering feedback on the use of the syllabus and any further support which could be provided. It was noted the arranging of the Conference had assisted with this updating exercise.  It was also noted that following its success last year, it was hoped the conference would be an annual event.

The Committee was advised of the ongoing work with the Hub Leads and it was noted further information would be provided about that in the next agenda item.

The Committee was advised of the national and local conferences and events the RE Advisor had attended and the need to consider how the information received at those events could be shared.  ACTION.

There was some discussion regarding collective worship and the Diocesan Representative circulated Wiltshire’s updated SACRE collective worship content for the Committee’s information.  It was noted that for the BCP content, the Vice Chair was keen to include some SEND provision.

The Diocesan Representative shared a document with the Committee which detailed the Local RE Network/Hub Groups for 2024/25 for Wiltshire, Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and provided some further information on the events shown.

It was highlighted that two of the Committee Members ran ‘BCP 1’ which held events for BCP and the details of the next event were provided as being on Tuesday 6 May at Kinsleigh Primary School.  It was noted that funding stretched to two sessions a year with an online event planned for November.

The Committee was advised of upcoming dates for the diary which included an RE Conference on 26 March which was available for free to SACRE Committee Members and would be held on Zoom.  Should any members wish to attend, they were advised to contact the Diocesan Representative.  ACTION.

The Vice Chair in Chair advised of a meeting of SEND Teachers from BCP and Dorset who were RE Leads and the plan to set up an official Hub for SEND RE provision.

Any Other Business

A Committee Member highlighted a future event that needed to be notified to all BCP schools. The Committee was advised that the Bournemouth Hebrew Congregation had recently purchased the Bournemouth Reform Synagogue.  It was planned that in February 2027 there would be a two-week exhibition about the Jewish way of life in the Synagogue.  Once further details were known, they would be shared with the Committee.

The dates of future meetings of the Committee are:

·       18 June 2025

·       22 October 2025

It was confirmed that the date of the next meeting was 18 June 2025, and the clerk advised that there were set dates up until March 2026 which she would email out to the Committee.  ACTION.