BOROUGH OF POOLE
STANDING ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (SACRE)
25TH NOVEMBER 2008
The Meeting commenced at 4.00pm and concluded at 6.35pm
Present:
Group A Revd Brian Bishop -Free Churches
Mrs Penny Estall – Quakers
Mrs Susan Kouchek-Zadeh - Baha’i Faith
Mrs Bharati Joshi – Hindu
Group B Mr Derek Holloway (Chairman) – Church of England
Group CMrs Penny Martin – Teacher Rep. (Oakdale South Road Middle School)
Angela Muir - Winchelsea School
Group DCouncillor Roger Gregory – Borough of Poole
Councillor Charles Meachin – Borough of Poole
Also in attendance:
Co-optedMr Phillip Mayer, Dorset Humanist
Mr Danny BrownPace Trust (Programme for Applied Christian
Education
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Members of the public present:0
- APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mrs Janet Walton, Mr Tariq Palmer and Mrs Debra Harris.
- RESIGNATION
The Clerk advised that Mrs Debra Harris had reluctantly resigned from the Standing Council for Religious Education due to work pressures. Mrs Harris had indicated that she would still assist, if required, but felt she could no longer give the Council work time commitment it required.
RESOLVED that the Clerk write to Mrs Harris on behalf of the Council thanking her for her work and commitment over the years and to seek a nomination to see if Mrs Harris could help identify a nominee of the Jewish faith to help to replace her on SACRE.
- PROGRAMME FOR APPLIED CHRISTIAN EDUCATION (PACE)
With the consent of the Chairman the order of the Agenda was varied. Mr Danny Brown, Director of the above organisation, was invited to give a presentation regarding the future work of PACE in local schools.
Mr Brown explained that PACE aimed to promote Christian work in schools through assemblies Christian meetings, RE lessons through the 15 Secondary Schools, 18 Middle/Junior Schools in the Poole and Bournemouth area, the message being from the Christian confessional standpoint. Typical topics covered by PACE were “What is a Christian?” “What does Easter/ Christmas mean?” A Newsletter “Schools work” was produced and the key message is of one of understanding, the dispelling of ignorance and PACE sought to help the journey of being faith and understanding, helping to educate in schools, not to preach.
Pastoral care work
There were 20 Pastoral care workers in schools and this work had commenced in Hamworthy. The Council asked a number of questions as follows:-
- What is a confessional standpoint?
- What does the subject consist of?
- What does it mean witnessing to faith need to be upfront about faith?
Part of PACE’s message was to make children think about how Christianity could affect life. As a Hamworthy Ward Councillor, Councillor Gregory praised Mr Brown for this pastoral work which was being undertaken and felt that teachers really appreciated PACE and how it worked. The Chairman queried how the pastoral care was funded? Mr Brown explained that there were three full time employees the rest were part-time. Mrs Muir commented that the pastoral care worker had facilitated much of the work at Montacute School and felt that this was an excellent assistance.
Work within the Borough of Poole
Mr Brown explained that he had worked with Jan Lever and David Rees and had started a number of pieces of work and Christian visits in school. He had assembled a team and there was a training afternoon on the 17th November. They had looked at what the Education Act says and lesson planning with visual aids etc., to help teachers and to influence expectations. This partnership working was well received.
Mr Rees commented that it was a very valuable experience having PACE within school as the quality of work was excellent.
The Standing Council thanked Mr Brown for his excellent presentation and wished him well with his continuing good work.
- MINUTES
RESOLVED that the Minutes of the last Meeting of the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education held on 24th June 2008 having been previously circulated, be taken as read and confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.
- SUBSTITUTIONS
The Council was keen that substitutes for each Group should be accepted and that the details be refined for future presentation.
RESOLVED that the principle of substitutes for each of the Groups on SACRE be accepted and the Constitution accordingly amended.
- STORAGE OF RESOURCES
Mr Rees reported that RE resources have been stored at Bournemouth Learning Centre but that this was to be relocated to the Bishop of Winchester School and was not likely to be up and running until the New Year. Concern was expressed that it would be difficult for teachers to access the resources as it was a Bournemouth, Poole resource. Mr Rees shared the concerns but was determined that this would not become just a Bournemouth resource. He suggested moving the RE network briefings there. Councillor Meachin suggested that the Head of Adult Education and Community Learning be consulted to see if there was storage at the Museum. The Chair suggested that it was essential to ensure that resources were used by all and that it was worth using the Bishop of Winchester School. Part of the issue was who maintained the resources an in a school it was much easier. It was suggested that a SACRE meeting be held at the Bishop of Winchester School in the summer. The Council concurred.
RESOLVED that a summer meeting of the SACRE be held at the Bishop of Winchester School.
- RELIGION AND SCIENCE IN THE 21ST CLASSROOM
The Council considered the University of Birmingham publication circulated to SACRE Members by Dr Tonie Stolberg.
This Publication aimed to give SACREs and curriculum planners a coherent pedological approach for the integration of religion and science issues, topics and questions into the religious education curricula.
The Council noted that the publication distribution had been made possible by the Hockerill Educational Foundation.
The Chairman explained that this publication was an exemplar of one methodological approach to teaching RE of which the Hampshire agreed Syllabus was an example. This was not necessarily consistent with the non-statutory framework upon which the Poole syllabus was based. On this issue and that of the national curriculum which stated “Religious Education provokes challenging questions about the ultimate meaning and purpose of life, beliefs about God, the self and the nature of reality, issues of right and wrong and what it means to be human.” This Document offered an alternative approach. The Council felt this was a useful document for informing views and felt that most teachers used both approaches.
RESOLVED that the Publication be noted.
- COMMUNITY COHESION
The Chairman introduced his Report explaining that schools had a duty to promote community cohesion from September 2007 and would be inspected on it from September 2008. He felt the school would not be judged on the community in the context in which it existed from its:
- Engagement and ethos
- Equality and excellence
- Teaching, learning and curriculum
The Schools needed to think about the community it serves and about the teaching within Religious Education about Britain’s faith community. For example, Islam should be reflected in how it was lived in Poole and Bournemouth. There were three dimensions: faith, race and socio-economic.
As part of the Inspection, schools were to be judged on how well they contributed to community cohesion with the views of pupils and their knowledge and understanding about their community and the way the school promoted cohesion within it would form an essential part of the evidence base for the judgement.
The Chairman drew attention to a number of questions which would be asked on inspection of community cohesion. The Chairman asked who was responsible within the Borough of Poole for community cohesion in schools? It was explained that community cohesion came within the role of the Strategic Director, Adult Social Services and that it would be checked whether this was also a part of her role or whether that fell within the Director of Children’s Services role.
RESOLVED that the report of the Chairman be noted.
- NATIONAL UPDATE
The Chairman reported that the Rose Report on the “Son of Circular 194” was due to be published in the Autumn term 2009 and this contained guidance to SACREs on reviewing the agreed syllabus with 18 months then until the syllabus would be taught from September 2011. The Chairman explained that, using analogy of 6 slices of pizza, there would be an RE was a rich slice involved and should include experiences such as visiting places of worship, concepts and big ideas using the non-statutory frame work as a basis for consultation on these proposals. With regard to the “pizza topping” he was unhappy that RE was being placed with history and geography as he felt the subject had as much to contribute to areas such as art and English. He felt RE was a separate and important topic which should remain as a single topic.
RESOLVED that the Chairman’s Report on the national update be noted.
- POOLE’S ANNUAL SACRE REPORT
Mr Rees circulated a draft copy of the Annual Report 2007/8 and asked Members of the Council for comment via e-mail .
RESOLVED that the report be noted and comments passed to Mr Rees before the Christmas break.
CHAIRMAN
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