BOROUGH OF POOLE
STANDING ADVISORY COUNCIL ON RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (SACRE)
12 MARCH 2013
The Meeting commenced at 4:10pm and concluded at 5:35pm.
Present:
Group A:
Alison Dalton – Free Churches
Renate Diallo – Quaker
Mrs Lynda Ford-Horne – Judaism
Mrs Bharati Joshi - Hinduism
Sister Mohsina – Islam
Group B:
Mr Derek Holloway – Church of England (Chairman)
Group C:
Angela Muir – Special School (Vice Chairman)
Group D:
Councillor Mrs Le Poidevin (Substituting for Councillor Meachin)
Co-opted Member:
Phil Mayer, Humanist
Also in attendance:
Louise Saill, Democratic Support Officer, Legal and Democratic Services
Melsia Kraftner, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), Observer
Members of the Public in Attendance: 0
1.APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Meachin (substituted by Councillor Mrs Le Poidevin), Mrs Walton, Wilkins, Dave Rees, Jack Horwood, Malkit Panesar, Sarah Tempest, Karen Preston, Chris Farrow, Melanie Bright and Sue Langdon.
2.MINUTES
RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting held on 27 November 2012, having previously been circulated, be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the insertion of Sister Mohsina as present in Group A.
3.MATTERS ARISING
The Chairman welcomed Melsia Kraftner as an Observer to the Meeting. Melsia advised the Council that she was from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and they were interested in becoming a Member of Poole SACRE. The Chairman advised Melsia of the process of joining SACRE which included a short presentation on your faith.
A report was presentedon the Joint SACRE Meeting in Winchester. Lynda Ford-Horne advised that originally it had been a Meeting between five authorities and this had now risen to nine. She advised that Hampshire County Council was offering training for new SACRE Members on 7th May 2013, that it was free of charge and that it might be beneficial for new Poole SACRE Members. She advised that some of the training was on the Hampshire Agreed Syllabus which would differ from Poole’s but that it could still be beneficial. Sister Mohsina and Alison Dalton expressed an interest in attending and the Clerk advised that she would check but that she thought travel expenses would be refunded.
Sister Mohsina stated that she had not been sent a copy of the old Agreed Syllabus and the Clerk advised she would source a copy and send it to her.
4.NATIONAL UPDATES
The Chairman advised SACRE about the decision by Government to scrap the planned change to anEnglish Baccalaureate system of examination. This was good news for Religious Education (RE) as under the planned change it had not been incorporated. SACRE was informed that there was still a concern about which Examination Board would produce the GCSE in RE.
A discussion ensued about the quality of RE teachersas a result of the publication of the APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group) report on RE. SACRE was advised that there were fewer places being allocated at Teacher Training Colleges to RE teachers and that this was a cause for concern asRE would increasingly be delivered by non specialistRE teachers. SACRE was also advised that the APPG report had uncovered that for the Department for Education(DfE) statistics any teacher delivering one lesson of RE was classed as an RE Teacher. SACRE was advised that there were charitable grants and funding available to prospective RE Teachers of up to £3,000, however, it was funding for an RE Trainee Teacher within the Salisbury Diocese where there was no training college.
SACRE was advised that a subject report from Ofsted was due out in the near future.
5.RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (RE) AND THE PROPOSED NATIONAL CURRICULUM
The Chairman advised SACRE that in February the Government had published the proposed National Curriculum. SACRE was advised that RE did not form part of that Curriculum hence the need for SACRE Councils to create Locally Agreed Syllabuses (LAS). SACRE was advised about the different types of schools and whether they needed to follow the LAS. There was some further discussion over what had been included in the proposed National Curriculum and SACRE was advised that it was still at the consultation stage.
In response to a query, the Chairman advised that Circular 19/4 was legal guidance although it was dated it was still the most recent advice from Government on several issues.
6.RELIGIOUS EDUCATION COUNCIL (REC) TASK GROUPS AND RESPONSES
The Chairman referred to the Document which had been circulated with the Agenda. He advised SACRE that there were 10 recommendations set out and that they had been divided into 3 Task Groups for consideration. SACRE was advised that the REC Review was not linked to the Government but was written by the RE community of faith and non faith groups and RE experts.
SACRE was advised that the conclusion of these Task Groups would result in the production of a guidance document for RE Teachers and was a result SACRE might want to consider changes to the Agreed Syllabus. A concern was raised over whether schools would accept the review however SACRE was advised that the REC represented the whole RE community so it was likely to be accepted.
SACRE Members discussed the proposed National Curriculum together with this Review and the possible implications.
7.POOLE SACRE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
The Chairman advised the Meeting that he was aware that Poole SACRE was reactive to situations and thought that a Development Plan would assist it in becoming more proactive.
Lynda Ford-Horne mentioned faith representatives visiting schools to give presentations about their faiths and it was decided that some guidance for speakers visiting schools would be helpful.
The possibility of having support for acts of worship was also discussed.
Consideration was given to whether Poole SACRE should be assessing RE Teachers or whether there should be a form of peer assessment within the Borough.
The Meeting considered the possibility of holding a Poole Conference on the Agreed Syllabus.
Support for attending training courses and conferences were also highlighted.
Lynda Ford Horne stated she would send the Clerk, Bournemouth’s Development Plan ideas.
The Clerk advised that the above needed to be discussed with Sue Langdon to ascertainthe funding available.
8.ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Phil Mayer advised SACRE Members that Karen Preston would mainly be representing Humanists as a Co-Opted Member of SACRE but stated that if she could not attend he would, if possible, substitute.
Lynda Ford-Horne expressed disappointment at the lack of Poole Schools in attendance at the Holocaust Memorial Event. She advised that they were hoping to hold it on 27th January 2014 and queried the best way to disseminate the event details to Poole Schools? The Event was generally for Year 8 and above pupils. Angela Muir advised that she would raise it at a network meeting she was shortly due to attend.
Lynda Ford-Horne also advised that there was going to be an “Anne Frank Day” on 12th June 2013, after school at about 4:30pm and would be based around the Anne Frank Tree with a walk to St Peter’s Church.
The NASACRE conference on 23rd May 2013 was highlighted, the cost of attendance was £85 per delegate. The Clerk advised that she was unsure what the budget was for SACRE Members to attend and that she would contact Sue Langdon to discuss.
Alison Dalton advised that Brian Bishop had left the area and that he should be removed from the membership and distribution list.
Alison Dalton requested that future agendas be emailed to her.
Lynda Ford-Horne enquired whether future meetings of Poole SACRE should be opened with a reflection from one of the attendees and the Chairman agreed and suggested a short presentation as well.
The Chairman advised SACRE on the difference between Co-Opted Members and Members with voting rights. Common practice was that members with voting rights would be added by the Local Authority if their religion was taught in the schools or if a certain percentage of the population followed that religion.
Alison Dalton advised that there was now a vacancy in the Free Churches Membership Section and that she would contact “Churches Together”to seek a nomination.
9.DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The Clerk advised that the date of the next Meeting had not yet been confirmed but would be after Annual Council in May 2013.
CHAIRMAN
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