Item 3

AT A MEETING of the STANDING ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (SACRE) held at Southampton Medina Mosque on Tuesday, 6 June 2006.

PRESENT

Chairman:

p Hon Alderman S.W. Juniper (Hampshire County Council)

Vice-Chairman

a Councillor D.A. Kirk (Hampshire County Council)

p Ms Maggie Allder - Society of Friends (Quakers)

a Mrs Elaine Bellchambers - Higher Education - Co-opted
p Mr Hugh Benzie - Methodist Church

a Mr Tony Blackshaw - Church of England

a Miss Clare Bradbury - Salvation Army

a Councillor Mrs A Buckley - Hampshire County Council

p Ms Rebecca Costambeys - Secondary Education - Co-opted

a Revd Peter G. Davey - Assemblies of God

Mr Ameek Singh Digpal - Sikism

a Mr Brian Hay - Church of England

Mr David Hill - Roman Catholic Church

p Mr Chris A R Hughes - Fellowship of Independent

Evangelical Churches

p Mrs Maeve Gordon James - Buddhism Deputy

p Mr Julius Klein - Judaism

a Mrs Catherine J Macdonald - Special Education- Co-opted

a Mrs Jean O'Reilley - Humanism - Co-opted

p Councillor Sam Payne - Hampshire County Council

Mrs Amanda J. Post - Primary Education - Co-opted

Revd Ganshin E Rock - Buddhism

Mrs Tonie Ronane - Teachers' Association

p Mr Mohammed Riyami - Islam

p Mr Jagdish' L. Sharma - Hinduism

p Mullah Mujahid ali Sheriff - Shia Islam

Mrs P Smith - Teachers' Association

Mr Tony Strong - Teachers' Association

a Mr Paul Tipple - Baptist Union

p Mrs Sheila Thatcher - United Reformed Church

Canon John Turpin - Church of England

p Mr Nigel Utton - Teachers' Association

Mrs Lilian Wetherley - Church of England

Also present: Mr John Coughlan (Director of Children's Services); Mr. Chris Pritchard (Church of England); Mrs Wanda Hill (Christian Science) and Mrs L. Revett RE (County Council)

30 APOLOGIES

Apologies were received from Mrs E. Bellchambers; Mr. T. Blackshaw; Miss C. Bradbury; Councillor Mrs A. Buckley; Rev. P.G. Davey; Mr. B. Hay; Councillor D.A. Kirk; Mrs. C. MacDonald; Mrs. J.O'Reilly and Mr. P. Tipple.

31 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of the debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed.

There were no declarations of interest made by Members.

32 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 28 February 2006 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to Canon J. Turpin being added to the record of apologies.

Matters arising:

Minute 24 - DFES Incentives to Recruit New RE Teachers

The Council received an update of the position and noted that a co-ordinator had been appointed to a new PGCE in RE at the University of Winchester and that this will help to facilitate recruitment . Also, a new web site, Re-NET would enable RE teacher vacancies to be notified nationwide.

Minute 24 - "Towards Understanding Jihad and Liberation of Women in Islam"

The Council was reminded of the two open days being organised by the Medina Mosque in Southampton on "Towards Understanding Jihad" and "Liberation of Women in Islam" to be held on 17 September and 10 December, 2006 respectively.

33 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman thanked Anas Al-Korji, Public Relations and Community Development Co-ordinator of the Muslim Council for Southampton for the hospitality extended to SACRE. Also, for giving a presentation to Members prior to the opening of the meeting about the Medina Mosque and the work of the Muslim Council for Southampton.


The Chairman welcomed Mr John Coughlan, Director of Children's Services, who explained that Mrs Felicity Roe, Assistant Director (Performances and Resources) would be taking over responsibility for SACRE in place of Mr. Roger Mead. Mr. Coughlan went on to outline the new organisational structure of Children's Services.

The Chairman advised Members that, as a result of taking on a new job, Ellie Draper would no longer be clerking the Council. He wished to place on record his thanks to Ellie for the work she had done and wished her well in the future.

The Chairman reported on his attendance at a SACRE meeting in West Sussex and on the intention to work more closely with them on various issues. He also made mention of a meeting with the Chairman of SACRE (Southampton) about liaison in relation to inter-faith project work.

34 NASACRE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Council received the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the Annual General Meeting of the National Association of Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education held on 4 May 2006 in London. The key issues raised were highlighted for SACRE Members.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

35 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREED SYLLABUS

The Council received the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 7 in the Minute Book) on the implementation of the agreed syllabus - Living Difference. Copies of the completed Primary and Secondary editions of the new handbooks were circulated at the meeting. Members' drew attention to the national interest in the agreed syllabus and to the positive review which had been published in the British Journal of Religious Education. They wished to congratulate the County Inspector of RE, his colleagues and the teacher representatives for their considerable efforts and work on this matter . It was noted that each of the handbooks would be accompanied by a compact disc.

During a full discussion on the syllabus, the Council considered the compatibility between the National RE strategy and the non-statutory framework for RE. They felt it was an item for the monitoring sub-group. Concern was expressed about the HIAS decision for a reduction in the number of publications provided for schools which provide support for implementation of the agreed syllabus.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the report be noted.


(b) That SACRE's particular thanks be made to Mrs L. Levett of the County Council and her team for their work in producing the Living Difference - Primary and Secondary Schools Handbooks.


(c) That the Director of Children's Services look at ways to take forward the various issues concerning SACRE monitoring of schools self evaluations (RE) and the relationship between the national framework and the agreed syllabus and report back to a future meeting.

36 YOUNG PEOPLE'S INTER-FAITH PROJECT

The Council received the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 8 in the Minute Book) about initiating a Young People's Inter-Faith Forum. It was explained that due to a misunderstanding the 2006/07 bid had not been submitted and this was a matter of great regret. The reason for this was noted by the Council.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the report be noted.


(b) That a bid for 2006/07 be submitted to Hampshire County Council to seek to initiate the project and, if funding is still available, a further bid in relation to the Young People's Inter Faith Project be made to NASACRE for 2007/08.

37 MONITORING SUB-GROUP

The Council considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 9 in the Minute Book) on the work of the monitoring sub-group on quality and standards in RE and compliance with statutory obligations for RE and Collective Worship. The Chairman highlighted the suggestion in the report that the group consider the issues in relation to collective worship provision in secondary schools. Members supported this suggestion and felt training of colleagues in collective workshop was also a very important element.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the monitoring sub-group consider the issues relating to Collective Worship in secondary schools with a view to a written report to a subsequent future meeting.


(b) That the assistant headteacher of Cowplain School be invited to a future SACRE meeting to explain the procedures and experiences of completing a self evaluation form.


(c) That the County Inspector for RE consult with the Chairs of the Headteacher Executive Panels on how best to execute SACRE monitoring of subject specific self-evaluation.

38 DATE OF NEXT MEETING

It was noted that the date of next SACRE meeting would be held at 2.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 7 November 2006 at The Castle, Winchester.

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