Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the STANDING ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (SACRE) held at The Castle, Winchester, on Tuesday 4 November 2008.

PRESENT

Chairman

p Councillor Anna McNair Scott ( Hampshire County Council)

Vice-Chairman

p Honorary Alderman Stuart Juniper (Hampshire County Council)

p Ms. Maggie Allder - Society of Friends (Quakers)

p Mr. Mohammed Ansar - Sunni Islam

Mrs. Elaine Bellchambers - Higher Education - Co-opted

p Mr. Hugh Benzie - Methodist Church

Mr. Tony Blackshaw - Church of England

p Councillor Mrs. Ann Buckley - Hampshire County Council

a Mrs J. Chong - Roman Catholic

Ms. Rebecca Costambeys - Secondary Education - Co-opted

Mr. Ameek Singh Digpal - Sikhism

Mr Brian Hay - Church of England

p Mr. Chris Hughes - Fellowship of Independent Evangelical

Churches

Mr. Julius Klein - Judaism

p Mrs. Julie Lemon - Special Education - Co-opted

Ms Jackie McGregor - Salvation Army

Ms Liz Muir - Teachers Association

Mr. Mahmood Nurmohammed - Shia Islam

p Mrs. Jean O'Reilly - Humanism - Co-opted

p Councillor Mrs S. Payne - Hampshire County Council

Mrs. Amanda Post - Primary Education - Co-opted

a Revd. Ganshin Rock - Buddhism

Mr J. Schofield - Teachers Association

Mr. Jagdish'L Sharma - Hinduism

a Mr. Paul Tipple - Baptist Union

p Cannon John Turpin - Church of England

Mr. Nigel Utton - Teachers Association

p Mrs. Lillian Wetherley - Church of England

Also in attendance: Mrs W. Gordon James, Buddhism deputy and Kathy Bagley, Advanced Skills Teacher for Primary R.E.

In the absence of the Chairman at the commencement of the meeting, Honorary Alderman S.W. Juniper as Vice-Chairman took the chair.

109. APOLOGIES

    Apologies were received from Mrs J. Chong, Revd. G. Rock, and Mr P. Tipple.

110. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

    Members were mindful that, where they believed that they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest 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 save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 12 of the Code .

    No declarations of interest were made.

111. MINUTES

    The Minutes of the Meeting of the Standing Advisory Council held on 10 June 2008 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Vice-Chairman.

112. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

    a. Constitution

      The Standing Advisory Council was informed that Legal Services continued to work on the new constitution.

    b. The Genius of Darwin

      The Vice-Chairman raised concerns over the production of the television programme The Genius of Darwin. The Vice-Chairman proposed that SACRE sent out guidance to schools on how to deal with the religion and Science debate. The Council felt this was an issue that needed more time devoted to it and SACRE would take a measured approach. It was agreed that members would be invited to submit contributions to form the basis of a report at the next meeting, that could be used to offer guidance to schools addressing the religion and Science debate.

    c. Birmingham University Publication: Religion and Science in the 21st Century Classroom

      The Vice-Chairman invited members to take a copy of Birmingham University's production to read and to feedback any comments to the Council at the next meeting.

    d. Retirement of Julius Klein

      The Vice-Chairman expressed gratitude for Julius' long service on SACRE, but asked that clarification be sought if Julius had resigned his membership of SACRE. The Vice-Chairman undertook to do this.

    e. Welcome

      The Vice-Chairman welcomed Kathy Bagley (Advanced Skills Teacher for RE).

113. DEPUTATIONS

    There were no deputations

114. KATHY BAGLEY - PRESENTATION

    Kathy gave a power-point presentation on an approach to deal with the concept of myth. Members noted how the approach provided children with the awareness and sensitivity that one person's myth can be another person's fact and how it demonstrated the importance of respecting differing ideas.

    At this point, Councillor McNair Scott took over chairmanship for the remainder of the meeting.

115. GCSE RESULTS 2007-08

    The Council considered the report of the Director of Children's Services tabled at the meeting (Item 6 in the Minute Book) on the GCSE results in Religious Education 2007-08. Members were pleased to note the significant improvement in male performance in the full course and the improvement of all children obtaining grades A*-C.

    Members expressed concern over the performance of pupils in short course RE, where performance was below that of the national average, but noted that course numbers were up. It was reported that the difference in performance between the courses could be explained by the full course being optional and the short course being a statutory requirement in some schools. This can lead to some pupils approaching the short course with less enthusiasm than those who have opted for the full course.

    RESOLVED:

    That the report be noted

116. SACRE ANNUAL REPORT

    The Council considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 7 in the Minute Book) summarising the activities of SACRE over the previous year. Members thanked Officers for their work in preparing the annual report. The positive impact of the Living Difference syllabus and the healthy provision of inspector time for the support of SACRE were highlighted and welcomed by members.

    Concern was raised over the poor attendance at SACRE meetings, but it was noted that it was partially explained by percentages giving a misleading impression of numbers attending . It was accepted that issues over representation and attendance were likely to be dealt with in the new constitution.

RESOLVED:

    That the Annual Report be approved, and sent to the QCA and Ofsted as a true representation of SACRE's activities over the previous year.

117. SOUTH EAST HAMPSHIRE/PORTSMOUTH GCSE STUDENTS CONFERENCE

    The Council considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 8 in the Minute Book) on the South East Hampshire/Portsmouth GCSE Students Conference. Members welcomed the news that it had been a success and thanked Jo Maule for her work in organising the conference.

    RESOLVED:

    That SACRE endorse the continued provision of the annual conference for Hampshire Secondary Schools in partnership with Portsmouth City Schools.

118. PROJECT ON COMMUNITY COHESION IN HAMPSHIRE

    The Council considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 9 in the Minute Book) updating Members on the second year of the pilot project to address social cohesion in Hampshire. Members endorsed the continued development of the Strategy to facilitate community cohesion enabling the conditions for all pupils to learn effectively. The Council was pleased to learn that more schools had expressed an interest to join the project.

    It was noted that the project name had changed from social cohesion to community cohesion.

    RESOLVED:

    That SACRE note the report and endorse the continued development of the Community Cohesion project into its second year.

119. YOUNG PEOPLE'S INTER-FAITH CALENDAR COMPETITION

    The Council considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on the young people's inter-faith calendar competition. Members welcomed the news that over 360 entries had been received and were pleased to note that the competition helped to address SACRE's responsibilities in relation to inclusion and diversity.

    RESOLVED:

    That the report be noted.

120. REPORT ON THE MONITORING SUB GROUP

    The Council considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 11 in the Minute Book) on the monitoring sub group. Members welcomed the monitoring group's findings that the implementation of the Living Difference syllabus had improved standards in RE. It was noted that the school's self evaluation forms would be reported on at the next meeting of SACRE.

    RESOLVED:

    That the report be noted.

121. THE GOVERNMENT'S PREVENT STRATEGY

    The Council considered the report of the Director of Children's Services (Item 12 in the Minute Book) on the Government's Prevent Strategy, and the appropriate strategies identified by the Prevent Strategy Group for responding to the guide. Members agreed to respond to the questions posed by the group to enable their thoughts to be shared with the Prevent Group and endorsed sending an appropriate representative from SACRE to talk at a Prevent Strategy Group meeting. The responses would form the basis of a report at the next meeting of SACRE.

    RESOLVED:

    That the report be noted and SACRE be invited to respond to the questions identified by the Hampshire Prevent Strategy Group to enable a report to be conveyed at the next meeting of the Prevent Strategy Group.

122. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

    Members noted that the next meeting would be held at 2pm on Tuesday 24 February 2009 at The Castle, Winchester.