Agenda and draft minutes

In the absence of the Chairman, the Committee considered the appointment of a Chairman for the meeting.

Resolved:

That Helen Sage be appointed Chairman for the meeting.

Members of the Committee are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1)   the type of interest concerned; and

(2)   the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 8 November 2017 as a true and correct record.

The SACRE considered the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 8 November 2017.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 207 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

A presentation from Helen Sage, Primary School Coordinator, Blackburn Church of England Diocese, on the role and importance of SACRE and the Committee to discuss the content a recent communication received from Deborah Weston, NATRE Research Officer regarding the status of religious education in Blackpool.

The SACRE received  a brief presentation from Helen Sage (Blackburn Diocesan Board of Education)- the presentation being a refresher on the roles and responsibilities of the SACRE and its members using slides that had been Committee members considered the refresher of roles to be a useful reminder to members and suggested that it might be useful to circulate to Religious Education leads to provide a reminder of the SACRE’s role.

Mrs Sage also highlighted that correspondence had been received from NATRE (National Association of Teachers of Religious Education). The correspondence had expressed concern regarding the appearance that a number of schools were failing to meet their statutory requirements and equalled that few schools appeared to be teaching Religious Education to gcse level. It noted that while all Secondary Schools were Academies and therefore the SACRE’s role in terms of enforcing statutory requirements was not as significant it should still challenge these schools and if necessary hold them to account. It asked the clerk to write to the Governing Bodies to

Resolved:

1.      To note the presentation.

2.      To request the clerk to circulate the presentation to Religious Education leads in Blackpool schools.

3.      To note the correspondence received from NATRE (National Association of Teachers of Religious Education) and ask Blackpool secondary schools to confirm that information was correct, ask for their observations and whether appropriate invite representatives

Ms Sheila Gewolb, Vice President, Board of Deputies of British Jews Community and Education Division to provide a presentation to the Committee on contemporary Judaism.

The SACRE received a presentation from Mrs Sheila Gewolb, Vice President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.  She highlighted the role of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and that they wished Judaism to be a key part of the syllabus for Religious Education. She highlighted the variety in forms of Judaism worship and community. It was especially important in areas with a relatively small or non-visible Jewish community to avoid misinformation or bigotry developing.

Mrs Gewolb highlighted the resources available for teachers produced by the Board and especially the way that such information could create engaging and practical lessons.

Following questions Mrs Gewolb highlighted that she would use the Board’s influence to encourage the local Jewish community to nominate a representative

Resolved:

1.      To note the presentation.

2.      To again seek to appoint a representative of Judaism to the SACRE.

To note any developments in relation to the proposal to form a Kidsmeet first put forward at the 17 May 2017 meeting.

The Committee once again considered the proposal to form a Kidsmeet first put forward at the 17 May 2017 meeting.  The initial idea had been to develop an event along similar style to Question Time with faith leaders and that this event would possibly help in the transition to secondary school.

Paul Harrison explained that due to outside pressures he had unfortunately not been able to progress the proposal any further. The Committee agreed that while the item had been worthwhile to explore in the absence of available resources it could not progress it any further.

Resolved:

To agree that no further progress be made toward the Kidsmeet proposal by the SACRE but instead to refer the proposal for consideration by the Blackpool Challenge Board.

To discuss the arrangements for the National Association of SACRE’s Annual Conference 2018.

The SACRE received a report highlighting the arrangements for the National Association of SACRE’s Annual Conference.  The Committee noted the theme as  Stronger Together - Celebrating the power of Community  and that the event would be held on the 24 May 2018.

The SACRE noted that it had been beneficial in previous years to send a representative to attend to hear about best practice and to feedback learning points to a future meetings. It agreed that the SACRE should again send a representative and asked those interested in attending to contact the clerk.

Resolved:

1.      To send a representative to the NASACRE conference.

2.      That interested parties express their interest in attending to the clerk.

To consider the content of the draft SACRE Annual Report 2016/2017.

The SACRE considered its annual report for 2015/16 which had been updated following  comments made by members at the last meeting.

It noted that the Committee had fallen behind with the completion of annual reports which remained a statutory function of the SACRE and it was therefore imperative that the SACRE that moved forward to complete its outstanding 2016/2017 annual report as well. The Committee agreed that to move this forward in a timely that it would ask the clerk to create a further annual report based on template of the 2015/2016 report for circulation to members in April.

It was agreed that this was the only reasonable course to ensure that the 2016/2017 annual report would be approved before the NASACRE conference. It considered that the situation was far from ideal and that it wished for the annual report for 2017/2018 to be significantly different in style. The Committee agreed to therefore revisit the issue at the next meeting with an aim of confirming a process for the creation of the new annual report.

Resolved:

1.      To approve the final 2015/2016 annual report for the SACRE (Attached at Appendix 7(a) to the agenda).

2.      To approve the use the 2015/2016 annual report as a basis for the 2016/2017 annual report.

3.      To agree that the clerk would produce a draft 2016/2017 annual report  and circulate early in April 2018.

4.      That the  SACRE consider at the next meeting a process for producing the 2017/2018 annual report.

To receive verbal updates from Members of the SACRE as to any projects or issues

within their area.

There were no items of members’ news not dealt with elsewhere on the agenda.

20 June 2018 (provisional venue St Stephens on the Cliffs)

The Committee to agree meeting dates for the remainder of the 2018/2019 cycle.

The Committee noted the date of the next meeting as 20 June 2018 (provisional venue St Stephens on the Cliffs)

It agreed to consider the dates and venues further when the Chairman was in attendance.