Agenda and minutes

That it be agreed that this meeting of SACRE be held as a remote meeting.

RESOLVED –

THAT this meeting of SACRE be held as a remote meeting.

There were no announcements.

Apologies for absence were received from Father Damien Mason, Sarah Richardson, Councillor Julian Fulbrook, Councillor Izzy Lenga and Councillor Sylvia McNamara.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 22^nd March 2022.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 22^nd March 2022.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 22^nd March 2022 be approved as a correct record.

To note the current membership of Camden SACRE.

The new councillor members were welcomed to the meeting and the membership list was noted.

To note the list of schools with Determinations and to consider new applications for Determinations.

Consideration was given to the applications for Determinations from Fleet and Frank Barnes schools.

Fleet School:

Natasha Beckles and Lesley Prior had visited the school. The visit had taken place on St George’s Day, and the assembly focused on St George and his link with Englishness as well as his international connections. Rev Beckles said that one of the members of staff was of Ethiopian descent and he spoke about St George’s links with Ethiopia.

Members noted that 49% of children in the school were from Muslim backgrounds and that it would be in keeping with the multi-faith nature of the school to obtain a Determination which would enable the school to have an assembly plan which was not ‘broadly Christian’.

Members agreed to grant the Determination.

Frank Barnes School:

Ann Boater reported on her visit to the school. The school was a Deaf school, and the assembly had a BSL interpreter. The assembly Ms Boater witnessed was about the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Being a special school, it was fairly small – with only 25 pupils. The school had a Jehovah’s Witness family and were keen to have an assembly plan that was inclusive.

The Professional Advisor reported that she had visited Frank Barnes when it had last applied for a Determination in 2017 and had been impressed by the approach they had taken then.

There was a query from a member about whether special schools were exempt from collective worship requirements. Special schools were not exempt, but it was understood by inspectors that their assemblies would vary from those of mainstream schools and aim to reflect the level of ability and understanding of pupils.

Members agreed to grant the Determination.

It was noted that there were no teacher members present, and the Clerk was asked to email them to seek their comments and views on the two Determination applications.

                                                                        ACTION: Clerk to SACRE

RESOLVED –

(i)         THAT the list of schools with Determinations be noted;

(ii)        THAT Determinations be granted to Fleet and Frank Banes schools.

To note a report on the NASACRE conference.

Consideration was given to the written report on the NASACRE Conference.

Ann Boater had attended the conference as a representative of Camden SACRE. As an experienced SACRE member she understood the issues that were discussed, but she thought it was not as suitable for newer SACRE members as it assumed some pre-existing knowledge.

Lesley Prior said that the Government’s White Paper on education, which was proposing mandating that all schools become academies in the medium-term, would mean that SACREs would no longer have a role – as the legislation creating them gave them powers regarding agreed syllabi and Determinations for community schools, not for academies or other forms of school.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report and the comments above be noted.

To consider an update from the Professional Advisor.

The Professional Advisor, Lesley Prior, informed the meeting that RE subject leader meetings were being held for primary and secondary schools.

She highlighted that Camden needed to review its Agreed Syllabus in accordance with the legal requirement to review it every five years. The current syllabus was based on the Hampshire agreed syllabus, which a number of other London local authorities also bought rights to. There would be an online meeting on 8^th September for Hampshire to brief other local authorities on the changes to their syllabus.  

There was no other business.

The dates of future meetings are:

·         Tuesday, 15^th November 2022

·         Tuesday, 7^th February 2023

·         Tuesday, 25^th April 2023

The dates of future meetings would be:

·         Tuesday, 15^th November 2022

·         Tuesday, 7^th February 2023

·         Tuesday, 25^th April 2023