Agenda and minutes

It was announced that Rev Cawse had been appointed as a new member of Panel B by the Church of England, with effect from 1^st November 2013. Clarification would be sought as to whether he was to be an additional member or to replace an existing member.

Jean Harrison announced her intention to stand down as Chair of Camden SACRE. Members thanked her for the work she had done in the role.

Rev. Dr. James Walters was proposed and seconded as a candidate for Chair of SACRE.  There were no other nominations.

RESOLVED –

THAT James Walters be elected Chair of Camden SACRE for the 2013-14 academic year.

Abdul Quadir was proposed and seconded as Vice-Chair of Camden SACRE. There were no other nominations.

RESOLVED –

THAT Abdul Quadir be elected Vice-Chair of Camden SACRE for the 2013-14 academic year.

Apologies for absence were received from Alice Fuller, Liz Wolverson and Councillor Maryam Eslamdoust.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve and sign the minutes of the SACRE meeting held on 11^th June 2013.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 11^th June 2013.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the SACRE meeting held on 11^th June 2013 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Report of the Professional Adviser to SACRE.

This report summarises SACRE’s activities over the academic year 2012 -2013. It is the main information source for schools and local faith communities. It has been composed in the light of guidance from the former Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) on the format of annual reports.

Consideration was given to the draft Annual Report for 2012-13.

The Professional Adviser to SACRE, Colin Adams, updated members with the 2013 GCSE results, which had not been available at the time of production of the report.

Members noted the wide variations in the number of pupils entered for short course and full course RE GCSEs at different schools. Regent High had entered almost all of its pupils for the full course.

The Chair asked if the report could be updated to list the number of full course entries and their results.

Mr Adams informed the Committee that 32 pupils had studied A-level RE at community schools.

Councillor Bucknell asked if he could see some RE past papers. Ms Chalibamba said she would be able to provide some.

                                                            ACTION: Michelle Chalibamba

Members asked that the summarised collective worship guidelines that a SACRE working group had drawn up be added to Appendix 2 of the report.

RESOLVED –

THAT the draft SACRE Annual Report for 2012-13 be agreed, subject to the comments above. 

Report of the Professional Adviser to SACRE.

At the last SACRE meeting the report of the All Party Parliamentary Group on RE (APPGRE), called The Truth Unmasked, was tabled and it was agreed to consider the recommendations for Local Authorities and SACREs at this meeting. In the meantime OFSTED has published its report – Religious Education: realising the potential, which also contains  recommendations for Local Authorities and SACREs. This report contains the relevant recommendations from both reports.

Consideration was given to a report of the Professional Adviser to SACRE.

Members noted the report and thought that the recommendations would fit well with Camden SACRE’s desire to have a strong subject network for RE teachers.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Professional Adviser to SACRE.

SACRE has a role in monitoring the provision of religious education and collective worship in Camden's non-denominational schools. At the last meeting it was agreed to set up an ad hoc working party to look into whether a visit programme should be revived. The working party met on 1^st October 2013 and this is a brief report with recommendations.

Consideration was given to the report of the Working Party.

Members agreed that a questionnaire needed to be drawn up and sent to community schools. If this could be done by the end of the year, then the Working Party could meet again in January 2014 to discuss the results.

Rev. Dr. Walters informed members that the interfaith centre at the LSE was opening soon. He felt it would be a good location to have a meeting of the RE co-ordinators network, which would support teachers who were the subject leads for RE in schools.

RESOLVED –

THAT it be recommended to the Local Authority that a questionnaire be sent to non-denominational schools to ascertain information about the current provision of RE and further support requirements.

Mr Adams announced that he would be retiring from his role as the Professional Adviser to SACRE. Members thanked him for his work supporting RE teaching in schools and SACRE as a committee.

He stated that he had had discussions with Jean Lang from Camden Council  on the future of the role. It was to be divided into two parts.

One part, the support for RE teachers, would be delivered by Tracy Edwards. She was currently Head of Curriculum at Swiss Cottage special school and was being released by her school to spend some of her time on this borough-wide task.

The support to SACRE as a Professional Adviser would be the remaining part of the role. This had yet to be filled. However, there were a number of individuals who supported other SACREs in London as advisers and the Council would seek one of them who could take on the role for Camden.

There was no other business.

The dates of SACRE meetings for the remainder of the academic year 2013-14 are:

·         Tuesday, 11^th February 2014 at 5.30pm

·         Tuesday, 10^th June 2014 at 5.30pm

The next meetings of SACRE would be on:

·         Tuesday 11^th February 2014 at 5.30pm; and

·         Tuesday 10^th June 2014 at 5.30pm