Agenda and minutes

There were no announcements.

Apologies for absence were received from Jean Harrison, Anna Lockley-Scott, Krishna Pujara, Councillor Don Williams and Liz Wolverson.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Phil Rosenberg and Leila Roy.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 9^th February 2016.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 9^th February 2016.

The Chair reported that the recent lecture given by Charles Clarke to Camden and Islington SACRE members had been very good and had received excellent feedback.  Any ideas on how to improve turnout for such events would be welcomed and it might be the case that a subject matter that was less conceptual and more practical would be of interest to a wider audience.

Lesley Prior, the Professional Adviser to SACRE, remarked that she hoped that members were receiving email updates from NASACRE.  Members should check that their details were correct by clicking the link at the bottom of one of the emails.  It might be useful for there to be a generic email address for the Camden SACRE clerk.  She also remarked that the government’s recent decision on the academisation issue might lead to SACRE having a longer term future than had previously been thought.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 9^th February 2016 be approved and signed as a correct record.

There were no declarations.

To consider requests for Determinations from community schools.

Members considered the information submitted by the school.  The Professional Adviser reported that she and several members of the SACRE had visited the school and had attended two assemblies.  Councillor Tomlinson remarked that the SACRE members had been made welcome and given a tour of the school.  They had also met with the head and had time for discussion.  Whilst there had been some questions regarding the approach taken at assemblies, overall the SACRE members had been satisfied with the arrangements and the school appeared very well organised.  There were also numerous displays throughout the school relating to a range of religious traditions.  The Professional Adviser added that the staff had a clear understanding of what a determination meant and were also open to receiving advice.  She added that schools would benefit from some practical advice, not just on religious education but also on collective worship.  Ann Boater stated that she had witnessed one assembly and, whilst she had some concerns around the use of BLP (building learning power) and thought that the assembly could have been more child focused, she was content that the relevant criteria were being met.  Councillor Roy added that she too had found the arrangements at the school impressive.

The Professional Adviser confirmed that it was not unusual to get no responses from parents on the subject of a pending determination.  Parents tended to respond only if they were unhappy with a proposal and so the absence of any responses suggested that parents were content with the schools intention to apply for a renewal of its determination.

RESOLVED –

THAT the application from Rhyl Primary School be granted.

                        ACTION BY:             Committee Services (VS)

To receive a report from the working group on prayer rooms and on guidance for schools regarding pupils fasting during Ramadan.

The SACRE considered two tabled documents: Draft SACRE Ramadan Guidance; and Draft SACRE Guidance for Schools on Jewish Festivals.  The Chair thanked those who had been involved in drawing up the documents and, in particular, Shahanaz Begum.

Michelle Chalibamba reported that there was also a document produced by the Association of School and College Lecturers on Ramadan and exams.

Shahanaz Begum commented that the document on Ramadan was a general guidance note incorporating information on exams, health issues and prayer space guidance.  The ASCL guidance was also referenced.  In addition, there was a draft template letter for schools to send to parents and extracts from NHS guidance.

The Chair suggested, and it was agreed, that the prayer space guidance should be a separate document.

One member commented that some schools wished to see specific guidance that pupils should not fast on exam days.  Others felt that the guidance ought not to be too prescriptive and needed to recognise that decisions on fasting were a matter for pupils and parents according to their conscience and belief.  It was agreed that some tweaks were required to recognise, and be inclusive of, different traditions in Islam and to clarify that any medical concerns should be discussed with a GP.  It was also felt that the SACRE’s contact details should be added to the guidance and that it should be very clear that it had come from the SACRE, as many schools did not know about the SACRE and its work.  It was considered that it should be sent to schools via as many channels as possible, including being emailed to all headteachers.

The Chair confirmed that any comments on the draft letter to parents should be sent to Workneh Dechasa as soon as possible.  He suggested that the contacts should be himself, the Professional Adviser and the clerk, as well as Ms Begum for the Ramadan and prayer space documents and the Board of Deputies of British Jews for the Judaism document.

It was thought that time was too short to have the Ramadan document endorsed by the Muslim Council of Britain or by a Muslim scholar but that was something that could be looked at for future years.

The SACRE then discussed whether it should produce guides on other religious practices and faiths.  It was suggested that the Faith Leaders’ Forum should be contacted to see if it felt that other guides would be useful and whether it could recommend people suitably skilled and knowledgeable to produce them.

It was felt that in the covering letter schools should be encouraged to share the guidance notes with parents although the decision on whether to do this would be one for the school.  Schools should also be asked for feedback on whether they found the guidance helpful and whether they had need of any guidance on other faith-related issues.

The Chair noted that the guidance needed to be sent out very soon and so any last minute comments should be emailed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Chair drew the attention of members of the SACRE to the recent High Court ruling on Religious Education and noted that Camden’s syllabus already contained content about Humanism.

Proposed dates of future meetings:

·         Wednesday, 2^nd November 2016

·         Wednesday, 8^th February 2017

·         Wednesday, 3^rd May 2017

The dates of future meetings were noted as follows:-

Wednesday 2^nd November 2016

Wednesday 8^th February 2017

Wednesday 3^rd May 2017