Agenda and minutes

The Chair announced that he would be standing down at the next SACRE meeting.

In terms of SACRE membership, it was noted that Mary Thorne had replaced Liz Wolverson as one of the Panel B (Church of England) representatives and that Amanda Szewczyk-Radley and Lynne Trigg were no longer Headteachers in Camden.

Jean Lang, the Head of Learning and School Improvement, was in attendance at the meeting. She thanked members for their work and brought to the meeting’s attention that the ‘Camden Learning’ local authority company had been established. Camden Learning would be taking on some of the school improvement role that the Council’s former CSF Department had worked on. The Director of Camden Learning would be her successor as the main senior officer contact for SACRE with the Local Authority.

Apologies for absence were received from Mary Thorne and Michelle Chalibamba.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 8^th February 2017.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 8^th February 2017.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 8^th February 2017 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Shahanaz Begum asked for an updated version of the Ramadan guidance. Workneh Dechasa had worked on this, but was currently off sick. Jean Lang undertook to provide Ms Begum with a copy.

ACTION: Jean Lang (Head of Learning and School Improvement)

Councillor Quadir asked if there was an updated list of mosques and other places of worship in the borough. The Clerk said that he had liaised with the Community Cohesion Officer, Bennett Obong, on this in February prior to Mr Obong’s fixed-term contract with the Council ending and Mr Obong had said that there was no officer who had the responsibility for maintaining and updating the list as part of their core duties. As such, the Communities and Third Sector team were unable to provide an updated list.

With regard to the item on Christopher Hatton School, Councillor Julian Fulbrook mentioned for reasons of transparency that he had served as Chair of Governors at that school in the past and that his wife and one of their sons had also been governors there.  

To consider applications for Determinations from Fleet Primary School, Christopher Hatton Primary School and Frank Barnes School.

This application was for a new Determination. The Head had formerly worked at another Camden community school and had gone through the Determination process there. This had encouraged him to submit one for Fleet when he took up post there.

Lesley Prior, the Professional Advisor, and Rev. Ananda Mangala had visited the school and been impressed with the assembly they had witnessed. The assembly had an item on how Easter was celebrated in different countries around the world. They were also reflecting on Article 14 of the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child.

Members queried the statistics for the religious affiliation of pupils and wondered why 40 (18%) were listed as “Unclassified” rather than “No religion” or “Other”. The Clerk was to query this with the school.

Members agreed the Determination application.

Councillor Julian Fulbrook and Ann Boater had visited the school. The school had focused on dancing and on collaboration in their assembly. They looked at different aspects of collaboration, both in dancing, in learning and with respect to festivals such as May Day.

Councillor Fulbrook had spoken with some parents and they had been happy with the school’s approach. He noted the school had two Jehovah’s Witnesses’ children and they had not been withdrawn from collective worship.

Councillor Rosenberg commented that he was disappointed that there was no mention of religious festivals in the assembly policy.

Members agreed the Determination renewal.

The Professional Advisor stated that the guidance was that the legislation on collective worship should be applied “as far as is practicable” for special schools. The school was a small school, which had many pupils with complex needs and learning difficulties. The assemblies needed to be pitched at an appropriate level.

The school population was currently about 40% Christian, which made that the largest religious community in the school. However, the Headteacher had said that some of the families’ connections to Christianity were nominal and so he felt it was appropriate to apply for a Determination.

The assembly was held in British Sign Language (BSL), with a member of the staff translating from BSL to English for the benefit of Lesley Prior when she visited the school. The focus of the assembly was on celebrating what they could do and on the concept of gratitude. Ms Prior felt that it worked well.

Councillor Rosenberg noted that there was mention of Christian and Hindu festivals in the assembly policy but not Muslim or Jewish ones. This could be raised with them in the letter sent to the school to notify them of the Determination decision.

Members agreed to grant the Determination.

RESOLVED –

(i)            THAT a Determination be granted to Fleet Primary School;

(ii)          THAT a Determination be granted to Christopher Hatton Primary School; 

(iii)         THAT a Determination be granted to Frank Barnes School for Deaf Children.

ACTION: Clerk to SACRE

To request that the Local Authority call an Agreed Syllabus Conference.

Members noted that SACREs were under an obligation to review their agreed syllabi every five years.

The current Camden syllabus had been introduced in 2012 and was based on Hampshire’s one. The Professional Advisor informed the meeting that other London local authorities used syllabi derived from the Hampshire one too, but altered it slightly to reflect the local situation in London. Hammersmith & Fulham and Westminster were two boroughs which did so, and they were reviewing their syllabi as well.

Members expressed the view that there should be a way of obtaining feedback from teachers during the process of reviewing the syllabus. It was agreed to form a working group consisting of Jim Walters, Shahanaz Begum, Liam Whitton, Ann Boater, Peter Ginnings and Lesley Prior. Michelle Chalibamba would also be divided to join the working group, and Cllr Rosenberg asked that he be copied into correspondence relating to it.

ACTION: Chair of SACRE / Clerk to SACRE

Members agreed to request the local authority to call an Agreed Syllabus Conference. It was proposed that the first meeting be in July.

                                                                        ACTION: Clerk to SACRE

RESOLVED –

THAT Camden SACRE request that the London Borough of Camden call an Agreed Syllabus Conference to review the RE syllabus for Camden community schools.

To consider drawing up more detailed guidance on collective worship.

Given the workload that would flow from having an Agreed Syllabus Conference, members agreed that consideration of collective worship guidance be deferred to a future date.

The Chair informed the meeting that he could not attend the NASACRE AGM on 16th May. Other members were asked to inform the Authority if they wished to attend.

The Professional Advisor informed members that Islington SACRE was resuming meetings and that there was interest in holding a joint event with them in the future.

There was no other business.

It is proposed that future meetings of SACRE be on:

·         Wednesday, 8^th November 2017 at 5.30pm

·         Wednesday, 7^th February 2018 at 5.30pm

·         Wednesday, 25^th April 2018 at 5.30pm

Members agreed that future SACRE meetings be held on Thursdays, rather than Wednesdays as proposed previously. The dates for 2017-18 meetings would therefore be:

·         Thursday, 9^th November 2017

·         Thursday, 8^th February 2018

·         Thursday, 26^th April 2018