Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:  That the Standing Conference for the Harrow Agreed Syllabus for RE should take place after Apologies for Absence, and before the meeting of the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education.

RESOLVED:  To note that apologies for absence had been received from Mr Bishop, Mr Liversedge, Mrs Mistry, Dr Pinching, Rev Pothen and Mrs Stowe.

[Note:  Following the above item, and further to the decision reached at Minute 1 above, the following procedural sequence was followed:-

(i)                   SACRE stood temporarily adjourned;

(ii)                 the membership present reconvened itself in the status of the “Standing Conference for the Harrow Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education”;

(iii)                SACRE formally reconvened and completed the business on its agenda.

(See note at the closure of these SACRE minutes.)]

RESOLVED: To note that Mrs Stevens attended as reserve for Rev Pothen as a Church of England representative.

RESOLVED:  To note that Mr Zia Baig, previously co-opted, had joined the committee as a Muslim representative.

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor Lurline Champagnie be appointed Chairman.  Pat Stevens, who was also nominated, confirmed that she did not wish to stand for reelection as Chairman.

RESOLVED:  That Councillor Lurline Champagnie be elected Chairman unanimously, unopposed for the Municipal Year 2006/07.

RESOLVED:  That Councillor Nana Asante be appointed Vice-Chairman unanimously and unopposed for the Municipal Year 2006/07.

RESOLVED: That Mrs Bole would arrange for table labels to be provided for future meetings, showing members’ names and the capacity in which they attended.

RESOLVED:  (1)  To note the following interests declared by Council Members:

(2)  To note the following interests declared by non-Council members:

SACRE was informed that the Academy of Punjabi Heritage was holding a remembrance day on the martyrdom of their fifth Guru Arjan Dev Ji on Saturday 24 June 2006 from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm at Longfield Middle School, Dukes Avenue, North Harrow.  Langar (food) would be provided.  Dress code would be headscarf.  The Mayor and people of very many different faiths were expected to attend.  Mr Kohli warmly invited all SACRE members and tabled a flyer about the event. 

RESOLVED:  (1) That all Councillors be forwarded a copy of the tabled flyer;

(2)  to note that Councillor Anjana Patel and Mr Baig had tendered their apologies.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 March 2006, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record subject to the following amendments:

Membership

Amend the spelling of the teacher representative to Shaker. 

Minute 188: Declarations of Interest

Amend to note that Ms P Stevens was the Secretary not the Chair of the Harrow Interfaith Council.

SACRE members were thankful that Norman Kember had returned safely from his hostage ordeal.  They heard that he was working on the Harrow Inter Faith Council web site. 

RESOLVED: That (1) Mr Kember be invited to attend a future SACRE meeting; and 

(2)  Committee members record their sorrow that Margaret Hassan had been killed.

Mary Abbott and Phiroza Gan-Kotwal informed SACRE that they had attended the recent NASACRE AGM. 

A NASACRE briefing paper about HMI Subject Inspections was tabled.  It was felt that there should be more opportunities for extended writing at Key Stage 3, and not so many worksheets, especially for the more able.  It was also considered appropriate to have more planned occasions for diversity of work for different abilities. 

Nick Waters, a speaker from QCA, had presented an A3 working draft entitled the ‘big picture’ of the curriculum.  This document charted ‘What are we trying to achieve?’, ‘How to organise learning’ and ‘How well are we achieving our aim?’. 

It was noted that consideration should be given to inviting young people to be involved in SACRE.

RESOLVED:  That Mrs Gan-Kotwal would forward Mrs Bole further material from the conference for onward transmission to Councillor Paul Osborn, Portfolio Holder for Issues Facing Young People and all other Councillors.

SACRE was informed that Harrow’s application for a Key Stage 2 conference had been unsuccessful.  However Harrow Interfaith Council had received a grant for a conference to be set up for Year 11 and Year 12 students in 2007.

RESOLVED: That the situation be noted and that a further application be made to NASACRE in the next round. 

Councillor Nana Asante had attended the inaugural meeting of the London SACREs.  She reported that it had been decided that the body should not generate traditional meetings but  would share good practice and work together to solve problems using email and on line meetings. Councillor Lurline Champagnie was interested to contact other SACRE chairmen.

RESOLVED:  That Pat Stevens would pass information about the London group to Councillor  Lurline Champagnie.

It was agreed that a working party be convened to produce a showcase to present the work of SACRE to Councillors. Part of a model lesson might also be included.

RESOLVED:  That Mrs Abbot, Mr Baig, Councillor Lurline Champagnie, Mrs Gan-Gotwal, Dr Kapashi, Mr O’Dwyer, Councillor Asad Omar, Mrs Pandya, Councillor Anjana Patel, Mrs Shaker and Pat Stevens convene a working party to produce a showcase, involving young people.  Mrs Stowe and Mr Kholi would also be asked if they would like to join the group.

SACRE had written to national faith bodies to ask for packs suitable for schools.

a)                   Muslim Packs

The packs had been well received in the schools and some elements would be integrated into the schemes of work. 

b)                   Hindu Packs

These packs had been launched in April 2006 and Harrow Council had purchased a pack for each school.  They included a very useful CD.  Some ideas would be integrated into the schemes of work.

c)                   Life of Jesus exhibition

The Good News Churchin Harrow Weald had presented an interactive ‘high tech’ exhibition on the life of Jesus.  The 1400 children who visited each used the IT facilities to write their own certificate and enjoyed lively drama from ‘Regeneration’.  The event, which was over subscribed, was funded by Good News Church, with money from SACRE covering schools’ transport costs. 

d)                   Preparation for Further Faith Materials

Mrs Besser reported that the Baha’i faith pack would be ready by September 2006.  She showed the members six books which had been produced to teach teachers, which took about 20-25 hours to work through.  A Sikh pack would also be produced.  

e)                   Library of Resources

It was felt appropriate to develop a reference library, including faith packs and material on different cultures. 

RESOLVED:  That the above be noted.

a)                   Paper (Alison Stowe)

It was noted that Mrs Stowe had given her apologies but hoped to present her paper at the next SACRE meeting.

RESOLVED: That the item be placed on the agenda for the next meeting.

b)                   Questionnaire to schools

A copy of a questionnaire about collective worship which had been sent to all headteachers was tabled for information.  Mrs Stevens would present the results of the questionnaire to the next SACRE meeting.

RESOLVED: That the questionnaire results be presented at the next meeting.

c)                   Determinations

There were no determinations to report.

RESOLVED: That due to time constraints this item would be discussed at the next SACRE meeting.

RESOLVED: That (1) Mrs Stevens would continue to represent SACRE; and

(2)  Mrs Stevens would prepare a report for SACRE on the issue.

a)                   Hindu Calendar

Mahendra Hirani of the Brent Hindu Council briefly explained his work on the Hindu and multi faith calendars suitable for use in the UK.  He tabled three of his works: ‘Hindu Calendar 2006’, ‘Hindu Calendar Advance 5 Years 2004/9” and ‘Multi Faiths 2007 Festivals’.  It was resolved that SACRE members would examine the calendars and make contact with Mr Hirani in due course.

Mr Hirani also supplied calendars for distribution to absent members of the Committee.

b)                   Diwali

Councillor Anjana Patel extended an invitation to SACRE members and their friends to the temple for Diwali celebrations.

RESOLVED:  That the above be noted.

Mrs Stevens was thanked for all her hard work as SACRE Chairman and praised for the way she had built up links with many faith groups throughout the area. 

Members thanked Councillor Anjana Patel for arranging the SACRE meeting at the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir.  The kind hospitality was much appreciated.  Councillor Lurline  Champagnie would liaise with Councillor Anjana Patel to establish to whom within the temple a letter of thanks on behalf of SACRE should be sent.

RESOLVED:  That the above be noted.

It was agreed that it was an excellent idea to meet in places of worship.  Mrs Stevens would arrange for the September 2006 meeting to take place in an Anglican Church in the Borough.

The dates of future meetings would be:

·         20 September 2006 - time and venue to be confirmed

·         7 December 2006 - time and venue to be confirmed

·         8 March 2007 - time and venue to be confirmed

RESOLVED:  That the above be noted.

[Note:  Separate meetings of the Harrow Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) and of the Standing Conference for the Harrow Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education were convened for 13 June 2006.

The two bodies share the same membership.

As noted above within the SACRE minutes (at Minute 2), a procedural sequence was employed to adjourn SACRE, to hold the meeting of the Standing Conference, and then to reconvene and complete the SACRE meeting.

The record of the Standing Conference proceedings are included in the Minute Volume as now appended herewith to these SACRE minutes.]