Agenda and minutes

Alison Stowe.

The Chair welcomed Mr Hirani to his second meeting of SACRE and two observers from the University of Westminster. 

By a SACRE Member.

This was led by Mr M Bishop who described the season of Advent. He explained the symbolism of the Advent candles which represented hope, peace, love and joy, leading up to the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. Each of the four Advent Sundays has its own reading: the opening of St John’s Gospel, the Book of the prophet Isaiah, St Luke’s Gospel, the Magnificat and the Book of Revelation.

·       The Chair proposed that item 10: Youth on Religion (YOR) Study be taken after item 6:      SACRE Annual Report. This was agreed.

·       It was noted that some items might have to be deferred to a future meeting. 

·       Rachel Bowerman explained that she has included more information on the agenda and      grouped items under different headings. Members agreed that these improvements make        for greater clarity and also make clear that SACRE’s primary purpose is to improve        standards in religious education. A councillor added that this agenda also makes it clear that SACRE, while statutorily established and funded by Harrow Council, has an independent agenda and remit.

To receive apologies for absences (if any).

RESOLVED: To note apologies for absence from Cllr Lurline Champagnie, Mrs Niru Desai, Cllr Asad Omar, Mrs Beverley Wilson, Heena Modi and Mrs Bhavita Pandya.

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)             if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

No reserve members attended.

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)                     all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

(b)                     all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

There were no declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 September 2009 be taken and read as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 September 2009, having been circulated and taken as read, were signed as a correct record, subject to the following amendments:

·       p.1. Minute 1: Opening reflection: A J Aire should be A J Ayer

·       p.3. Minutes 9: Zarthust should be Zartusht-no-diso

·       p.5. Minute 12: Resource Packs: this minute should read: Paramjit Singh Kohli was not present to give an update on the Sikh pack.  Phiroza Gan-Kotwal reported that Pat Stevens was working with and in contact with Malcolm Deboo, Secretary of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe. She would therefore follow up progress on the toolkit with him.

·         Minute 15: News from the Faith Communities: last bullet point: the Zoroastian Centre was only open on Saturday 19 October, not on both days.

To consider matters arising that are not included later in the agenda.

·       3. Attendance by Reserve members: the query as to whether the Mayor of Harrow should continue to be a reserve member no longer applies, as his term of office as Mayor is coming to an end.

·       6. Matters Arising: Response to QCDA questionnaire:  Ms Bowerman reported that the QCDA (which has superseded the QCA) has just published its report on the consultation on a new primary curriculum. In his announcement, Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, indicated that “due to the positive response ….few changes have been made to the proposed Areas of Learning.”  RE would remain in the Area of ‘historical, geographical and social understanding’ and an illustrative programme of learning and non-statutory guidance on RE would be published.

Rachel explained thatthe structure of the on-line questionnaire - with a particular focus on new level descriptions for subjects - had made it difficult for respondents to express RE-specific wider concerns about the principles or potential impact of the curriculum review. 

           Other groups had been more successful in lobbying to for changes to the proposed curriculum, e.g. pressure from the science community has resulted in evolution being included on the science curriculum and pressure exerted by the history community has also been successful. It is announced that the new curriculum will come into primary Schools in September 2011.  SACRE will need to monitor the impact of the new curriculum on the delivery of the Harrow Agreed Syllabus and the status of RE.

·       7. SACRE Maintenance Plan 2009-2010

            i) Rachel Bowerman reported that Buckinghamshire LA is producing a RE SEF(Religious Education Self-Evaluation Form) in line with the new Ofsted framework of September 2009. The LB of Harrow might be involved in trialing this form, but it will not be available until September 2010. In response to a question as to whether it might not be more relevant to use a pilot from another London Borough, Ms Bowerman explained that, to her knowledge, no other London Boroughs have yet produced a new RE SEF. She entirely agreed that it would, in most cases, be more appropriate to take examples from other London Boroughs, more similar to Harrow, but in this particular instance, the SEF was a generic document to which local variations would not apply.

(a)               Analysis of public examination results for Harrow High Schools in Religious Studies 2009;

(b)               Consideration of the draft Annual Report 2008 – 2009.

 (pp8-21 of documents previously circulated)

The Chair invited questions and comments on the report.

·                     In response to a question as to the distribution of the report, the Chair replied that it is sent to the QCDA, to Head Teachers, Harrow Council, Educational Bodies and Libraries. She agreed to draw up a list for the next meeting.  Action: Chair

·                     There was another question relating to Section 1.a – g (Standards and quality of RE provision), specifically how the information was gathered and why members were hearing it for the first time in the Annual Report.  Ms Bowerman explained that data relating to public examination entries and results of 2009 GCSE and A/AS Levels was provided by Harrow’s Performance Management Team and was usually available in October each year. 

            The summary of provision and outcomes in RE in key stages 1 and 2 would have been prepared by Ms Pat Stevens, RE Consultant, as a result of information gained from her visits to schools and support for RE subject leaders. Rachel agreed that SACRE needed to develop independent mechanisms so that throughout the year members could review evidence of standards and provision for RE in Harrow schools.

·                     Ms Bowerman shared with SACRE members data relating to RS GCSE entry patterns in Harrow schools (excluding the two Catholic High schools) in 2009.   This data had not been included in the draft annual report.  1398 students in Harrow’s non-denominational schools had been entered for GCSE RS short course examinations, that is 74% of the Y11 cohort.  Combined with the smaller number of pupils entered for the full course RS GCSE, Harrow non-denominational schools entered 1594 students for some form of GCSE in religious studies. 

·                     Ms Bowerman explained that the Harrow Agreed Syllabus programme of study for KS 4 requires all students to follow a short or full course GCSE.   The exam syllabus must cover Christianity and one other religion.  Schools often allowed students to choose the other religion to study. Students often combined this with a module undertaken at their own faith centre, to make up a full GCSE. All but one Harrow school entered the majority of their Y11 cohort for an RS GCSE.  Ms Bowerman undertook to follow up with one school where entry patterns diverged significantly from the Harrow trend, which suggested that the school might not be complying with Agreed Syllabus requirements.  Action: Ms Bowerman.

·                     A comparison of short course GCSE RS results was particularly gratifying.  70% pupils gained A* - C in RS compared with 71% in English (full course GCSE), 30% in PE and 58% in IT. English, a core subject of the National Curriculum, customarily enjoys a more generous allocation of curriculum time and larger departments, whilst other short courses were generally taught to much smaller cohorts of pupils who had opted to sit the subject.

·                     In response to a question concerning the numbers of students who were doing additional faith options through their school or through their faith centre, Ms Bowerman agreed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 236.

An update on the Study.

 (pp34-38 of documents previously circulated and questionnaire tabled at the meeting)

The Chair explained that the questionnaire was being tabled because the Research Team had first made the draft available only a week earlier, at a meeting specially convened to address the concerns of Harrow SACRE.  Those SACRE members who had attended were: Mike Bishop, Vijay Hirani, Nancy Parsons and Alison Stowe.  Feedback had been provided in advance by Mary Hale, Doreen Samuels, Revd. Matthew Stone and Dr Julia Crow.

The Chair invited members of the committee to take a few minutes to read the questionnaire and discuss it with their neighbour if they wished.

Questions, concerns and comments on the questionnaire included:

·               how the questionnaire would be distributed and to whom;

·               whether parents and carers would be able to see the questionnaire;

·               whether it was appropriate that birth dates and post codes were   requested;

·               what use would be made of the information collated from these questionnaires and how it             would be distributed;

·               who was funding the research;

·               whether relevant faith authorities had been consulted or notified;

·               whether the timetable was realistic and the impact on time, cost and workload for High Schools had been taken into account;

·               taking into account that many Jewish children are educated out of     borough, whether the             survey would be representative and inclusive of the perspective and experiences of that             community of young people;

·               whether the legal implications of this survey had been thoroughly investigated;

·               that some were ‘leading’ questions and badly worded;

·               that some of the questions might cause distress and anxiety to children, families and faith             groups who have experienced persecution on the grounds of their religious beliefs.

Ms Bowerman, and other members of the committee replied to these concerns as follows:

·                     Distribution of the questionnaire: the Research Team intended the questionnaire to go to all High Schools and Independent schools (including the faith High Schools) in the Borough. It was expected to be completed by students in years 8,10 and 12. The expectation was that the participation of all these schools would be encouraged by SACRE and the LA.

·                     Prior sight of the questionnaire by parents and carers: although SACRE representatives were aware of other surveys which parents could view in advance on line, researchers had objected because they felt that in some circumstances pressure from parents might prohibit frank answers from young people.

·                     Birth dates and post codes: researchers had explained that postcodes helped to provide information about the socio economic background of respondents.

·                     Use made of information and distribution of results: researchers had assured the Chair that the results of the survey would be anonymous.  A summary of their data would be provided for each school and collated to provide a single summary for the LA.  It was suggested that the Legal Department could provide clarification about how the Freedom of Information Act will apply in this case.  

·                     Research Funding: the research is being carried out by a Research Team headed by Professor Nicola  ...  view the full minutes text for item 237.

To receive Determinations (if any).

Applications for determinations have been received from Stanburn Middle School and Glebe First and Middle School.

For the benefit of new members, Ms Bowerman explained that, on application from a school, SACRE could determine that the requirement for acts of collective worship to be “wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character”  (Education Reform Act 1988)  was not appropriate for that school.  Guidance in Circular 1/94, indicating that collective worship of a “broadly Christian character” should “contain some elements which relate specifically to the traditions of Christian belief and which accord a special status to Jesus Christ,” had informed the judgements of some inspection teams under the first Ofsted Evaluation Framework.  As a result, the London Borough of Brent had pioneered a LA policy of encouraging all its schools to apply to SACRE for a determination. 

Ms Bowerman informed SACRE that the emphasis of inspections had changed, in which context determinations appeared unnecessary.  She advised SACRE that schools could develop an approach to collective worship that complied with the law, effectively promoted pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and community cohesion, and was inclusive of the backgrounds and experiences of pupils and staff. She hopes that SACRE will develop a recommended approach to collective worship that will reflect this.

Meanwhile, both schools were applying for a renewal of determinations granted in previous years and have prepared their applications thoroughly. Ms Bowerman recommended that in these instances, the committee grant these determinations pending the development of new SACRE guidance.

In response to a question, the Chair explained that in the schools’ parental questionnaire, “Christian” refers to Church of England and that “Christian – other” refers to other Christian denominations.  It was noted that Greek Orthodox appears as a further category. It was agreed that these categories required clarification.

The Chair proposed that a determination be granted for Stanburn Middle School. This was agreed by 14 votes to 1 with no abstentions.

The Chair proposed that a determination be granted for Glebe First and Middle School. This was agreed by 14 votes to 1 with no abstentions.

Items to be submitted to the SACRE clerk before the meeting.

a) Resignation from the Committee:Mrs Mary Hale tendered her resignation as a representative of the Buddhist faith. The Chair thanked her for her thoughtful contributions to the committee over her time as a member.

b) SACRE Chairs Group: it was proposed SACRE establish a Chairs’ group, a SACRE sub-committee commissioned to work on delegated items between meetings and to shape the agenda.  Groups A, B, C and D were asked to nominate a Chair of their Group to represent them on a SACRE Chairs’ Group.   The Chair should be elected by the Group and identified at the next SACRE meeting.

c) Circulation of the minutes: it was agreed that the draft minutes should be circulated within two weeks of the meeting, rather than with the agenda prior to the next meeting. Any corrections should be sent to the Chair within two weeks of receiving the minutes. The Clerk further agreed to circulate papers tabled at the meeting to those who were not present at the meeting, with the draft minutes.  Action: Clerk.

d)             Other items on the agenda: deferred.

To note that the date of the next meeting of SACRE is due to be held on Tuesday 9 March 2010.

·       Spring Term 2010: Tuesday 9^th March 2010

·       Summer Term 2010: Tuesday 22 June 2010