Agenda and minutes

It was noted that a meeting of the Standing Conference for the Harrow Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education was due to be held at the rising of the SACRE meeting.  A member stated that she would have to leave the meeting early, and after some discussion the order of the agenda was changed.

RESOLVED:  That, in order to allow members who could not stay for the whole evening to participate in the Standing Conference for the Harrow Agreed Syllabus for RE, the Conference should take place after the items Apologies for Absence and Declarations of Interests on the SACRE agenda, and before the remainder of the SACRE meeting.

RESOLVED:  To note (1) that apologies for absence had been received from Mrs Besser, Envoy B Haylock, Councillor Dhirajlal Lavingia, Brother L Lindsay, Ms Pandya-Arepalli, Mrs S Panjwani, Dr K Pinching, Mrs A Stowe, and Reverend Dr S Thompson; and

(2)  that Mrs S Panjwani attended briefly before the formal meeting to submit a written contribution. 

RESOLVED: To note that there were no Reserve Members in attendance.

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.

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

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

[Note:  Following the above item, and further to the decision reached at Minute 185 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” and undertook the business on the agenda for that meeting;

(iii)                SACRE formally reconvened and completed the business on its agenda (see Note at the closure of these SACRE minutes)].

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 8 December 2005, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record subject to the following amendment:

Minute 184 – Any Other Business:

Amend to reflect that Mrs Thurston’s initial was ‘H’.

(i)         SACRE Report 2004-2005:

The report had been circulated with the agenda.

(ii)            Guidelines on Meeting the Needs of Muslim Pupils:

Guidelines on meeting the needs of Muslim pupils had been produced by SACRE a number of years previously covering topics such as Ramadan and dress requirements in PE and science. It was suggested that guidance be prepared covering all religions, including Christianity, to be widely available including via public libraries. 

RESOLVED:  That all faith groups be contacted for suggestions for what to include in the guidance to cover the needs of all pupils relating to their religions.

(iii)            Representation to NASACRE:

RESOLVED:  That a representation be made to the NASACRE of the concern felt by Harrow SACRE, over the developments in Europe regarding banning of religious headgear in some countries.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no determinations to consider at the time of the meeting.

SACRE had last published “The A to Z of School Collective Worship “ in 2004 which covered legal aspects. There was some discussion regarding further advice on collective worship which SACRE could collate for schools.  It was felt appropriate to ask children what they would like included in collective worship.

The Chair noted that the ‘Life Exhibition’ at Good News Church on 27 March 2006 would be an excellent ‘high tech’ interactive exhibition about the Bible, and noted that a number of Harrow schools had arranged to visit. There were many resources available for schools and it would be helpful for them to be shared.

RESOLVED:  That schools be sent a questionnaire on collective worship to find out the following:

·                     What staff would find useful to help them with collective worship.

·                     What children would like to be included in collective worship.

·                     What resources schools already find particularly useful e.g. website addresses, book titles.

(See also Minute 195).

Members discussed the contribution of Harrow SACRE to the social and racial harmony agenda using the tabled guidelines from DfES.

It was felt that there was a need for the education of Councillors as well as of school children and staff and, although it was not the role of SACRE to provide this education, it would be appropriate for SACRE to invite Councillors to find out about SACRE’s work.

Members pointed out that the first two sections of 5b of the consultation should be reversed.

RESOLVED:  That it be noted that Harrow SACRE was generally ‘established’ in their contribution to the wider social and racial harmony agenda and working towards ‘advanced’.

RESOLVED:  To note that there was nothing to report.

Exhibition

SACRE members were informed of an invitation from the Weald Trust to the opening of the Life Exhibition on 27 March 2006 at 6.20 pm

Sufi Majlis

Invitations to an event in London on 12 March 2006 called Oceans of Wisdom was tabled.

School Lettings

It was noted that the school letting arrangements would be reorganised from September 2006.  There was concern that letting cost increases, although offset by grants in some cases, would be borne by voluntary agencies providing “mother tongue” classes.

It was also noted that whereas some faith groups had their own buildings, others were reliant on hiring halls.

RESOLVED:  That SACRE and the Interfaith Council compile a list of halls available for hire.

NASACRE

The Winter 2006 newsletter for NASACRE was tabled at the meeting.Members were informed that the AGM of NASACRE would take place on 4 May 2006.

Harrow People

Harrow Council’s newsletter ‘Harrow People’ had requested news items.

National Conference on Collective Worship

Two teachers, including SACRE member Alison Stowe, had run a workshop during a DfES Conference on Collective Worship.

QCA

QCA thanked Harrow SACRE for the Annual Report 2004-05.

NASACRE Grant Application

NASACRE had invited SACREs to make an application by 7 April 2006 for a grant for a project.  It was suggested that annual conferences at a different school each year.

Barnet SACRE

Barnet SACRE had initiated a meeting of chairs of London SACRE to enable them to work more closely together.

University of Birmingham Course

Details of part time courses in Religious Education had been received from University of Birmingham.

RESOLVED: That (1) Members contact Susan Bole if they wished to attend the NASACRE AGM;

(2)  Alison Stowe be invited to present a paper on collective worship at the next SACRE meeting;

(3)  Paddy O’Dwyer and Pat Stevens write a bid to NASACRE for £5,000-10,000 to set up a conference at a school. School children of all key stages would present their faiths with adults acting as guides and mentors;

(4)  the Chair of SACRE attend the meeting organised by Barnet SACRE on 20 March 2006.

Reflection for Norman Kember:

The meeting reflected on Harrow resident and Christian peace activist Norman Kember, who was being held hostage in Iraq. 

Membership Matters:

It was noted that Hindu representative Mrs Punitha Perinparaja had tendered her resignation.  Mrs Zainab Jaffer had resigned, and her place as a Muslim representative had been taken by Ms Suquena Panjwani.

Dates of Future Meetings:

13 June 2006 (Venue to be confirmed, expected to be at the Hindu temple, Neasden)

20 September 2006

7 December 2006

8 March 2007

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 9 March 2006.

The two bodies share the same membership.

As noted above within the SACRE minutes (at Minute 185 and following Minute 188), 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.