Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed members to the meeting and thanked them for coming. 

Apologies were received from:-

Group A   Jeff Lynn

Group D  Councillor Parnell

The Chair reported that David Walford had agreed to be the Roman Catholic Church representative in Group A.  This nomination was proposed by Taz Curtis, seconded by Tony Blackshaw and agreed by the Members.

To approve and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 17^th October 2011.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 17^th October 2011 be approved and signed as a correct record.  (Copy of the Minutes circulated with the Agenda and appended to the signed Minutes).

Matters Arising

The Chair reported that he had contacted the DfE regarding the National Curriculum Review and whether it would affect Religious Education.  They had confirmed that no changes were expected at the present time.

The Chair stated that he was continuing to investigate the possibility of Mrs Martin becoming a full member of SACRE, Group D, rather than a substitute.

To receive feedback and updates from all members of the SACRE.

David Vane reported that the Youth Peace Walk would take place on Sunday 11^th March and many participants were expected from outside the city.  He also stated that the Annual Peace Walk was scheduled for 17^th June and that Ganglikay would take place at Tauntons College.  He agreed to email the Chair with the dates for this event and the dates for the extended Interfaith Week.

Sian Roberts stated that the Southampton Council of Faiths (SCOF) was endeavouring to get Youth SCOFs into schools to promote mutual tolerance of faith in others.  She also reported that the video “Question Time Approach at Upper Shirley High School” was now available to view via the Upper Shirley High School websitehttp://ushtv.org/home/

A dramatised version of Mark’s Gospel, The Mark Drama, was scheduled to have eight performances around the city during March and dates/venues were available on the website http://themarkdrama.com/uk/

Anas Al-Korj reported that the new Islamic school had adopted the SACRE Agreed Syllabus and received strong support from the Local Authority.

It was generally agreed that it was important to give “Collective Worship in Schools” a high profile at future SACRE meetings.

To address any other business which may arise at the meeting.

Several members expressed concern regarding the short length of the meeting and asked that a substantial item be included on each agenda and it was noted that the Constitution stated that SACRE must meet once per term.

A discussion took place on possible items for future meetings and future work of SACRE and the following suggestions were made:

• Detailed discussions on what takes place in Collective Worship - Chris Davis offered that SACRE members visit schools to see the work undertaken by Southampton City Mission and he agreed to forward dates to the Chair for these events.
• Production of a list of suggested topics for future meetings.
• Tony Blackshaw stated that he attended the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee meetings which incorporated matters regarding children and young people and it was suggested that it may be useful to ask the Cabinet Member to go to these meetings to raise SACRE’s point of view.
• Attendance at school Governors Meetings to promote SACRE and RE.
• Attendance at the RE Network Panel Meetings (secondary schools) and Church Schools Group Meetings at St. Mark’s School, to report matters back to SACRE.  If attendance at these meetings was not possible it was suggested that receiving a verbal update or Minutes of meetings would be useful.  The Chair requested that these meeting dates were sent to him in order that he could circulate them to Members with a request for a volunteer to attend on behalf of SACRE.
• It was agreed that it was important to promote the profile of RE in schools constantly as this had been shown to have a beneficial affect.  Students could be asked to comment on how RE had positively affected them and it was further suggested that this could be televised in four years time when the “Big Question” was next in Southampton.  It was noted that Southampton SACRE had a good reputation for the Agreed Syllabus and other Local Authorities had bought it.
• Possible involvement of Mayor and Sheriff in promoting RE in schools.

Venue of next meeting – some Members commented that it was difficult to park at the Civic Centre with the current works.  It was agreed that if the works were continuing into June 2012, an alternative venue would be sought for the next meeting.