SACRE will elect a new Chair from Group C and a Vice Chair from Group A, with spokespersons to be elected from Groups B and D.

Resolved that Mrs Martin and Councillor Stark continue in their respective roles as Chair and Vice-Chair until next autumn (2009) and, in the meantime, a sub-group comprising the following SACRE members be convened to consider the terms of reference including length of term for Chair and Vice-Chair appointments:

            Group A – Kelsang Dragden

            Group B – Mrs Patricia Martin

            Group C – Ms Teresa Griffiths

            Group D – Councillor David Stark.

Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

The following Member of SACRE declared an interest –

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2008.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2008 were submitted for approval. 

Resolved that –

(1)         the attendance list be adjusted as follows –

·        delete Mrs Hendley;

·        add – also in attendance:  P Aley, A Donkin, J Marshall and R Walker;

(2)          the following resolution be added to minute 42, The Plymouth Children and Young People’s Trust Plan –

Resolved that concern be expressed that SACRE, a statutory body, had not been consulted on the Plan;

(3)         PAT (Professional Association of Teachers) be requested to nominate a replacement for Mrs J Hendley who had not attended SACRE meetings for a considerable time.

The Chair welcomed the following SACRE Members to this meeting –

• Mr Louis Basquill – Roman Catholic Church Representative, Group A
• Mr Tony Blackler, (Plymouth Association of Governors) – co-opted representative;
• Ms Denise Vasey, substitute for Mrs Liz Hill.

Rev. Peter Chave will advise on arrangements for the day (see www.hmd.org.uk ).

A briefing paper was circulated (see agenda supplement pack, www.plymouth.gov.uk/democracy ).  Rev. Peter Chave, Mrs Cathy Bowness  and the Education Adviser (Inclusion) advised that –

• the Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony was to be held on 27 January 2009 at the memorial tree in the English Garden, Mount Edgcumbe at 12.30pm;

·        on the same day, an evening meeting for reflection on this year’s theme ‘Stand up to hatred’ would be held in the Lower Guildhall at 7.00pm;

·        the national event would be held in Coventry next year and the 10^th anniversary of the event would be held in 2010 in London;

·        it was hoped that Plymouth could host the event in 2012 as that would be the year of the 250^th anniversary of a synagogue in Plymouth;

·        tenders for hosting the national event required to be submitted by Councils the year before the event and a resolution from the Council would be required 18 months before the event;

·        new resources were being published today, including a communities pack and an education pack free to all schools;

·        a commemorative book was published every year and schools could have their names mentioned in it if they did anything relating, e.g. reference in school assembly;

·        teachers were being provided with the tools to improve understanding and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust could help with training, but only if they were invited to;

·        this issue came within the wider community cohesion context of (i) reducing bullying in and out of school, and (ii) supporting young people to make a positive contribution.

Resolved that –

(1)          an email be forwarded to secondary schools encouraging attendance at the event on 27 January;

(2)          feedback on the event be provided at the next meeting;

(3)          a news item be included in the bulletin regarding SACRE and schools;

(4)          a regular item be included on the SACRE agenda regarding the Holocaust national event bid for 2012.

(This item was moved up the agenda in order to facilitate good management of the meeting.)

The Religious Education Adviser will provide an update on membership issues.

The Religious Education Advisor reported that, as stated in the Draft Annual report which had been circulated at this meeting, Groups A, B and D were complete.  Group C now included Liz Hill as PAPH (NAHT) representative and other Primary Heads and special schools had been contacted for nomination.

Discussion took place regarding the involvement of young people with SACRE –

• the possibility of inviting members of the youth parliament to be co-opted members should be explored;

·        attending daytime meetings might be a difficulty for students;

·        developing a SACRE link with the young people’s faith forum was a possibility;

·        some local authorities had Youth SACREs and consideration should be given to this idea.

Resolved that the sub group which was to be set up to consider the constitution should also consider the issue of a Youth SACRE.

A DVD has been produced by a group of Christian and Muslim young women from three secondary schools (Youth Interfaith Group) – a short extract will be shown from this followed by discussion with some group members.

A group of four Christian and Muslim young women from the Youth Interfaith Group attended the meeting and presented an extract from a DVD which had been produced by the group.  SACRE heard from the group about their aims and what they had learned from the experience of meeting together.  

Resolved that –

(1)          the members of the Youth Interfaith Group be thanked for their attendance and for their interesting DVD;

(2)          the young women be requested to provide feedback to SACRE on how they thought other young people could be encouraged to take part in the Youth Interfaith Group.

(This item was moved up the agenda in order to avoid causing delay to the young people in attendance.)

The Religious Education Adviser will submit the Development Plan for approval.

The Religious Education Adviser submitted the Plymouth SACRE Development Plan 2008-2011 for approval.  Regarding paragraph 2 of the Development Plan, the Religious Education Adviser informed those present that he would be producing a format to monitor the impact and integration of the new Agreed Syllabus.  This would need to be done in conjunction with the Devon RE Adviser.

Resolved that the impact of the Agreed Syllabus 2008-2011 be monitored at every SACRE meeting.

The Religious Education Adviser will submit a draft copy of the annual report.

The Religious Education Advisor circulated a draft Annual Report 2007/08 for consideration (see agenda supplement pack www.plymouth.gov.uk/democracy ).

Resolved that –

(1)          comments on the Annual Report be forwarded to the Religious Education Advisor before the end of term;

(2)          a copy of the ‘Making Sense of Religion’ document be forwarded to all SACRE Members.

The Religious Education Adviser will provide updates.

The Religious Education Advisor advised that –

• he was waiting to hear back from PASH regarding SACRE’s request to have the opportunity to address PASH on their concerns regarding Key Stage 3 integrated curriculum model;

·        the Ofsted document of 2007 ‘Making Sense of Religion’ made the following points regarding religious education within the context of the 21^st century –

                            (i)             Religious Education (RE) cannot ignore diversity within each faith;

                          (ii)             RE cannot ignore controversy;

                        (iii)             RE cannot ignore social reality of religion;

                         (iv)             RE cannot ignore its role in community cohesion and teaching of diversity.

·        A toolkit was available to schools from the Department for Children, Schools and Families – “Learning together to be safe – A toolkit to help schools contribute to the prevention of violent extremism” and in essence, schools were encouraged to consider how to –

(a)            build resilience in young people to resist extremism;

(b)            build capacity within organisations;

(c)            provide effective support to those who are being targeted;

The Religious Education Advisor reported that his role would be changing.  He would be remaining at the Plymouth Centre for Faiths and Cultural Diversity but would be concentrating more on advising on RE and community cohesion.  At present, the Director/RE Adviser of the Centre continued to be funded by the Local Authority.

Miss Caroline McVicker, AST Secondary, will report on Religious Studies at Post 16.

Miss Caroline McVicker (AST Secondary) circulated a note and action plan on Post 16 Subject Networks Plymouth Local Authority (see agenda supplement pack www.plymouth.gov.uk/democracy ).

SACRE members were informed that –

·        it was disappointing that only five schools were represented on the Network;

·        the subject needed to be on the Council’s website;

·        a guest speaker suggested was the Chief Examiner from OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations).

The Religious Education Adviser will provide an update (newsletter attached).

The Religious Education Advisor submitted a Plymouth Centre for Faiths and Cultural Diversity newsletter for September to December 2008.  He advised that the Centre was beginning to be seen as a model of good practice.  He circulated a Calendar of Religious Festivals for information. 

The next meeting will be held at 10am on Monday, 9 March 2008.

The next meeting of SACRE would be held at 10am on Monday, 9 March 2009, in the Council House.