(a)

the status of Christoforos Mamas’s membership was still unresolved, as he was now eligible to be the UCU rep in Group C, as opposed to the Greek Orthodox Community rep;

(b)

it had been difficult to find a Buddhist Community rep for Group A following the resignation of Barry Good;

(c)

three Members had recently been contacted due to their non-attendance over the last year; if they did not respond the RE Adviser would seek alternative representatives.

(a)

the amount of the SACRE budget for 2015-2016 was not yet known;

(b)

the SACRE Development Plan influenced how the SACRE budget was spent;

(c)

the development plan highlighed three areas of importance  –

·         support for teachers to develop some new, creative and interactive schemes of work to support the new syllabus and the new emphases of heritage, diversity and spirituality, to include a review of the syllabus across Plymouth schools during the summer term;

·         SACRE to make available some curriculum project funds for schools to support innovative RE projects with links to and in collaboration with local understanding and good quality RE;

·         SACRE to support promotional events and celebrations of RE, including Holocaust Memorial Day;

(d)

funds had been offered to schools to enable them to develop innovative projects; however take up had been poor, and the money had been used to produce extra copies of the Agreed Syllabus document.

(a)

the project was a learning partnership project for Religious Education (RE) with a focus on creating a community of enquiry and professional development across the south west peninsula;

(b)

the original intention was to support and enhance RE in the south west, boosting provision from Local Authorities, SACREs, teacher training providers, Diocesan Boards of Education and schools;

(c)

the ‘unmet needs’ of RE teachers were identified and prioritised in the bid for funds;

(d)

the project was launched in October 2012, through funding in excess of £100,00, for a three year period, from the St Luke’s College Foundation;

(e)

the funding ensured that Continual Professional Development (CPD) was enjoyed by an increased number of teachers, and was available free of charge for state funded primary and secondary schools;

(f)

2015 was the third full year of the programme;

(g)

there were 14 Project Leaders of RE (PLREs), leading eight hubs;

(h)

there was scope (if funding allowed) for the formation of other PLREs in north east Cornwall and mid/east Devon;

(i)

there was a current recruitment drive for more PLREs in Torbay (primary) and South Devon (secondary);

(j)

termly hub meetings (affiliated to NATRE) were generating attendance levels of between 15 and 40;

(k)

the 2014 Conference (held at St Mellion Resort) was attended by over 100 delegates;

(l)

PLRE training in January had focused on interfaith dialogue and ‘Promoting religious understanding through RE’;

(m)

information regarding termly hub meetings and venues was posted on the website and sent to schools through partnership networks and by PLREs.  Meetings were usually held in twilight sessions with a change of venue;

(n)

some hubs used a newsletter compiled by the PLREs to keep people in touch between meetings;

(o)

PLREs received regular updates from the Project Director;

(p)

reports of meetings were added to the website;

(q)

agendas this term would share training from the conference and the first training day, as well as addressing local needs;

(r)

PLREs had benefitted from their training and increased confidence in their subject leadership in addition to sharing their own expertise locally, regionally and nationally;

(s)

Gill Tewkesbury (North Devon Primary Hub Leader) was now an SLE and had won a Hockerill prize (in recognition of innovative teaching in RE), and a Farmington Fellowship (for teachers of Religious Education in UK secondary schools, primary school RE Co-ordinators or other primary school teachers involved in teaching RE, and teachers of children with Special Educational Needs who are involved with RE.  Headteachers who wish to undertake research into either Religious Education or Values Education are also eligible to apply.  Applicants should have had at least two years in their present post);

(t)

Katie Freeman (Plymouth Primary Hub Leader) was now an SLE (Specialist Leader in Education) and had recently had an article published in ‘RE Today’;

(u)

other SLEs were Giles Freathy (West  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

(a)

SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social, Cultural) teaching had advanced since the development of the National Curriculum in 1988;

(b)

there had been an increase in the number of children being withdrawn from Religious Education (RE) lessons, and the British National Party (BNP) were encouraging this through their website;

(c)

there were issues in schools that were beyond the remit of SACRE;

(d)

school governors needed to be made aware of issues surrounding RE in schools;

(e)

it would be beneficial to have a contact list for different religions to check information if necessary;

(f)

faith speakers visiting schools was the way ahead, although some parents could be obstructive;

(g)

a large number of non-specialist RE teachers were not interested in teaching RE;

(h)

there was a lack of support and training for RE; funding needed to be available for training;

(i)

there was no longer a full time RE Advisor post in Plymouth and the surrounding Local Authorities;

(j)

a strongly worded reply needed to be sent to Lord Nash’s letter.

(a)

there had been an increase in the number of children withdrawn from RE lessons in school;

(b)

the briefing paper had been sent to all Plymouth schools;

(c)

it was known that the British National Party (BNP) was encouraging the withdrawal of children from RE lessons, especially where Islam was taught;

(d)

parents wishing to withdraw their child(ren) from RE lessons did not have to give a reason, although they had always been encouraged to do so;

(e)

there was no requirement for schools to keep statistics of the number of children who are withdrawn from RE lessons;

Following a discussion, members raised the following points –

(f)

bullet point three of the letter identified one particular religion (Islam), and suggested that some religions could be extremist;

(g)

the letter suggested that particular faiths wished to withdraw their child(ren) from RE lessons;

(h)

it was important that parents who wished to withdraw their child(ren) from RE lessons were invited in to school to discuss their reasons for doing so;

(i)

some parents would have difficulty in understanding the letter;

(j)

the letter was considered to be passive aggressive and overly formal;

(k)

advice needed to be given to headteachers to enable them to produce their own letter regarding this issue.

(a)

a decision regarding a reply to this letter needed to be made today;

(b)

the advice received from NASACRE was to thank Lord Nash for his letter;

(c)

the responsibility for RE needed to sit with Local Authorities;

(d)

it was important that what had been discussed in the awareness/training session was reflected in the reply to Lord Nash;

(e)

further information regarding the bursary scheme for the recruitment of high-quality RE teachers was needed;  the information did not specify that any religious education was required;

(f)

members expressed concern regarding the holder of a first class degree being eligible for a bursary, as trainees with a first class degree would not necessarily make a high quality teacher;

(g)

a number of SACREs were asking their Local Authority to reply to Lord Nash on their behalf; however it was decided that the reply needed to come from Plymouth SACRE, not Plymouth City Council.

(a)

the Plymouth event had received a great deal of press and television coverage;

(b)

Solly Irving, a Jewish Holocaust survivor, once again visited the city, giving talks at local schools and the University;

(c)

Plymouth had received one of the special commemorative candles for the event;

(d)

a Civic event had been held in the Orangery at Mount Edgcumbe House and Country Park;

(e)

it was suggested that two events be held next year, on different days;

Following a discussion, members raised the following points –

(f)

the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT) sent details of books and DVDs to libraries that could be advertised for HMD;

(g)

World Book Day could be linked in with HMD; to keep the event fresh in peoples’ minds;

(h)

the event held at the University was superb, and involved a large number of children; however another event or display was needed in the centre of the city to attract the general public;

(i)

the event could be advertised on the side of the University, or on the ‘big screen’ on the Plaza in the city centre.