Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Charlotte Betteridge, Stephanie Boulter, Graham Bounds and Kerry Poole.

The Chairman welcomed Matthew Jenkins to his first SACRE meeting. He was a Councillor and had therefore become a member of Group D.

The SACRE agreed to send a letter to Ian Hopwood to thank him for all his hard work for the Advisory Council over the previous four years.

None

Following the election the position of Vice Chairman had become vacant.

Robin Lunn was nominated and seconded for the position.

There were no further nominations and no objections so Robin Lunn was duly appointed Vice Chairman of SACRE.

The minutes were agreed to be a correct record of the previous meeting on 1 February 2017 but under minute 578 a revised description of the Understanding Christianity resource was suggested of it being a 'substantial resource'.

As funding for SACRE had been secured until 20 September 2020 and a contract had been agreed with RE Services for Stephen Pett to remain as SACRE advisor it was deemed a good idea to create a Development Plan.

A draft development plan was circulated.

An updated version of the plan is attached to these minutes.

It had been hoped that the project would have started in May, however the University was supporting the project and they had a rigorous ethical procedure and the Ethics Board had requested 3 minor changes to the project plan. Ethics approval was necessary before the project could start and would enable the University to use the work done as part of its research with the possibility of the project being rolled out to other areas or extending its impact with further funding.

The Project would now be launched in the Autumn Term.

The Primary Conference would take place on 19 June.

The Secondary Conference was being organised with South Bromsgrove school and would include Herefordshire schools, it would take place on 29 June.

Tracy Lister had agreed to compile a list of places of worship which could be visited by schools. This would be a useful resource for Schools who currently have to rely on internet searches for information on places to visit.

SACRE members were asked to approach their contacts and return any information to Tracy.

It was also agreed that teachers who attend the conferences would be asked for their recommendations.

The Faith Encounter programme was mentioned. Faith guides are trained to show people round their places of worship. Also some people are prepared to go into schools to speak about their religion.

South Bromsgrove had held a trip to places of worship in Birmingham. The students would be asked if they could come to speak to SACRE about their visit.

Stephen agreed to return responses to NASACRE's survey as well as the REC Commission on the provision of RE.

Stephen distributed information about RE films from the BBC and media coverage about parent's rights to withdraw their children from RE lessons.

The Chairman gave members some information about the RE Council Meeting which had taken place on 11 May 2017.

None

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 3 October 2017 at 2pm at County Hall, Worcester.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 3 October 2017 at 2pm in the Lakeview Room at County Hall.