Agenda and minutes

Matters arising from the meeting held on 4 November 2015

Item 15: The Advisor confirmed that consideration was still being given with regard to how to fill the vacant position of Vice-Chairman.

Item 16: The Hillingdon Interfaith Network AGM was due to take place on 30 June 2016. The Network would be celebrating its tenth anniversary. Invites had already gone out and HSACRE Members were encouraged to help promote the event.

Item 16.5 - Teacher Support: Sources of support for RE teachers within the Borough were being investigated, with the Advisor noting that the difficulty in identifying suitable support was a source of frustration.

Resolved: That:

1.    The Advisor to SACRE to contact Father Desmond to obtain details of an organisation that may be able to help support local RE teachers.

2.    The minutes of the HSACRE meeting held on 4 November 2015 be agreed.

Those present will be receiving a presentation in relation to this item.

A verbal presentation on Character Education was given by three pupils from Yeading Junior School.

Character Education was about helping to equip children with skills that went beyond what was provided by the subjects taught under the National Curriculum. Character Education aimed to contribute towards the improvement of life skills that covered a number of attributes. These included perseverance, resilience, grit, confidence, optimism, motivation, drive, ambition, neighbourliness, community spirit, tolerance, respect, honesty, integrity, dignity, conscientiousness, curiosity and focus.

Pupils were provided with a variety of volunteering opportunities to enable them to "be the best that they can be." and to enable them to "become agents of change." This volunteering took place at school and within the wider local community. One example of the voluntary activities undertaken was participation in a project related to road safety. Positive actions undertaken by pupils were rewarded.

Fundraising activities were undertaken as part of the Character Education programme. Yeading Junior School had raised £3,000, which had helped to fund sustainability projects in villages abroad.

The Advisor to HSACRE thanked the pupils for the excellent and informative presentation given.

Resolved: That:

1.    The presentation be noted.

This item was deferred to a future meeting due to apologies having been received from the Council officer who had been due to present it.

Resolved: That:

1.    The Prevent Counter Terrorism Strategy update be provided at a future meeting.

A draft of the 2013 HSACRE Annual Report was presented to Members. It was noted that the 2014 Annual Report had been presented to Members at the November 2015 meeting. Following this, it had been established that an Annual Report had not been produced for 2013.

HSACRE approved the draft of the 2013 Annual Report and it was requested that a draft of the 2015 report be brought to the next meeting on 16 June 2015.

Resolved: That:

1.    The 2013 HSACRE Annual Report be approved and submitted to NASACRE.

2.    A draft of the 2015 HSACRE Annual Report be brought to the next meeting.

5.1 - Hayes Carnival

It was requested and agreed that some HSACRE funding should be set aside to cover costs in relation to the Hayes Carnival. This would be discussed further outside the meeting.

Resolved: That:

1.    HSACRE funding be set aside to cover costs in relation to the Hayes carnival.

5.2 - Sakhi Celebrations

It was requested HSACRE Members circulate information in relation to celebrations associated with Sakhi, which would take place on 14 April 2016.

Resolved: That:

1.    Umesh Sharma to provide details of Sakhi celebrations to the clerk. These would then be circulated to all HSACRE Members.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 7 June 2016, at 7.30pm. The venue is to be confirmed at tonight's meeting.

It was confirmed that the next meeting of HSACRE would take place on Tuesday 7 June 2016 at Hayes Muslim Centre. It was agreed that the meeting would commence at 7 pm, rather than the usual start time of 7:30 pm. Members would be welcome to arrive from 6:30 pm to share the breaking of the fast with those at the Centre.

Resolved: That:

1.    The next meeting of HSACRE would take place on Tuesday 7 June 2016 at Hayes Muslim Centre, starting at 7 pm. Amir Ahmed to liaise with the clerk regarding the arrangements.

The meeting of HSACRE closed at 7:55 PM.

The meeting of the Agreed Syllabus Conference commenced at 7:55 PM.

It was noted that some Members of HSACRE had held a meeting since the last meeting of the main group. The purpose of this meeting had been to discuss possible revisions to the Hillingdon Agreed Syllabus, in order to strengthen the coverage of Humanism and other non-religious world views. The suggestions made by this group had been included in the meeting agenda papers.

The Humanist Member of HSACRE, Robert Harwood, said that questions that he had requested be included in the survey in relation to the review, that had previously been circulated to schools, had not been. He felt that these questions had deliberately been omitted from the final survey. The Advisor stated that the purpose of the questionnaire was to establish whether schools in the Borough supported the undertaking of a full or partial review of the existing agreed syllabus. It had not been practical for the questionnaire to pose detailed questions in relation to the possible content of a revised syllabus.

A High Court judgement made by Justice Warby in November 2015 had ruled in favour of a group of humanist parents, who had challenged the prioritisation of religious views in a religious studies GCSE syllabus. Mr Harwood stated that the result of this judgement was that the syllabus would require updating to ensure that it complied with the law. This update would need to include adequate coverage of Humanism and other non-religious world views.

There was no one present at the meeting who was able to confirm the legal position with regard to what needed to be included in the Agreed Syllabus. Therefore, following discussion, it was agreed that the legal requirements would be confirmed outside the meeting. An update would be provided to Members in advance of the next scheduled meeting of the Agreed Syllabus Conference in June 2016.

Resolved: That:

1.    That the Clerk to SACRE and the Advisor to SACRE establish the legal requirements with regard to inclusion in the Agreed Syllabus of information in relation to Humanism and other non-religious world views. HSACRE Members would be updated once this had been confirmed.

2.    The minutes of the meeting held on 4 November 2015 be agreed.

The meeting of the Agreed Syllabus Conference ended at 8:25 PM.