Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed all to the meeting. 

Apologies for absence had been received from Barry Smith, Councillor David Taylor, George Prinn, MrSiddiqui, and Rabi Lee Sunderland. 

Absence from the following Members was noted: Luthaneal Adams, Nasir Mubasher, Marlene Wylie, Terry Riches, Bal Degun, and Councillor Philip Ruck. 

There were no new or substitute Members. 

To agree as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2023 (attached) and to authorise the Chair to sign them and to address any matters arising therefrom.

1.    The minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2023 were received and agreed subject to a minor typographic amendment (Minute 11.2). 

ACTION: HGS 

2.    Matters arising from the minutes, not included elsewhere on the agenda, were as follows: 

3.     

1.            SACRE Membership (minute 1, refers):The clerk confirmed that Members who had not attended regularly had been contacted via email. There had been no response received from Terry Riches (Group C) or Nasir Mubasher (Group A).

2.            Subject Leader network meetings (Minute 4.3.6, refers):JDW extended the invitation for SACRE Members to join Subject Leader meetings to introduce themselves and offer any support. SN advised that since attending the meeting on 20 March 2023, she had been invited into some schools and had also welcomed pupils in the Mosque. 

3.            Collective worship (minute 7, refers):The clerk advised that it had been agreed to provide some further training to governors prior to asking them to consider how the requirement of collective worship were being met in their schools. 

ACTION: HGS 

4.            Exam data (minute 9, refers):Clarification had been given that schools with no data for RE public examination outcomes had  

not offered that qualification. 

5.            Co-opted Member (minute 11.2, refers):The clerk confirmed that Trevor Cook, Assistant Director for Education had been pleased to approve the co-option of Sidra Naeem onto Havering SACRE. 

SACRE Members received the report on the Local Activity. There were no questions. 

SACRE Members received the report on national developments. 

The Chair reported that she had found the new animation which illustrated how humanists approached life, very interesting and recommended others to view the short film. 

Referring to the article on using faith inspired art, the Chair questioned whether Havering SACRE should look to contribute. JDW advised that the closing date for entry was 31 July 2023, however, it would reopen again in September. It was agreed that this could be included on the SACRE Action Plan and could be promoted through schools. 

ACTION: Chair / JDC

To receive and agree the Action Plan 2023-2024 following completion of the SACRE Self Evaluation.

JDC thanked SACRE Members for their suggestions regarding the Havering Action Plan. It was agreed that JDC would liaise with the Chair and Vice Chair to put together a draft plan which would be brought to the next meeting to discuss and agree. 

ACTION: JDC / Chair / Vice Chair / HGS 

To receive an update on complete audits.

There remained some website monitoring to be completed. 

The following schools remained outstanding: 

§     Crownfield Junior – this had been completed; the Chair agreed to resend to the clerk. 

ACTION: Chair 

§     Coopers Company & Coborn – RE had completed the audit however were yet to submit the form. 

§     Emerson Park Academy – RE had completed the audit however were yet to submit the form. 

ACTION: Ruth Everett 

§     Ardleigh Green Infant School 

§     Bower Park Academy 

§     Brady Primary School 

§     Corbets Tey 

§     Crownfield Infant School 

§     Dame Tipping 

§     Drapers’ Brookside 

§     Drapers’ Maylands 

The following SACRE Members agreed to complete some further audits and would be allocated schools to complete: 

Ruth Everett / Luthaneal Adams / Wendy Brice-Thompson / Tariq Mahmood / Karen Van Coevorden 

ACTION: Chair / JDC 

To discuss and agree a Havering SACRE determination process.

SACRE Members were advised that there had not been any requests for a determination in Havering, however a process needed to be in place should such a request be submitted. Prior to the meeting, SACRE Members had received the following documentation to use as a reference when considering a determination process for Havering: 

§     Determinations: Putting a system in place for your SACRE – Lesley Prior.

§     Determination process – London Borough of Ealing SACRE. 

§     Seeking a determination process – London Borough of Lewisham SACRE. 

Members worked in groups to review the information provided and share with the group any particular aspects that could be incorporated into the Havering process. A summary of the feedback received was provided below: 

§     A determination would last for 5 years however concern was shared that local demographics might change significantly over that period and, therefore could there be an option to change prior to the end of this period? 

§     Was there a possibility that schools were already just doing what they wanted in terms of collective worship, without seeking a formal determination? JDC advised that governors would be able to ascertain this as part of their monitoring. Previously HSIS (Havering School Improvement Service) had asked schools as part of their quality assurance meetings about collective worship, however this had discontinued post Covid. 

§     SACRE Members reiterated the importance of having a succinct process. It would be beneficial to include an explanation of the law as part of the request form, for ease of reference. 

§     Schools would likely access the documentation via the Havering Education Services portal. 

§     SACRE Members liked the checklist format and the flow chart.  

§     Consideration needed to be given for those, where English might not be their first language. 

§     The procedure should include expected timeframes for each stage of the process. 

§     It needed to be clear that seeking a determination was a serious request and contrary to law. JDC reiterated that Havering maintained schools followed the Agreed Syllabus which included learning about a number of different religious faiths. The determination was linked to collective worship and not the curriculum. 

§     SACRE Members recommended asking parents about the language spoken at home,from there; schools would have a greater idea of their religion. SN advised that parents born in the UK were more likely to be happy for their children to learn about all religions. Those parents who had moved from certain countries where the nature of that country allowed just one religion, might find it most daunting to allow their children to experience other religions. 

§     The procedure would be based on the request from the school, however it would be prudent to seek the views of parents. 

§     The procedure should include SACRE Members visiting the school to meet with staff and ask further questions about their consultation completed with stakeholders. 

SACRE Members felt reassured that they had enough information to form their own  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Any member may raise issues previously notified to either the Chair or the Clerk (unless the issue relates to a matter arising from the meeting itself or is of an urgent nature, when the Chair will determine whether to allow it or not).

1.    The Chair discussed the situation regarding using the Town Hall as a SACRE venue. Unless Members could meet from 5pm to 7pm, there would be a cost for using the Town Hall, for which there was no budget.

SACRE Members agreed that it was good to visit different schools and of worship. The following potential venues were offered: 

§     Romford Baptist Church  

§     Hylands Primary School 

§     Pentecostal Church 

Dates for the next academic year would be shared after which venues could be confirmed. It was agreed that offering a hybrid option would be explored where technology allowed. 

ACTION: Chair / HGS / JDC 

2.    SN invited all to attend the Havering Inter Faith Forum on Wednesday 19 July 2023 at the Havering Synagogue. The theme was ‘The Founder of our Faith.’ 

3.    It was advised that free new SACRE Member training was available on 26 June 2023. This was a free online webinar. Further details would be shared. 

ACTION: HGS 

The date of the next meeting to be confirmed.

Dates would be confirmed for the 2023-2024 academic year. The Interfaith week from 13^th – 18^th November would be avoided when considering options. 

The meeting closed at 7.40pm.