Karen Butler (Vice chair) assumed the seat of Chair and welcomes all attendees to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Michael Gammage (Chair) and Saghir Ahmed.  

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on the 6^th March 2018.

It was noted that the last SACRE group meeting held on the 6^th March had been inquorate and that it had resolved as an informal meeting.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as an accurate record subject to the following amendments:

Item 6- It was noted that there were a number of outstanding actions which were discussed as follows:

v  The Chair to re-word the foreword for the SACRE Constitution- this would be picked up with the Chair upon his return.

v  Anne Andrews to research whether co-optees can join the SACRE group- it was confirmed that individuals could be co-opted.

v  Circulation of the draft constitution changes- awaiting input from the chair.

ACTION- To add the Constitutional review to November’s meeting and to circulate the draft via email to all SACRE group members.

Item 7- To upload the directory- currently with the clerk and Clive Haines for action.

Item 8:- Amend wording from “Churchwood” to “Churchmead”

Members were told that there was an action outstanding in relation to the Westhill Award and the Vice Chair told the Forum that an award was unlikely to be made as a similar project had been recently awarded a sum of money. It would not have been possible to launch a project until the next round of bids in the Autumn.

ACTION- Anne Andrews to feedback on deadlines for bid submission.

ACTION- Event invites for the 20/20 Conference to be distributed as soon as possible. Barbara Meaney to email Elaine and feedback.

ACTION- Clive Haines to report on available budget for conference invites and attendance.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY; That the minutes of the previous meeting were approved subject to the changes noted.

The Vice Chair informed the Forum that Ceri Neil had resigned and that a representative of the Kings Church was now vacant. It was confirmed that the vice chair had communicated with the Kings Church (Windsor) and that Members would be updated once a representative had been confirmed.

To receive an update by Clive Haines.

Karen Butler ( Vice Chair) outlined a briefing note provided by Clive Haines in relation to the SACRE budget. It was confirmed that there was a £6000 ratified in April. The remaining budget was currently £4000. The Forum were asked to think about ways in which the money could be spent for the upcoming year.  

It was also highlighted that the cost of the personal advisor and her input to the syllabus launch would require an invoice of £400 and that this would need to be factored in.

Members discussed ways in which the money could be spent, which had been discussed at the inquorate meeting held earlier in March. Ways in which the money could be utilised were discussed and included; hosting of the RBWM SACRE domain, funding framework, hosting costs, possibility of funding published guidance, conference for non-syllabus year groups.  

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY; That the verbal report was noted.

Anne Andrews, Religious Adviser outlined a verbal report on the monitoring of religious education (RE) and collective worship (CW). The forum were told that there were examples of schools which had received ‘outstanding’ and this was for their work in RE and CW. Evidence of this had occurred at Cheapside school and also at St Mary’s – Datchet. Members discussed that it was important to look at local schools which had done well in this area by Ofsted. It was highlighted that part of the inspection report for St Mary’s school made references to the need to celebrate pupils outcomes more frequently. The Chair urged all to read the SIAMS reports in detail and to relate any feedback directly to the Chair or personal advisor.

ACTION- That Clive Haines collates Ofsted data which specifically highlighted RE and CW in the Borough.

ACTION- That a spreadsheet be collated to include SIAMS outcomes and social moral social concepts (SMSC) data from schools and be bought to a future SACRE meeting.  

To receive an update by Barbara Meaney and Rev Rosie Webb.

Reverend Rosie Webb and Barbara Meaney updated the group on the recent attendance of the NASACRE AGM.

Members discussed the Hub Management proposal and discussed the future of the Pan Berkshire Hub. Councillor Airey highlighted that invitations for the syllabus action day scheduled for the 9^th July had not been sent out to Members. It was confirmed that these would be sent out in due course and that the conference had been planned and drafted. Members discussed ways in which consultation with teachers could be carried out and ways in which the conference could be tailored to suit their needs. It was confirmed that Moor Hall had been booked as a venue and that the SACRE newsletter had been sent to all teachers in April earlier this year. The syllabus launch event would be a morning session with workshops and a panel session with questions on the new syllabus would form part of the day.

Members discussed ways in which the hub could be resourced and that there were difficulties in the maintenance of the online resouces. It was discussed that experitise and time was needed to carry out the development and maintenance of the hub and that it was unlikely that any SACRE group Member could carry out this task. It was also agreed that development of the hub would require feedback and networking with teachers and that there was a level of uncertainty around using volunteers due to their reliability and time that should be dedicated to the project.

It was suggested that local SACRE groups could pool their money to maintain the online resourcing costs and that this could prove beneficial to some SACRE groups whose budgets were more restrictive.

To discuss and consider priorities for the upcoming year.

Members discussed the forward plan and suggestions for the future SACRE group meetings which included:

·         Westhill Awards

·         Crossing the Bridges Project

·         Interfaith dialogues and community cohesion

·         Development days to be scheduled for the upcoming year

·         Potential SACRE group retreat or evenings

·         Community days to interlink faith groups

·         Interfaith walk with potential business sponsorship

·         Invitation to school ambassadors from the Ambassador project

·         Reduced time dedicated to each agenda item, suggested twenty minutes as a maximum.

·         Leaving school questionnaire and review of subjects

Karen Butler informed the forum that other SACRE groups had specific times dedicated to SACRE professional development and times for members to share their customs and beliefs. It was highlighted that Buckinghamshire SACRE group had already implemented this and had time for members set aside to socialise and connect before or after most meetings. It was agreed that it would be important for RBWM SACRE group members to have some time dedicated to raise and share some of the issues and concerns that characterised each members different faith groups.

Members discussed a variety of options, such as a dinner or social visit before the meeting which could help members get a better understanding of one another. Members agreed that a half an hour slot before the SACRE meeting would be a good foundation to work with and that members could arrive at 6pm and the formal meeting would be moved to 6.30pm.

Members were in agreement that time was needed to communicate with one another outside of the meeting and were happy to move the time of the meeting.  

The date of the next meeting is as follows:

·         8^th November 2018 – Desborough 2 &3, Town Hall, Maidenhead

·         5^th March 2019- Council Chamber, Town Hall, Maidenhead

Members noted the future dates of meetings as follows;

·         8^th November 2018 at 6pm – Desborough 2 & 3

·         5^th March 2019 at 6pm- Council Chamber