To receive a report on the SACRE Annual Conference 2007.

SACRE received a report on the SACRE Annual Conference 2007.

The Chairman reported that the 2007 SACRE annual Conference had been very successful and thanked Joyce Mackley, Consultant for RE, for all her work in organising the event. He also thanked the pupils and teachers at Wigmore High and Stoke Prior Primary Schools for their excellent presentations.

The Consultant for RE expressed her disappointment that the attendance numbers had been down on previous years.  She circulated at the meeting examples of the comments received on the course evaluation sheets, which also indicated a successful event.

The 2007 Conference had been held at Hedley Lodge, Belmont on Thursday 27th September.  The aims of the conference had been: to support teachers in the delivery of quality RE and the improvement of pupils achievement; to support the implementation of the revised 2006 Herefordshire Agreed Syllabus and to bring together all those with an interest in developing RE in Herefordshire for discussion and the sharing of ideas.

The theme of the conference had been to provide teachers with the opportunity of meeting and learning from faith community members from Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism, as well as hearing from pupils in two schools, one primary and one secondary, where RE had come alive through the use of imaginative strategies.

All of the workshop leaders had worked with children from Herefordshire schools at the multi-faith event at Holmer school on the two days preceding the conference. 

The workshops were on the themes of:

Jewish Education Workshop KS1-2 -  Activities involved song, movement, drama and Jewish artefacts linked to the Herefordshire Agreed Syllabus for engaging children aged 5-11 in learning about and from Judaism, with a focus on what teachers can do and what children can do.  This workshop was run by Jane Silver Corren who is a Jewish educator with 15 year‘s experience of teaching Judaism in schools and community groups including people with learning difficulties.

Islamic Art Workshop for all key stages  -A practical hands on session on Islamic Art.  Teachers were able to have a go at Arabic Calligraphy and consider how to make it meaningful in the classroom.  The workshop looked at what other schools have done and explored how Art can be used as an inroad to a faith.    Razwan Ul Haq, who is an ex-Head and LEA Advisor, ran this workshop. Currently he is working as an Islamic Artist and author of spiritual fiction and non-fiction books on inner meaning of Islam.

Hinduism Workshop - In this workshop teachers were introduced to Hindu personal/family deities and the concept of Karma through the making of Rangoli Patterns. Reference was made to relevant activities used in other schools to help children explore aspects of Hinduism.  The workshop was run by Bhartiben Tailor who is a Diversity Consultant and a Hindu Chaplain. She is on the Chaplaincy Steering Group of the Hindu Forum of Britain.

Sikh education workshop - This workshop provided: a personal encounter with oneself, an insight into how a Sikh sees everyday nature as complimenting Sikhism;

an encounter with the shabad through classical raag and classical music. It also provided an illustrated guide of Amrit, the transformation from human to superhuman.   The workshop was run by Butta Singh who is an RE teacher in Secondary Education and is a practising Sikh who has been in community service with children all his life. His profession aids his Sikh values of empowering young people towards a better life.

SACRE were disappointed that a number of teachers and governors had missed out on a valuable RE resource and opportunity to network with colleagues.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.