Minutes:
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting in particular V Gallant and K Passmore as this was their first meeting. Everyone introduced themselves and gave a brief description of their background.
The Specialist Inspector for Religious Education introduced C Forbes who was an observer from Sunderland who is a Lead Teacher and had recently taken on an advisory role and was hoping to learn from Durham SACRE.
Apologies were received from V Bain, Councillor P Brookes, S Brown, Canon L Burton, C Callaghan, A Hartley and I Osborne.
The Specialist Inspector for Religious Education told SACRE members that she had spoken to Canon L Burton on the phone. Canon L Burton was very sorry she could not attend her last SACRE meeting but was unable to travel up from Canterbury. She asked for her good wishes to be conveyed to all SACRE members.
The Specialist Inspector for Religious Education thanked Canon L Burton in her absence for the commitment she had shown to Durham SACRE over a period of 20 years. She told members again that Canon L Burton had expressed an interest in keeping in touch and possibly re-joining SACRE if she returned to the region in the future.
The Specialist Inspector for Religious Education conveyed that Canon L Burton would always feel welcome and could be a co-opted member in the future if there were no vacancies on SACRE at that point.
SACRE members agreed with this proposal and asked that their thanks and good wishes be conveyed to Canon L Burton.