Minutes:
The Chairman asked Members to divide into two groups and for each group to discuss one of the discussion topics which were ‘Islam in Schools’ and ‘Changes in Key Stage 4’.
Following the group discussion of ‘Islam in Schools’, the Chairman indicated that they had discussed lessons about Islam at a County Durham primary school that sparked an anti-Islam protest.
The group also discussed their concerns about the reaction to teaching of Islam in schools and suggested that SACRE write to EDS to create a stronger mandate for education and community cohesion and suggesting a training event for Heads, Governors and Community Leaders to give a greater understanding of Islam and how to deal with issues.
The Specialist Inspector for Religious Education referred to SMSC which includes British Values and that a seminar had been held in June 2015 on British Values. This included a question time panel made up of different faith members in order to focus on the British Values of mutual respect and tolerance of all faiths and beliefs. The evaluation of the seminar showed a particularly positive response to the input from the question panel which included members of SACRE.
Members commented that the issues had a lot to do with the media and misrepresentation.