Agenda item

Service Level Agreement attached.

The Chair welcomed Alison Lloyd, Advisor (School Improvement) to the meeting, along with Bea Foster, a trustee from Building Bridges in Burnley; and Sajda Majeed, Project Manager for Building Bridges in Burnley.

SACRE members had received with their agenda the Service Level Agreement September 2018 for Building Bridges in Burnley (BBB).

The conditions of the agreement stated that BBB would provide a specialist member of staff and would endeavour wherever possible to accommodate a school or college request. Session times would be arranged to suit the needs of schools and would be agreed between a member of staff from BBB and the school. Charges would be calculated as agreed and would be processed in line with this agreement.  After the Service Level Agreement was rolled out the plan was to get schools to give dates for the whole year when they could meet with BBB. The Service Level Agreement was renewed from September to September.

BBB was founded in 2001 following disturbances in Burnley. It was a registered charity promoting community cohesion and interfaith relations and was based at the Faith Centre in Burnley. BBB had experience of working in partnership with schools and colleges across the county to provide focus for the educational, personal and spiritual development of young people. This was done through the Faith Friends Project where two Faith Friends, one Christian and one Muslim, visited schools and took part in RE lessons. They also advised and helped the schools and colleges develop their RE curriculum. They supported students and staff and offered activities to promote and develop community cohesion. Through facilitation and coordination the BBB's work played a pivotal role in promoting inclusion and community relations across Lancashire and beyond. SACRE was informed that that a lot of School Advisors worked in neighbouring counties and the BBB had received independent requests from different authorities. It was important to have a place for schools to buy into.

BBB was a partnership of faith groups and open to all individuals of faith and no faith who sought to contribute to the life and work of the area. BBB developed knowledge and understanding of different faiths. It encouraged faith development without compromising anyone's religious or faith beliefs.

The BBB worked with schools to provide specialist support to embed British values into the curriculum, promoting tolerance, respect and clear understanding of the diverse communities and their contribution to British society. BBB work was all about bringing people together. THE BBB was involved with schools and colleges in promoting spiritual, moral, social and cultural development (SMSC).

This area of work was a valued resource which was frequently praised by Ofsted as being instrumental in promoting community cohesion.

SACRE was informed that a recruitment event for BBB was being held on the evening of 12^th February 2019. Different churches and mosques, etc, would be invited to the event.

BBB had to have good governance in place and it was vital that the admin support was well looked after. Good links with Faith Friends was important too.

It was noted that the disturbances in Burnley in 2001 had been the catalyst for some really good stuff and the establishment of the Faith Centre was great for the community and the county.

Building Bridges in Burnley was rock solid and it was vitally important to encourage schools to make use of Building Bridges.