EC meeting 13th January 2025

• Apologies
• Minutes of previous Meeting
• Matters Arising
• Finance Update
• Correspondence
• Research
• Priorities for 2o25
• AOB

Minutes 9th December 2024

Matters arising

Need to develop Social Media presence making it clear what ACERT’s position on Social Media is. It is suggested that ACERT is unwilling to support parents who are concerned about what their children are being taught.

The letter of thanks to Siobhan had been written, circulated and agreed but unfortunately not sent. Thomas had also sent a personal email.

Agreed/Amended

Action

Create an ACERT statement to be shared on Social Media. Esther and Candace.

Brian agreed to send the agreed letter to Siobhan.

Discussion

• CAF Bank  £7127.06
• PayPal   £  950.80
• TOTAL   £8077.86

Action

Discussion

There is discussion about forming a separate higher education network distinct from existing network which is focused on the education pledge and the Education Support Network which focuses mainly on compulsory education inclusion.

Action

Candace to draft a proposed structure incorporating everyone’s input for the EC to review and refine at the next meeting, aiming to establish processes for vetting research and broadening community engagement.

Discussion

Candace emphasised the importance of a SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and to develop a clear position on sex education. The group also discussed the need for better communication with parents and the potential use of social media platforms for this purpose.

Action

• Candace appealed to EC members to share their ideas on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of ACERT before the next meeting
• Brian to find minute of previous SWOT discussion and circulate.

Discussion

Marie asked what the membership of ACERT is. Anne the membership secretary did not have the figure to hand but estimated it was around 40. Brian explained that ACERT doesn’t really offer additional benefits to members; membership is a way of showing support for what we do. Few if any GRT focused organisations have paying memberships, but we could consider ways to offer more to our members and try to increase the size and income of the organisation.

There was a discussion of the importance of preserving the organization’s heritage and the need to tell its story effectively, recognising the importance of understanding the organisation’s past to inform its future.

Action

• Anne and Brian agreed to confirm details of the membership for the next meeting.
• Anne to email trustees requesting their addresses to register them as trustees.
• Anne, Margaret and Brian to complete the Trustees Annual Report to the Charity Commission by January 31st.

Discussion

The Executive Committee (EC) discusses setting up a structure or network to engage with research being done about our communities. Marie suggests having a dedicated person or team to filter and digest research for the EC to review efficiently. Brian emphasised the need for working groups and smaller meetings to make progress on specific tasks like social media presence, which has been identified as critical for engaging with families. Esther proposes creating a dedicated space for parents to connect, separate from existing professional groups. Candace offers to draft a proposed structure incorporating everyone’s input for the EC to review and refine at the next meeting, aiming to establish processes for vetting research and broadening community engagement.

Action

Candace offers to draft a proposed structure as part of the SWOT review.

Discussion

EC communications.

Action

Marie to set up a Teams meeting (1:30 10th January) to make sure all new EC members have .acert.org.uk email addresses and are signed in to the ec@acert.org.uk group email.