Suffolk County Council’s Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) met on Friday 31st March to put the finishing touches to the new Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education in Suffolk. It will be presented to the county council’s cabinet for approval on 6th June. Humanist SACRE representative Margaret Nelson reports that Humanism will be included in the syllabus, as recommended by the Qualifications & Curriculum Authority’s 2004 non-statutory national framework for RE.

Humanism isn’t just about challenging the religionists, or faith schools, or funerals. It’s also about values – about doing the right thing – so if we’re serious about saving the planet (and most would say we are), should we be using traditional light bulbs? Shouldn’t they be banned? Have you got rid of yours? A 2001 survey of public attitudes to Quality of Life and to the Environment showed that only a third of the respondents regularly used low energy bulbs, which use 67% less energy than traditional bulbs.

Crucifixion stories for children & the AGM report. Download the newsletter as a PDF file and leave it lying around for your friends to read.

Rebecca Smithers, Guardian education editor Friday April 7, 2006 “Teachers are to call for an end to state funding for faith schools in an attempt to halt the growing influence of religious organisations in education and end the controversial teaching of creationism. Britain’s biggest teaching union, the National Union of Teachers, warned yesterday that religious fundamentalists were gaining control of state schools – predominantly through the government’s city academy programme – and some private businesses had too much influence over the curriculum.

In this summary of Internet highlights, some useful tips on avoiding scams and staying secure online. Some of this may sound obvious, but we hear feedback from people who aren’t so confident using the Internet, so this is a straightforward introduction to safe surfing, with some links to great free tools to protect you while you enjoy the web. Question: Which of these e-mails is actually legitimate? Send this message on to ten of your friends and Microsoft will track them and pay you!

A message from Andrew Copson of the BHA – email your MP about faith schools. The Government’s current Education and Inspections Bill will inevitably lead to a proliferation of ‘faith’ schools and city academies controlled by religious interest groups. Polls show from 64% to 96% of the UK is against this policy. Why then, do most MPs continue to ignore this issue? We need to convince them that opposition to the creeping gift of our education system to religious interests is genuinely and widely held in their constituencies.

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: T4TD by Margaret Nelson on BBC Radio Suffolk (95.5, 95.9, 103.9 & 104.6 fm). Listen online or listen again the same day. Apologies if you tried listening on 12 April – the event was listed in error.

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: T4TD by Margaret Nelson on BBC Radio Suffolk (95.5, 95.9, 103.9 & 104.6 fm). Listen online or listen again the same day.

Suffolk Humanists met in Ipswich on Wednesday 12th April to talk about what it means to be a Humanist. The small but select gathering (there were absences due to illnesses and holidays) was lively. Some spoke of their frustration that Humanism was not well known, saying they’d heard about it by attending a Humanist funeral. Why aren’t more people aware of Humanism, they asked. There are many reasons for this, including the attitude that since Humanism is common sense, why give it a name or join an organisation?

We had visitors at the weekend. They’d been to a family reunion where some of their relatives were very old. One of our guests said she’d enjoyed hearing some of an uncle’s reminiscences and about the hardships he’d experienced, without complaining. She felt that younger members of the family had no idea what his life was like at their age. I agreed with our guest that there’s an enormous difference between today’s young people’s expectations and those of their great-grandparents.

Just as the NUT campaigns against faith schools and a Government adviser is arrested over the honours for City Academy sponsors scandal, Polly Toynbee writes “If ever there was a time to set out the unequivocal value of a secular state, it must be now.” Link: Guardian Unlimited | Columnists | This is a clash of civilisations – between reason and superstition Meanwhile, back in cloud cuckoo land, Peter Franklin’s Guardian comment is all about “secular supremacists” and education.

This Friday in Suffolk, the sun is shining determinedly through the clouds, the end of the week is here, and all is well in the world. Here are some weblinks to assist you in wasting the rest of your Friday away. Friday afternoons weren’t meant for work, after all. So here are a few items to enjoy – Norse mythology, atheism as a cult, Star Trek’s new voyages in spandex, and Noel Edmonds places an order with the Cosmic Ordering Service.

The secular basis of our state education system is being undermined by the increasing involvement of religious organisations in schools. A secular system means that children of all faiths and none are educated together, in the same schools. In Northern Ireland parents set up the Integrated Education Fund to ensure just that, after Catholic and Protestant children had been segregated for decades, resulting in violence and death through religious bigotry. Has the British Government learned nothing from this?

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: Margaret Nelson will review the Sunday papers with Rachel Sloane on Radio Suffolk, 95.5, 95.9, 103.9 & 104.6 fm.

As someone who in the distant past worked in a bank and has tried to keep up with developments in banking, I find the Little Britain sketch of the bemused customer being told that, whatever he wants, ‘The computer says no’, not only hilarious but rather too close to the truth for comfort. It’s also becoming nigh on impossible to shop these days without the ubiquitous bar code reader standing between you and the exit.

Link: National Secular Society – National Secular Society – NSS Shop They say “An exciting new DVD, exclusively available at this price [£16.99] from the NSS, examines atheism as it applies to the lives of real people. The DVD consists of six films, originally intended for schools, but far too good for such a restricted audience.” The Team Video DVD features a funeral and a baby-naming by Suffolk Humanist Celebrant Margaret Nelson, and interviews with students from Kesgrave High School near Ipswich.

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: International celebration of Darwin Day (the anniversary of the great man’s birth). To mark this special occasion, there’ll be a supper of primordial soup (suitable for vegetarians), birthday cake, and readings from Darwin and some of his admirers, in Elmsett, from 7 to 9.30 pm. Email for an invitation and directions.

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: The summer solstice (in the northern hemisphere) and the winter solstice (in the south) is World Humanism Day.

It’s time for some more of the best content available on the web at the moment – if you have any recommendations, let us know. This week, video and podcast highlights – a TV time warp, the banana as the atheist’s nightmare, and what is a podcast anyway? Broadband recommended. YouTube is a great alternative to watching TV if there’s nothing else on, or like me, you have to contend with a housemate whose remote control has somehow jammed on to a channel which only shows murder mysteries.

The Guardian’s Comment is Free website was recently introduced in the UK, aiming to emulate the highly successful US-based discussion website the Huffington Post as a home for comment and discussion on a variety of topics, mainly political. Comment is Free, like the Huffington Post, aims to attract a more eclectic readership than would usually take part in discussions on the Internet, with articles written by journalists, politicians and playwrights.