Agenda and minutes

by Sue Cox

Apologies were given from Mike Hackleton, Praful Thacker, Lionel Alexander, David Downer, Simon Bligh, Norma Corney, Rev Peter Leonoard, Beryl Miller, Leanne Charmers, Beth Felters, Stuart Brenchley and Alex Augustus.

To invite Members to declare any interest they might have in the matters on the agenda.

A member of the committee Justine Ball wished to make a standing declaration that she works 1 day a month for the National Association of the Teachers of Religious Education.

It was mentioned during the chairman’s announcements that a reason for a lot of the apologies given could be due to Covid-19, as this was the first face to face meeting held since the pandemic began, The Chairman asked  arrangements could be considered in future that could include members who might not be able to attend a face to face meeting. 

1.    To confirm as a true record the minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2020.

2.    To discuss any actions from the minutes.

The minutes of the last meeting were approved without amendment.

It was explained that the previous clerk had stepped down after many years of service to the Island SACRE and he was thanked for all his work. The new clerk was introduced to the committee and thanked for her work so far. Another member explained that she had been in touch with a potential member of SACRE and it was agreed he would be invited to watch the meeting as a member of the public in the first instance before joining the SACRE. Councillor Claire Critchison was also welcomed to the meeting. Mary Clarke who was previously a member of the committee has resigned.

To receive a verbal presentation to include discussion regarding OFSTED review on religious education.

The amount of work that teachers had undertaken in assessing GCSE’s was acknowledged and SACRE recorded its thanks to those teachers and requested that this be recorded. Members of SACRE were invited to future Primary Network training to meet teachers and discuss RE and they were asked to inform the advisor if they would like to attend these.

Two schools had had meetings with the SACRE advisor for support and advice and these meetings typically considered the syllabus, how the cycle of enquiry works in the classroom, teachers’ questions, advice on a school’s website, progression in planning in RE across the school and how the impact of RE work is checked.

It was mentioned that usually in the monitoring report Ofsted inspections would be discussed. However, due to Covid-19, Ofsted have not been doing inspections in their usual manner so these will be included again from the Autumn term onwards. As there were no Ofsted reports to consider there was also no monitoring group report, but it was confirmed that this would start again in the Autumn term. Members were  invited to indicate if they wished to join the monitoring group and a brief explanation about the group’s work was given. 

An update regarding the review of the Locally Agreed Syllabus, Living Difference III was  shared at the meeting. The purpose statement was being considered to ensure that it meets the needs of teachers and children and this is now being finalised. The number of religions and non-religious traditions to be studied at each stage is being widened to allow for greater response to the diversity of religion and belief in communities. Progression for each key stage is being considered in detail and examples developed. In particular, continuity between KS2 and KS3 is a focus to ensure that primary children are well prepared for secondary RE. This consideration will include unit overviews that discuss vocabulary and knowledge that RE is built on. The range of A, B and C concepts is being reviewed with experts and amended in some cases. Golden thread concepts will be introduced and these are belonging, community, special and love. The inclusion of pondering time for children to pursue individual self-directed study in RE to explore their own interests will be introduced. The law for RE and the EYFS elements of the syllabus have been checked with our Early Years Advisers. Age-related expectations are being considered in line with wider changes on progression and likely to be phrased in terms of End of Year Expectations. Finally, further thinking will be added on the understanding of religion and the educational position of Living Difference IV. As many members of the SACRE as possible were encouraged to come to the briefing meeting on 14 July to hear further information.

RESOLVED:

THAT the Monitoring Report be noted.

To receive an update on the review of the Locally Agreed Syllabus.

It was brought to the committee’s attention that the last Ofsted report focussing on RE was 8 years ago in 2013. An Ofsted research review on RE has recently been published in May 2021. It was explained that the research review talks about the literature related to RE and aims to identify the things that contribute to high quality RE. Ofsted have said they will use the information to examine how RE is taught across all schools. The review has reiterated that there is a legal requirement to teach RE but that there is no one set way to teach high quality RE. The review highlighted that most syllabi recommend that Key Stage One teach 60 minutes of RE per week and Key Stage Two onwards teach 75 minutes per week. SACRE noted that this is also what is recommended in Living Difference III too.

It was raised that teachers may need support from SACRE on the 3 ways of knowing referred to in the Ofsted report. These were Substantive knowledge (the things you need to know about a religion or world view), Ways of knowing (different ways of knowing about religion) and personal knowledge. It was mentioned that the Living Difference syllabus talks about this very clearly in its approach to RE and in the pedagogy for teaching and articulates this clearly for teachers. It was stressed that the review was not the law, but a review of the literature used to teach RE.

Following the summary of the review, comments were made regarding how members were pleased to hear that that teachers should teach RE. It was acknowledged how important this is in the delivery of RE lessons. A member was then invited to share a perspective on how it works in the school she is employed at. The member advised she felt confident that RE is being taught in the recommended way by Ofsted and how she ensures that children have the knowledge and facts required to learn while acknowledging that this can be delivered in different ways. It was also mentioned that during the Covid-19 period some schools had found it more difficult to provide guest speakers to enhance the contextualise step. Further training for teachers was also confirmed as an area that still required work and attention going forward, especially with the launch of Living Difference IV in November.

RESOLVED:

THAT the agreed syllabus review is noted.

To receive a presentation.

The Committee was asked if anyone attended the NASACRE conference in May. No one had been able to attend. A link to a NASACRE report on funding for SACREs was provided and would be sent along with the minutes to members. It was suggested members of the committee read the report and it would be discussed at the next meeting.

RESOLVED:

THAT the report would be circulated and discussed at the next meeting.

5 October 2021 – ASC Commencing at 4.00pm

5 October 2021 – Commencing at 5.00pm

1 March 2021

The proposed dates for future meetings were considered and it was:

RESOLVED

THAT the following dates be approved:

5 October 2021 – ASC Commencing at 4.00pm

5 Octoer 2021 – Commencing at 5.00pm

1 March 2021

To receive updates and notification of future agenda items.

Alternative venues were discussed as it would be helpful to meet in different places during the year, such as a place of worship or a local school. A programme of dates for the monitoring group meetings would be drawn up and sent out to members. A copy of the SACRE development plan would also be sent out to members before the next SACRE meeting. Any expressions of interest from schools to hold meetings on their premises was also requested from members.

REOLVED:

      I.         THAT a programme of meeting venues to be drawn up.

    II.         THAT a programme of dates for the monitoring group be drawn up for the next academic year.

   III.         THAT the SACRE action plan be sent out to members.