Agenda and minutes

A reflection was read from Norma Corney

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were given by Norma Corney, Anne Sechiari, Sue Rogers, Nick Wilde and Janice Willmott.

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

There were no declarations at this stage.

1.    To confirm as a true record the minutes of the meeting held on 26 June 2023.

2.    To discuss any actions from the minutes

RESOLVED:

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 26 June 2023 be approved.

ACTIONS arising from the minutes:

Following resignation from Claire Slade-Carter the SACRE asked to thank Claire for all her work. Discussion had taken place with Claire for her to continue with SACRE.

Unfortunately, Chris May could not attend this SACRE meeting, however he had been in contact with some SACRE members and will attend a future meeting.

To receive a verbal update on membership.

Made appointments to Committee B over the last year. Membership will need to be looked at further, as the Quaker representative has resigned and has suggested that one of our current members be a joint representative as both Buddhist and Quaker, which seemed to be a reasonable solution. This representative will now be consulted. It was understood that the Diocese would be advertising.

RESOLVED:

THAT The update be noted

To receive a report from the Monitoring group.

The Adviser to the SACRE welcomed RE Leaders to the meeting.

A brief explanation of the purpose of the Monitoring Group was provided, looking at RE and collective worship across all schools looking at:

• Resources
• Visits
• Ofsted reports

The Monitoring group had met twice since the last SACRE meeting in June 2023. Primary schools had worked well on the golden threads and resources were available on the Moodle. Discussions around overview studies and how to apply light touch teaching in schools took place. Optional pondering time was included in the syllabus for one unit a year. However, it was noted that take up in primary was light and there will be a focus on this to get further advice out to primary school teachers.

Training session for Governors and SACRE had taken place in July 2023 on RE and Collective Worship, another session was in the diary for March 2024.

The RE lead at the Bay secondary school provided a summary of her approach to GCSE at the school. She explained that all lesson information was made available online for students to access online both at home and during school and there was an expectation that if a student missed a class then they would catch up before the next lesson. Revision guides are provided for each student. Students joining the school late in the year are provided with packs of work that had already been covered by the class to help them catch up with the work and one to ones are set up to ensure the student is caught up in time for their exams.

 It was noted that students moving from primary to secondary school had good knowledge of RE and presenting orally, however the skill of evaluating and written skills were a focus when starting in secondary school.

RESOLVED:

THAT the monitoring report be noted.

To consider key national and local RE developments, including an update on the school Governor training that took place in July 2023.

There are a number of bodies that are good for CPD. Culham St Gabriel’s Trust run training courses for RE leaders and have funding currently to help RE teachers study a module from the Chartered Teaching College applying educational research. The deadline to sign up is the end of November 2023.

RE resources - the British Library has a lot of resources on different religions available to teachers, especially KS2 teachers. The London Museum has an extensive range of clips and resources to help teach Judaism. 

NASACRE provides training and a wide range of courses are on offer in 2023- 2024.

To receive the draft Annual report 2022-23.

The advisor to the SACRE provided a short briefing on the annual report which provides a summary on RE and collective worship. An action plan is also provided for the following three years.

A survey on withdrawals was completed from RE and worship and it was noted in the annual report that the numbers were really low. This survey is completed every year.

Once agreed, the annual report is sent to the national body and the Department for Education.

It was noted that all training was up to date for SACRE members, due to the availability of training provided and the way it was provided.

The SACRE advisor informed that the SACRE looked at both RE and collective worship in schools. Collective worship can be provided by schools in many different ways to enable reflection. Collective worship was monitored in a variety of ways and it was noted that a survey was provided to schools. The RE Leaders were asked if they had seen the survey circulated, however a number had not seen it.  It was suggested that the email for the next survey would be sent for the attention of the RE leader as well as the admin office.

The training on collective worship was really successful and it was expressed that the training needed to be offered again to offer the support to schools. A date for further training would be set and circulated round to schools and SACRE. Governor training has been set for March 2024.

One member of SACRE was mentioned nationally for his service to SACRE which would be included in the Chairmans introduction of the report.

A future item for the monitoring group was to discuss training and to report back to the SACRE on this.

It was noted that to enable a better transition for students between primary and secondary schools, a meeting with all RE Leaders from both settings would be beneficial, possibly in February 2024he SACRE advisor would arrange this.

RESOLVED:

THAT the annual report was received.

To discuss the review of the SACRE Constitution and consider the amendments put forward by the Constitution Review Group for implementation.

Members to vote if they accept the new version of the SACRE constitution, subject to final approval by Legal Services.

Thanks, were give to Sarah Philipsborn and Justin Thorne for the work that had been undertaken to produce an updated version of the constitution.

There was some discussion regarding paragraph 6.4 which needed to be reworded.

RESOLVED:

THAT the new version of the SACRE constitution, subject to the amendment to paragraph 6.4 and final approval by Legal Services be agreed.

To receive updates and notification of future agenda items.

A visit to a place of worship needed to be arranged for the SACRE to show the message of the importance of all faiths and beliefs on the Isle of Wight.

More information around the youth voice was provided to look at a small conference. A date was being sought and would be circulated to SACRE members.

Discussion took place regarding a survey for the update of RE in secondary schools and the uptake for GCSE levels.

The next meeting was scheduled for Monday, 25 March 2024.