Present:-

Group A: Christian and Other Religion and Belief Communities (with the exception of the Church of England)

Mr K Denby, Mr R Halsey, Miss M Hext, Mr B Lane, Mr R Nathwani and Caroline Walmsley

Group B: The Church of England

Ms P Hammett, Mrs C Hulbert, Mr E Pawson, Mrs T Pritchard and Mrs T Wilson

Group C: Teachers Associations

Ms L Clay, Mr J Gooddy, Mrs W Harrison and Mrs G Winnall

[NB: Mrs Winnall present for items up to and including Minute 49]

Group D: The County Council

Councillors P Colthorpe, A Hannan, M Squires and R Younger-Ross

[NB: Councillor Younger-Ross present for items from Minute 47 onwards]

Co-opted Members

Ms P Fletcher, Mr G Langtree and Mr J Roberts

[NB: Mr Langtree present for items from Minute 47 onwards and Ms Fletcher present for items up to and including Minute 49]

Apologies:-

Councillors E Barisic and C Channon, Mr M Dearden, Mrs T Griffiths, Mr I Jamison, Rev M McCorry, Mr J Marshall, Mrs N Nation, Mrs S Shute, Mrs S Spence and Mr N Swait

43 Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman and Group Spokesmen

RESOLVED

(a) that Miss M Hext and Mrs C Hulbert be elected Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively for the ensuing year;

(b) that the following be elected as Group Spokesmen:

Group A - Miss M Hext;

Group B - Mrs C Hulbert;

Group C - Ms L Clay;

Group D - Councillor C Channon (in her absence, subject to her agreement).

44 Minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 3 June 2014 be signed as a correct record.

45 SACRE Membership and Professional Support

Mr Pawson reported that:

Rev S Mackay (Group A: Christian Other Religion and Belief Communities, with the exception of the Church of England - Baptist Representative) and Rev C Edmonds (Group C: Teachers Associations) had resigned from SACRE;

replacements were being sought for these and other vacancies and that he was continuing to pursue representation of the Sikh Community at SACRE meetings;

Mr G Langtree, RE Adviser, Babcock LDP was due to retire shortly;

he (Mr Pawson) would continue to co-ordinate the work of SACRE with support from Mr J Roberts.

Mr Pawson anticipated that Mr Langtree s services would still be available to Devon SACRE on a consultancy basis.

RESOLVED

(a) subject to no objections being raised by the Devon Association of Secondary Heads (DASH), that the interests of secondary headteachers in relation to SACRE be represented by Mr J Roberts, Co-opted Member pending the filling of the vacancy for a representative of the Association of School and College Leaders (formerly Secondary Heads Association);

(b) that Mr G Langtree be appointed as a Co-opted Member of SACRE.

46 SACRE Constitution

The Council considered a draft revised Constitution for SACRE on which SACRE members had been consulted. It was explained that the Constitution had been updated to reflect developments since it had last been reviewed in 2006, guidance from NASACRE and to provide greater clarity.

RESOLVED that the revised SACRE Constitution circulated with the agenda be approved, subject to the use of the terms Chair, Vice-Chair and Spokesperson where appropriate and confirmation of Trades Union representation in Group C: Teachers Associations under Membership.

47 GCSE Results for Devon Schools 2014

Mr Pawson gave a presentation analysing GCSE examination statistics for Religious Studies in Devon schools in 2014, identifying trends and providing comparisons with national statistics.

Salient points which emerged from the presentation and discussion included the following:

in England since 2012 the take up of GCSE Religious Studies short course had fallen by 53% and full course entries had increased by 19%;

full course entries in Devon schools (Maintained and Academy) had also increased significantly during the same period;

while it was anticipated that short course entries in Devon schools had fallen in line with the national trend, no data was available for 2014 and thus definitive comparisons could not be made;

in Wales where the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) and the average point score at GCSE had not been adopted as school performance measures, GCSE Religious Studies short course entries had remained stable and full course entries had increased by 10% over the same period;

the pass rate at Grades A* - C for the full course in Devon schools in 2014 was 65.8% compared with a national average of 70.1%;

the Religious Studies full course had the sixth highest number of GCSE examination candidates nationally.

SACRE members discussed possible reasons for the downturn in short course entries and the corresponding increase in the number of students leaving school without a Religious Studies qualification, including the major structural changes made in the education system in recent years. It was agreed that the matter should be further discussed at the next SACRE meeting in February 2015.

48 Update on SACRE Work

(a) Agreed Syllabus Review

Mr Roberts reported on progress on the roll-out of the new Agreed Syllabus, referring to the completion of the launch events and to the new Syllabus and the associated more flexible ways of working having been well received. He acknowledged the concerns of teaching staff, reflected by SACRE members, about the need for support for curriculum planning/delivery and uncertainties about Assessment. Mr Roberts confirmed that revised support material and other forms of support would be resourced and provided by Babcock LDP while pointing out that responsibility for curriculum planning/delivery lay with schools. Mr Pawson commented that no guidance was available from the Government on Assessment and suggested that schools should adhere to their present arrangements until other better methodologies were available.

Ways in which the Devon Humanist Community (and other Belief Groups) could contribute towards the learning experience were discussed.

(b) Monitoring Visits

Mr Roberts reported on recent monitoring visits to four secondary schools which had been the subject of concerns about statutory compliance and time allocation for Religious Education and the very positive response of the schools management and teaching staff to proposals for improving its delivery.

49 Educating Ourselves

Mr Ravi Nathwani gave a presentation on The Hindu Tradition for Beginners and the Hindu community in Exeter which SACRE members found interesting and informative.

50 National Developments - Religious Studies GCSE and A Level Examination Reform

Mr Pawson reported on the recent launch by the Department for Education of a consultation on Religious Studies GCSE and A Level examination reform and one of the possible routes for the new GCSE involving studying two religions. He acknowledged concerns expressed by the Humanist Community Representative about insufficient emphasis on philosophy and ethics.

51 Holocaust Memorial Day 2015 Planning: Theme - Keep the Memory Alive

Mr Pawson reported on the arrangements for next year s Holocaust Memorial Day in Exeter on Tuesday 27 January 2015 and outlined the proposed programme of commemorative events. A brochure would be circulated shortly. Mr Pawson encouraged SACRE members to participate in the event to help make it a great success.

52 Learn, Teach, Lead (LTL)

Mrs T Wilson, who chaired the Project s Steering Group, presented a briefing paper on recent developments on this three year project which aimed to improve the quality of Religious Education teaching, learning and leadership through better training and support for Religious Education teachers and more effective partnership working. The update covered: quality assurance; hub leaders (Project Leaders of Religious Education); hub meetings; project developments; annual conferences 2014 and 2015; and funding arrangements. Mrs Wilson referred to the proposed submission to the St Luke s Foundation in Spring 2015 of a bid for funding to continue and develop LTL which would require the support of SACREs and other partners.

It was agreed that future funding and other support for LTL should be discussed at the next SACRE meeting in February 2015.

53 South West SACRE Conference 2015

Mr Pawson reported that next year s South West SACRE Conference would be held at Dillington House, Ilminster, Somerset on Monday 16 March 2015. He hoped that Devon SACRE would be well represented as it was at last year s conference and asked SACRE members who wished to attend to notify him as soon as possible.

54 Dates of Future SACRE Meetings

It was:

(a) noted that meetings had been arranged for Tuesday 10 February and Wednesday 3 June 2015 (both 10.00am at County Hall);

(b) agreed that further meetings be fixed for Tuesday 3 November 2015 and Wednesday 10 February 2016 (both 10.00am at County Hall).

55 Retirement of Mr G Langtree

The Chairman and other SACRE members paid tribute to the service given by Mr G Langtree during his nine years as Religious Education Adviser. This was followed by a presentation of several gifts from SACRE members.

The meeting started at 10.00am and finished at 12.35pm, following an adjournment from

10.50am to 11.10am.

Minutes of this Committee are published on the County Council s Website at: :