Present:-

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

Miss M Hext (Chair), Mr K Denby, Mrs R Khreisheh, Mr B Lane and Mrs N Nation

Group B: The Church of England

Mr M Dearden, Mr E Pawson and Mrs T Wilson

Group C: Teachers Associations

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

Group D: The County Council

Councillors Berry, Channon, Hannan and Squires

[NB: Councillor Channon attended from Minute 70(c) onwards]

Co-opted Members

Ms P Fletcher, Mrs T Griffiths, Mr G Langtree, Mr J Marshall and Mrs S Spence

Apologies:-

Councillors Colthorpe and Younger-Ross and Mrs K Chape, Mr R Halsey, Mrs C Hulbert, Mr I Jamison, Rev Master M McCorry, Mr R Nathwani, Mrs T Pritchard, Mr J Roberts, Caroline Walmsley and Dr K Walshe

67 Minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2015 be signed as a correct record.

68 Matters of Urgency: Cornwall SACRE

(Items taken under Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972)

The Chairman had decided that this item should be considered as a matter of urgency in order that SACRE members could be apprised of recent developments.

The Chairman drew attention to an approach from the Chairman of Cornwall SACRE regarding the possibility of support from Devon SACRE and working together more closely following the loss of their Religious Education advisory service due to budget reductions. It was noted that a similar approach had been made to Plymouth SACRE.

SACRE members welcomed the concept of closer collaboration on a regional basis which made sense in the light of the difficult financial climate and service reductions, and agreed that Mr Pawson should discuss with the Chairman of Cornwall SACRE ways in which help might be given.

69 Devon SACRE Membership

Mr Pawson reported that Mrs Karen Chape from Axminster had been nominated by the South West Baptist Association to serve as the new Baptist Representative. He indicated that nominations were being sought for current vacancies in Group C: Teachers Associations and invited SACRE members to let him know of any persons who might be suitable for these positions.

70 Update on SACRE Work

(a) Agreed Syllabus - Assessment Working Group (Minute 58(a))

Mr Pawson indicated that he expected the Working Group responsible for developing guidance on delivery and assessment of the Agreed Syllabus to meet for the first time soon. He invited any SACRE members who wished to serve on the Group and who had not already expressed an interest to contact Mr Roberts as soon as possible.

(b) Monitoring Visits

Mr Pawson referred to recent monitoring visits undertaken by Mr Roberts and himself to schools where there were concerns about statutory compliance and time allocation etc and the positive dialogue with these schools management.

(c) Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development (SMSC)

Mr Pawson indicated that the report of the Working Group on SMSC provision in Devon schools had been completed and would be published shortly and posted to the internet.

SACRE members acknowledged the need for British Values to be taken into account in future SMSC provision.

It was agreed that Mr G Langtree should be asked to look into ways in which studies undertaken for Devon SACRE such as the SCMS review and the valuable information and examples of best practice therein could be made available nationally for the benefit of Religious Education generally, and report back to the next meeting.

(d) The Inspection of School Provision for Religious Education, Collective Worship and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development (SMSC)

Mr Pawson presented a paper by Dr B Wintersgill, former Devon SACRE member, in her capacity as a consultant to Devon SACRE (EL/15/7 - text only | pdf EL/15/7), on the extent and quality of Ofsted reports on 43 Devon schools inspected between September 2014 and March 2015 in relation to: Religious Education, collective worship and pupils Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development (SMSC). Dr Wintersgill s paper took account of recently revised Ofsted guidance for inspectors which had given a higher profile to Religious Education and its role in school provision for SMSC, drew comparisons with the findings of a similar evaluation in 2012 and set out key issues arising from her study. Areas for improvement suggested by Dr Wintersgill and during discussion included:

lead inspectors being updated on changes relating to Religious Education and SMSC in the revised Inspection Handbook and their implications, and ensuring that they were aware of the Agreed Syllabus;

inspectors should seek reliable and relevant evidence of pupils being prepared for life in modern Britain, including their attitudes towards respect and tolerance and their understanding of faiths, beliefs and cultural diversity;

where there was evidence that pupils understanding of faiths, beliefs and cultural diversity was weak or inadequate, inspectors should report on this;

where weaknesses in pupils preparation for modern Britain, at all key stages, were consequences of deficiencies in the Religious Education curriculum or of non-compliance with the statutory requirement that Religious Education should be taught to all registered pupils, then this must be reported;

where non-compliance with statutory requirements was found, specific evidence or examples should be provided;

greater emphasis on the use of the impact of shortcomings in Religious Education provision as evidence;

Ofsted s monitoring procedures should include scrutiny of reporting on SMSC and Religious Education.

SACRE members acknowledged the thoroughness of the report and asked that their appreciation be expressed to Dr Wintersgill.

RESOLVED

(a) that the Chair of Devon SACRE be asked to write to Her Majesty s Chief Inspector of Education, Children s Services and Skills welcoming the revised Ofsted guidance for inspectors giving a higher profile to Religious Education and its role in school provision for SMSC, identifying where expectations about the content of inspection reports relating to Religious Education, collective worship and SMSC were not being met and seeking assurances regarding future inspections and reports as set out in the bullet points above;

(b) that copies of the letter be sent to the following: the Secretary of State for Education; the Home Secretary; Devon Members of Parliament; other SACREs; and the Chairs of the Religious Education Council (REC); All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Religious Education and National Association of Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (NASACRE).

71 Educating Ourselves

Mrs R Khreisheh gave a presentation on the principles of Islam and the Islamic community in Exeter during which she responded to questions on the position and role of women and the different Muslim sects. SACRE members found the presentation interesting and informative.

72 SACRE Annual Report 2013/14

The Council received and noted the SACRE Annual Report for 2013/14 (EL/15/8 - text only | pdf | supplementary information EL/15/8) which covered:

the Devon Agreed Syllabus review process and assessment;

GCSE examination results 2014 - an interpretation;

school monitoring visits;

SACRE Constitution review;

SACRE membership;

professional support for Devon SACRE;

Holocaust Memorial Day 2014;

SACRE working groups and publications;

working with other agencies through the Learn/Teach/Lead project;

training and Continuing Professional Development; and

collective worship.

Salient points in the Annual Report had included the following:

the successful development and roll out of the new enquiry based Agreed Syllabus in partnership with Plymouth and Torbay SACREs, and work on assessment systems;

the inability to comment on the progress of students in the Religious Studies short course examination due to a lack of data following changes introduced by the Department for Education - which had meant that it was no longer possible to gain a detailed picture of Key Stage 4 provision for Religious Education across Devon;

the large increase in entries for the GCSE full course, which was thought to be partly attributable to schools moving from short to full course in line with the national trend;

concerns about: the quality of learning and study time for Religious Education which may have contributed to a reduction in examination results in the A* - C grades; those schools which were not offering students their statutory opportunity to study Religious Education at Key Stage 4; and the difficulty for schools of maintaining standards when the new, more challenging GCSEs were introduced;

the positive reaction of schools to advice for the improved delivery of Religious Education made during monitoring visits undertaken where there had been concerns about compliance and examination entries and results.

73 National Developments

Mr Pawson reported on the following:

(a) Religious Education Council (REC)

Religious Education teacher recruitment campaign - Beyond the Ordinary film;

Religious Education quality mark;

Public relations campaign - All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG);

Political party conferences - Religious Education presence;

(b) National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE)

annual secondary education Religious Education survey 2015;

Department for Education - Religious Education in English Baccalaureate Ebacc;

teacher conferences 2015;

Religious Education chat - Twitter;

(c) Culham St Gabriel s Religious Education Charitable Trust

Religious Education assessment/progression research project;

Wokefield Park, Reading conference - 3/4 October 2015.

74 Learn/Teach/Lead Religious Education (LTLRE) - Devon SACRE Support

Mr Pawson and Mrs T Wilson, Chairman of the LTLRE project steering group, presented a briefing paper on this project which was a learning partnership for Religious Education focused on creating a community of enquiry and professional development across the south west. The project 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; and recent developments.

Mr Pawson indicated that this was the third full year of the LTLRE programme and the final year in terms of the original grant from the St Luke s College Foundation. Evaluations and feedback from partners had highlighted the success of the project and its achievements in providing training to Religious Education teachers in a range of maintained schools and the support within the education community for its continuation and further development. Mrs L Rudge, LTLRE Project Director, had asked SACREs and other partners to consider further support for the project either financially or in kind through the allocation of adviser/teacher time etc, in addition to that already made available by two charitable trusts. Specifically SACREs had been invited to make a contribution of 500 in both 2015/16 and 2016/17 towards the project. A bid to the St Luke s College Foundation for further funding was due to be considered in June 2015.

While SACRE members were minded to support the project, it was agreed that further information should be made available at the next meeting on the SACRE budget before a decision was taken.

75 Faith and Belief Schools Visitor Training

Mr Pawson reported on proposals by the Devon Faith and Belief Forum to introduce training for members of the faith and belief communities to help with developing skills and confidence when making presentations in schools and local communities. It was intended that the training would be provided free of charge.

SACRE members acknowledged the importance of school and other visits by representatives of the faith and belief communities and noted that funding had been allocated for visitor training within the current SACRE Development Plan.

RESOLVED that 200 be made available to support a pilot project for visitor training.

76 Holocaust Memorial Day 2016 Planning

Mr Pawson reported that a start needed to be made on planning for next year s Holocaust Memorial Day and asked any SACRE members who were interested in being involved to attend an HMD Steering Group meeting on 30 June 2015.

77 South West SACRE Conference - 16 March 2015

Mr Gooddy reported on the 2015 South West SACRE Conference on Confident SACREs: Confident RE Collective Worship held at Dillington House, Ilminster, Somerset on Monday 16 March 2015 which had been well received by delegates including those from Devon SACRE.

78 Dates of Future SACRE Meetings

Noted as:

Tuesday 3 November 2015

Wednesday 10 February 2016

Tuesday 7 June 2016

Wednesday 2 November 2016

(all 10.00am at County Hall).

The meeting started at 10.00am and finished at 12.45pm, following an adjournment from 11.05am to 11.15am

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