Present:-
Group A: Christian and Other Religion and Belief Communities (with the exception of the Church of England)
Mr B Lane, Mr R Nathwani, Mrs N Nation and C Walmsley
Group B: The Church of England
Mr M Dearden, Mr E Pawson, Mrs T Pritchard and Mrs T Wilson
Group C: Teachers Associations
Ms L Clay, Mr J Gooddy, Mrs W Harrison and Dr G Teece (substitute for Dr K Walshe)
Group D: The County Council
Councillors Berry, Colthorpe and Hannan
Co-opted Members
Mr J Marshall, Mr J Roberts and Mrs S Spence
Apologies:-
Mr K Denby, Miss M Hext, Mrs R Khreisheh and Rev Master M McCorry (Group A); Mrs C Hulbert (Group B); Mrs S Shute, Dr K Walshe and Mrs G Winnall (Group C); Councillors Channon, Squires and Younger-Ross (Group D) and Ms P Fletcher, Mrs T Griffiths and Mr G Langtree (Co-opted Members)
79 Election of Chair and Vice-Chair and Group Spokespersons
RESOLVED
(a) that SACRE wish to support the re-election of Miss M Hext and Mrs Hulbert as Chair and Vice-Chair respectively for 2015/16 but that consideration of the matter be deferred until the next meeting in their absence;
(a) that Mr J Gooddy be elected as Chair for the current meeting;
(c) that the following be elected as Group Spokespersons:
Group A - Miss M Hext;
Group B - Mrs C Hulbert;
Group C - Mr J Gooddy;
Group D - Councillor C Channon.
80 Minutes
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 3 June 2015 be signed as a correct record.
81 Devon SACRE Membership
Mr Pawson reported on the efforts being made to fill the vacancies in Group C: Teachers Associations and ensure that all Christian and Other Religion and Belief Communities (except the Church of England) in Group A were represented at future SACRE meetings. He invited SACRE members to let him know of any persons who might be suitable and willing to serve.
Mr Pawson welcomed Dr G Teece a retired lecturer and now Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, who was attending as substitute for Dr K Walshe and invited SACRE to consider co-opting Dr G Teece, who had much relevant experience, to fill the vacancy on SACRE created by the recent appointment of Mr J Roberts to represent Secondary School Leaders.
SACRE members expressed concern about the situation whereby members who were teachers were often unable to attend meetings due to work commitments, acknowledging that the SACRE Constitution provided for the funding of a contribution towards supply cover from the SACRE budget, but not the full cost of the day s absence for both the SACRE meeting and the usual post-meeting training session. Discussion took place on ways in which this might be overcome, including a different start time for meetings.
RESOLVED
(a) that Mr Teece be appointed as a Co-opted Member of SACRE;
(b) that SACRE members be reminded that they may appoint a substitute representative and that agendas be also sent to identified substitutes;
(c) that Headteachers of Devon schools be reminded annually of the role of SACRE and the important contribution made by teaching staff representatives to its work with a view to encouraging their further co-operation in releasing relevant staff for SACRE meetings.
82 Annual Report 2014/15
Mr Pawson reported that submission of the Annual Report to SACRE had been deferred until the next meeting when information on last year s exam results would be available.
83 Devon SACRE Development Plan 2015 - 2017
The Council considered Mr Pawson s Report on the SACRE Development Plan for 2015-17 which outlined the arrangements for implementing the following key activities:
monitoring the impact of the Devon, Torbay and Plymouth Agreed Syllabus/developing standards in Religious Education;
developing the role of Devon SACRE in Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development (SMSC);
developing the partnerships between Devon SACRE, Devon County Council local/national bodies and faith/beliefs groups;
SACRE working groups to develop effective models of assessment to support the new Agreed Syllabus and guidance on planning high quality teaching and learning in Religious Education.
Mr Pawson responded to queries from SACRE members about costs.
RESOLVED that the SACRE Development Plan 2015 - 17 be approved.
84 Interfaith Focus: Faith and Belief Training (Minute 75/3 June 2015)
Mr Roberts reported on the significant progress made on the introduction of training for representatives of the Faith and Belief community to help with developing skills and confidence when making presentations in schools and local communities. The training which was being undertaken by the Devon Faith and Belief Forum at Exeter Community Centre with financial support from Devon SACRE and the Bellfontaine Charitable Trust, had been based on existing best practice and to date had involved the following sessions: Saturday 10 October 2015 - Understanding the Role of a Faith and Belief Speaker; Saturday 17 October 2015 - Developing your Skills in front of an Audience. A further session was planned for Saturday 21 November 2015 on Reflecting on Experience and Building Confidence.
Mr Roberts indicated that given the level of demand it was proposed to run the training again next Spring and acknowledged the scope for working together with the similar, established service operating in Plymouth. He added that ways in which the valuable resource provided by the training could be secured on a long-term basis would be explored.
85 Learn/Teach/Lead Religious Education (LTLRE)
(a) Update
Mr Pawson reported on the development of the LTLRE project which aimed to improve the quality of Religious Education in all schools in the South West through: building communities of Religious Education teachers across the region in area hubs (run by Project Leaders of Religious Education); engaging in research projects; disseminating best practice; and creating partnerships with others.
Mr Pawson referred to: the recent expansion of the project from Devon, Cornwall, Plymouth and Torbay to include the areas covered by the Diocese of Bath and Wells, the Diocese of Bristol and the County of Wiltshire; the drawing down of approximately 200,000 of external funding and financial support generally; the recent successful 4th Annual Conference; the development of a new website http://ltlre.org/; and the project gaining national recognition.
(b) Assessment Project
Mrs T Wilson, from the LTLRE project steering group, gave a presentation on a scheme which LTLRE were developing with Dr B Wintersgill, former Devon SACRE member, for assessment without levels in Religious Education to improve the quality of the assessment process. Mrs Wilson indicated that the paper she had presented could be found on the LTLRE website and that the proposals would be shaped further in discussion with teachers and teaching assistants in the light of their practical experience of trialling individual units.
RESOLVED that the assessment model being developed by LTLRE be supported and welcomed and all schools be encouraged to engage in the project.
86 Working Groups: Assessment (Agreed Syllabus); Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development (SMSC) and British Values
(a) Assessment
Mr Roberts reported that, having received a presentation from Mrs Wilson on LTLRE s assessment project, SACRE s working group on assessment had decided not to develop a separate scheme and instead to support and contribute to the LTLRE project, with further meetings being convened as necessary.
(b) Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development (SMSC) and British Values
Mr Roberts drew attention to papers accompanying the agenda setting out:
guidance produced on behalf of Devon and Torbay SACREs to support schools in creating and developing effective provision for their pupils Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development in line with statutory requirements;
revised guidance published by Ofsted in January 2015 on inspection incorporating changes to the definitions of SMSC which reflected the promotion of Fundamental British Values;
an example of a SMSC policy.
Mr Roberts also referred to a free event marking Inter Faith Week 2015 titled Teaching British Values ? with contributions from local Faith and Belief groups being held at Mint Methodist Church in Exeter on Saturday 14 November 2015 (9.30am - 1.00pm).
87 Correspondence with Ofsted on Inspection of School Provision for Religious Education and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development (SMSC) (Minute 70/3 June 2015)
Mr Pawson reported that representations had been made to Her Majesty s Chief Inspector of Education, Children s Services and Skills which had focused on the quality of reporting on pupils Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development and non-compliance with statutory requirements for Religious Education.
Mr Pawson referred to assurances which had been received about future inspections and the prospect of a meeting with Mr Bradley Simmons, HMI, Ofsted Regional Director, South West to further discuss the issues involved.
88 School Monitoring Visits
Mr Pawson reported on recent monitoring visits to schools which had been the subject of concerns about statutory compliance and time allocation for Religious Education. He commented that the management and teaching staff of the schools visited had responded very positively to suggestions for improved delivery of Religious Education and the support offered.
Mr Pawson confirmed that monitoring visits, which were by invitation or evidence based, were focused on secondary rather than primary schools and commented on possible reasons for the diminution of Religious Education teaching in primary schools.
89 Educating Ourselves
Mrs Wilson, Diocesan Education Officer, gave a presentation drawing attention to:
the important role of the Church of England in contributing to the national debate on education;
the Church of England s joint Christianity Project with the Cambridge Inter-faith Programme which was aimed at raising the standards of teaching and learning in Christianity and would lead to the publication of a new learning resource and Fruits of the Spirit - a Church of England discussion paper on character education.
SACRE members found the presentation interesting and informative.
90 National Developments
Mr Pawson reported on the following:
(a) Religious Education Council (REC)
Religious Education teacher recruitment campaign;
PR Group;
Presence at Political Party Conferences;
(b) New Examination Specifications
Awaiting publication;
(c) Clarke Woodhead Report - A New Setlement:Religion and Belief in Schools
18 policy recommendations on collective worship, Religious Education curriculum (including a new role for SACREs) and faith schools - on which views were invited from, and expressed by, SACRE members.
RESOLVED that a letter be sent to the Secretary of State for Education drawing attention to the urgent need to publish the new examination specifications for GCSE and A Levels effective from 2018 so that guidance is available as soon as possible on changes which will have to be made to the teaching process from September 2016 or earlier in the case of schools with examination courses starting in Year 9.
91 Holocaust Memorial Day 2016 Planning
Mr Pawson reported on the arrangements for Holocaust Memorial Day in Exeter on Wednesday 27 January 2016 and outlined the proposed programme of commemorative events. Mr Pawson encouraged SACRE members to participate in the event to help make it another great success.
92 Dates of Future SACRE Meetings
Noted as:
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 12.20pm, following an adjournment from 11.15am to 11.25am
| Minutes of this Committee are published on the County Council s Website at: : |