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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Suite - County Hall. View directions

Contact: Yvette Welsh  Email: yvette.welsh@devon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

13.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 924 KB

Minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2022.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2022 were signed as a correct record subject to an amendment that Belinda Twiggs is part of Group C.

 

14.

Items Requiring Urgent Attention

Items which in the opinion of the Chair should be considered at the meeting as matters of urgency.

Minutes:

There were no items requiring urgent attention.

 

15.

Devon SACRE Membership

The legal requirements for a SACRE are that four groups should be appointed, each group appointing a spokesperson.

 

In order to reflect the requirements of the agreed syllabus in Devon and the religions taught in Devon schools the membership of each group are as follows:

 

Group A - Christian and other Religion and Belief Communities (with the exception of the Church of England)

Group B - The Church of England

Group C -Teachers Associations

Group D - The County Council

 

Groups have been asked  to nominate a Spokesperson and report back to the meeting.

 

Minutes:

·       The representatives of each group are as follows:

 

Group A - Christian and other religion and belief communities (with the exception of the Church of England) – Bill Becher

 

Group B – The Church of England – Tatiana Wilson

 

Group C – Teachers Associations – Belinda Twiggs

 

Group D – County Council – TBC

 

·       Helena Hastie to step down as Baha'i representative (group A)

 

16.

Standards: Monitoring and Ofsted reports pdf icon PDF 107 KB

The Committee will receive an update on the findings of the recent Ofsted reports, particularly where comments relate to Religious Education (RE), collective worship or Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development (SMSC) of pupils.

 

The report recommends that SACRE officers should contact a few specified schools to either congratulate them on their outstanding practice, or to offer curriculum support in specified areas.

 

Minutes:

Members were updated on the findings published in recent Ofsted reports, particularly where comments related to Religious Education (RE), collective worship or Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development (SMSC) of pupils.  Support to be offered to schools reported to need support.

 

Schools in Topsham, Stoke Canon and St Helens are to be congratulated on their outstanding practice.

 

The following link was requested to be included for information:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-review-series-religious-education/research-review-series-religious-education

 

17.

Devon SACRE: Agreed Syllabus Review

The purpose of this report is to update SACRE members on the progress of the review of the Devon Agreed Syllabus. An Agreed Syllabus Conference (ASC) will need to be set up to coordinate the process. The ASC has a similar structure to the main SACRE body, so requires at least one member from each Group (A-D).

 

It is recommended that SACRE members contact the SACRE clerk following the meeting to put their names forward for this role.

 

An initial meeting of the ASC will be called during the Spring Term 2023 to scope the role and purpose of the group. This will be done in conjunction with members of Torbay SACRE

Minutes:

An Agreed Syllabus Conference (ASC) would be set up to coordinate the process review.

Members nominated:

Group A – Keith Denby

Group B – Kelly Keatley, Claire Hulbert

Group C - Belinda Twiggs, Ruth Flanagan

Group D – Dan Thomas

 

The initial meeting of the ASC,  in conjunction with members of Torbay SACRE would be called during the Spring Term 2023 to scope the role and purpose of the group.

 

18.

Learn Teach Lead RE: updates

The Committee will receive an update on the progress of the Learn, Teach, Lead RE (LTLRE) hub network. A successful annual conference was held in October 2022, with over 100 delegates attending an in-person day conference at the St Mellion Conference Centre. This conference was addressed by Dr Richard Kueh, Ofsted lead for RE.

 

Hub leaders were invited to meet together in the preceding afternoon for a training session, making this a residential conference for them. This was very much appreciated, and the time was used well for future Agreed Syllabus planning. More training is planned for the Spring and Summer terms 2023.

 

Many hubs have been meeting in person over the last year, with others continuing to offer their meetings virtually. The new SWIFT hub has been very successful.

 

Minutes:

A successful annual conference, addressed by Dr Richard Kueh, Ofsted lead for RE was held in October 2022, with over 100 delegates in attendance at the St Mellion Conference Centre.  

Hub leaders met in the preceding afternoon for a training session.

 

More hub leader training sessions are planned for the Spring and Summer terms 2023.  Jason Singh has been invited to the South Devon and Torbay LTLRE Hub on March 2023 session to bring Art and Beliefs together.  

 

Many hubs have been meeting in person over the last year, with others continuing to offer meetings virtually. It was noted that the new SWIFT Online hub had been very successful.

 

During general discussion it was noted  that Quaker representatives had visited year 7 and 9 students. 

19.

National Developments pdf icon PDF 2 MB

For the Committee to receive key messages with regards to the National campaign for all children in all schools to receive a high quality education in RE/religion and world views.

Minutes:

During discussion it was noted:

·       The Department for Education’s workforce survey showed that one in five schools offer zero hours in RE in year 11.

·       27.4% of academies without a religious character reported provision of zero hours of RE to year 11.

·       The Schools Minister had encouraged use of the complaints process to address concerns about schools not providing RE.  Devon SACRE had submitted a complaint with no satisfactory conclusion due to no clear benchmark on acceptability.

·       A number of webinars are available through Regional RE Hubs and attendance was encouraged.  (marketing@regionalrehubs.co.uk)

·       A national standard for RE was being pursued.

·       Consideration that some specialised  teacher training for the subject should be mandatory

·       Promotion of a free of charge course devised by Exeter University.  Details: https://courses.cstg.org.uk/course/index.php

20.

Holocaust Memorial Day:

For the Committee to receive an update on Holocaust Memorial Day 2023 where the theme was ‘Ordinary People’.

Minutes:

·       Over 600 people gathered for the opening ceremony at Exeter Cathedral, including representatives from a variety of faith and community groups.

·       Rob Rinder and Bernie Graham gave a presentation, describing some of the work with secondary school children across the country. 

·       Over 200 school pupils were involved in the Exeter events from eight schools across the County.

·       Presentations were given on Kindertransport and the Gypsy Holocaust

·       The closing ceremony was hosted by the Jewish community

·       Philippe Sands (author and International Human Rights lawyer) would be speaking at the Exeter commemorations on Friday 26th January 2024

·       A number of Committee Members expressed their appreciation for the work undertaken for the organisation of the event in Exeter.

21.

Exploring Diversity in Devon Schools

The Committee will receive a presentation from Head Teacher, Lorna Legg, exploring diversity in Devon schools.

Minutes:

The scheduled session led by Lorna Legg to be rescheduled to the 23 June 2023 meeting

22.

Future SACRE Meetings

The next meeting of  SACRE will be held at 10.00am  on Friday 23 June 2023 at County Hall, Exeter

 

 

Minutes:

The next meeting of the Committee to be held at 10.00am on Friday 23 June 2023 at County Hall, Exeter.

23.

SACRE Training

The SW SACRE conference will be held on 6 March 2023

 

Minutes:

The South West SACRE conference will be held online on the 6th March 2023at 1-4pm. 


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