Meeting documents

Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education
Monday 9 June 2014 6.00 pm

ROYAL BOROUGH OF WINDSOR AND MAIDENHEAD

STANDING ADVISORY COUNCIL ON RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (SACRE)

9 JUNE 2014



PRESENT: Councillor Richard Kellaway (acting chairman), Councillor Natasha Airey, Karen Butler, Louise Ceska, Mike Gammage, Hilary Harris, Joan Hick, Felicity Gunn, Nick Lowe, Councillor Eileen Quick

Officers in attendance: Rob Cowan, Simon Evry and Jo Fageant.

ACTION
1Appointment of Chairman and Vice Chairman
Due to the meeting not being quorate, it was agreed that the appointment of the Chairman and Vice Chairman for the academic year would therefore take place at the next meeting. It was agreed that Councillor Kellaway would Chair this meeting.
    RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cllr Kellaway be appointed as Chairman for the duration of the meeting.
2Apologies for Absence & Declarations of Interest
Apologies for absence were received from Dalwyn Atwell and Ila Gongotra.
3Minutes
Members approved the minutes of the previous meeting held on 5 March 2014, subject to the following:
    Page iii, item 6, the minutes were incorrect when discussing the ‘Working with Academies Information Paper’. It was noted that this be amended to read:
    “The SACRE noted the Working with Academies Information Paper.
    It was noted that all of the Borough’s academies were the new type of the academy introduced by the coalition government. These academies still had to provide RE in the curriculum or a daily act of collective worship for all pupils however it did not have to be wholly or mainly of a Christian characteristic.
    The SACRE agreed that the Borough should approach education from the same approach, not differentiating between academies and non-academy schools, when dealing with its responsibility to the overall education of all children.”
      Page iv, item 9, the phrase ‘locally agreed syllabus’ should read ‘locally focused planning’.
    4Matters Arising
    The SACRE noted the following matters arising:

    Membership update

    The SACRE expressed concern that teachers were under-represented on the SACRE.

    The Clerk agreed to continue to try to get more teacher representatives on the SACRE in order to fill the vacancies. The SACRE suggested contacting the teachers who attended the recent conference.

    The Membership of the SACRE was updated as the following:
    Rob Cowan
    Group A:
    Free Churches


    Roman Catholic Church
    Hinduism:
    Islam
    Judaism
    Sikhhism
    Buddhist
    Baha’i

    Group B:




    Group C:
    NASUWT
    NAHT
    ATL
    VOICE
    BASH
    NUT

    Group D:




    Local Authority Officers:

    Professional Advisor:

    Clerk:    		Christian Denominations and other religions
    Nick Lowe
    Melody Erasmus
    Dalwyn Attwell
    Caroline Johnson
    Ila Gongotra
    Saghir Ahmed
    Hilary Harris
    Jasvinder Bhogal
    Anthea West
    Mike Gammage

    The Church of England
    Felicity Gunn
    Rev Joan Hicks
    Karen Butler

    Associations representing teachers
    Vacancy
    Vacancy
    Vacancy
    Vacancy
    Mrs Louise Ceska
    Vacancy

    The Local Authority
    Cllr Dee Quick
    Cllr Natasha Airey
    Cllr Richard Kellaway

    Mr Simon Evry

    Jo Fageant

    Rob Cowan
    5Budget Update
    The SACRE received a budget update from Simon Evry, Senior Advisor for Secondary Education. The SACRE noted that £8230 had been spent leaving a budget with a surplus due to an income of £4000. The unspent money was given to delegates at the conference entitled “Religious Education to Inspire and Make and Impact” to spend on resources.

    It was noted that the unspent budget could not be carried over. The budget for the next year would be £6200.
    6Verbal Report on the March Conference for Teachers
    The SACRE received a verbal update from Jo Fageant, the SACRE’s professional advisor regarding the March conference for teachers.

    The conference was described as highly successful. Two top national speakers, Stephen Pett and Fiona Moss, attended to present to the attendees. There had also been high quality resources available to purchase.

    Teachers from Windsor and Maidenhead had been invited first, and any spaces that had not been filled were offered to teachers from outside the Borough at a fee. It was noted that the presentations would not be released for those who did not attend.
    7Verbal Report on the NASACRE AGM
    The SACRE received a verbal update from Jo Fageant, the SACRE’s professional advisor regarding the annual general meeting of the National Association of SACREs. It was noted that 95% of SACREs in England are members of NASACRE.

    The SACRE noted that the conference was positive. The keynote speaker, Stephen Lloyd, MP for Eastbourne and Willingdon, opened the conference. Comparison was drawn to the previous AGM which had highlighted the need for SACREs to do more.

    It was noted that Steven Lloyd chaired an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Religious Education, which supported the work of SACREs. The APPG and its partners were working hard to influence the manifestos of political parties.

    In the afternoon of the Conference, 10 SACREs presented work which they had been doing. Also, Helen Harrison, vice chair of the Religious Education Council gave an address which explored how the REC supported and empowered teachers to deliver good RE and how this related to the work of SACREs.

    Details of the AGM were made available on the NASACRE website: www.nasacre.org.uk.
    8Birmingham Commentary on the REC RE review
    The SACRE received a commentary of the Religious Education Council’s (REC) Review of Religious Education which was launched in October 2013. The commentary had been approved and adopted by the Birmingham SACRE.

    The SACRE noted the commentary. Jo Fageant suggested the SACRE consider this commentary again when the syllabus was next reviewed.
    9Hub’s Initiative
    The SACRE received an update from Jo Fageant, the SACRE’s professional advisor regarding the development of regional hubs to support RE.

    Members noted the example of the South Central SACRE Hub which had involvement from the SACREs of Bournemouth, Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Poole, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Surrey, Swindon, West Berkshire, West Sussex, Wiltshire and Wokingham. They noted the terms of reference which had been included in the agenda for the meeting.

    The SACRE noted that the Hub had started to invite other SACREs to their meetings. The Chairman of the West Berkshire SACRE attended the meetings. The SACRE were advised that joining the Hub would involve some financial commitment.

    Members noted that funding was available to set up regional hubs from the Culham St Gabriel’s Trust which was an endowed charitable trust supporting RE. The SACRE also noted that the Jerusalem Trust had set aside money especially for the establishment of hubs.

    The question was raised to the SACRE as to whether they wished to be independent or be in a Hub. It was noted that, in a sense, the SACRE was already involved in informal hub through their involvement with the Annual Joint SACREs Conference which involved all the SACREs in the Berkshire area. This was described as a natural Hub. However it was noted that someone would have to organise the Hub.

    In addition to the possibility of joining the Hampshire Hub, or turning the ’Berkshire’ SACREs into a Hub, a third option could be a Hub in the Anglican Diocese of Oxford which would include Oxford University and Oxford Brooks University. This could potentially increase the resources available to the SACRE.

    Councillor Richard Kellaway stated that the 6 SACREs of the Berkshire Unitary Councils were a natural fit for a Hub. There were regular meetings and a shared syllabus. It was suggested that the Hub be made up of these 6 SACREs but drawing on Oxford as well. It was noted that, focusing on teachers, the link with Oxford was favourable. Also, Windsor and Maidenhead was described as having a similar demographic to Oxford.

    Members questioned when the Hub would meet, they wanted to know would meetings take place during holidays, or during the day time. The SACRE also wished to know what kind of commitment would be expected.

    Councillor Eileen Quick suggested the other 5 Unitary Councils in Berkshire be canvased to see if they wished to join together to create a hub.

    It was noted the RBWM did not have an official view on the matter. Councillor Kellaway suggested an initiative needed to be created and that he would work with Councillors Quick and Natasha Airey to put one together.

    Felicity Gunn, Church of England representative, stated that she was happy to represent and correspond with Jo Fageant. It was noted at this point that Jo Fageant only had two more meetings left as the SACRE’s professional advisor before she retired.    		Cllrs Kellaway, Quick and Airey
    10Joint SACRE Conference (update on plans for 25 June 2014)
    The SACRE received an update from Jo Fageant, the SACRE’s professional advisor regarding the Joint SACREs Conference.

    It was noted that a Joint SACREs meeting was to take place on 25 June 2014. The meeting would begin at 6pm and supper would be included. A number of members of SACRE stated they would attend. The theme of the conference was the possible advantages of establishing a regional hub
    11Development Plan
    The SACRE considered their development plan. Members considered the report ‘Implementing a Strategy of Regional Support for RE: Report and recommendations’ which was produced jointly by the National Association of Teachers of RE and the Religious Education Council of England and Wales.

    It was noted that the DfES and the QCA had jointed published non-statutory framework for RE in 2004. This had been used as guidance for the last and current Pan Berkshire RE syllabuses. A review of the framework had taken place. Although the review had not been undertaken by central government the foreword had been signed by Michael Gove. The extend to which the review would be used however was unclear.

    It was noted that the SACRE could choose to use the review as they prepared to update the syllabus if they so wished. It was suggested that they also be mindful of the OFSTED report. The possible development of a regional Hub was also noted as an opportunity to galvanise teaching and learning.
    10Dates of Future Meetings
    The SACRE noted the dates of future meetings as:

    4 November 2014
    5 March 2015


    The meeting, which began at 6.00pm, ended at 7.10pm