Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Town Hall - Maidenhead

Contact: Nabihah Hassan-Farooq  01628796345

Items
No. Item

180.

Welcome & Membership Updates

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed all to the meeting and asked that members introduce themselves. It was noted that there would be a reflection added to each agenda for future meetings.

 

Membership updates 

 

It was noted that Revered Rosie Webb had stepped down from the SACRE. Members were informed that Head teacher Richard Rhodes (All Saints School) would be joining the next meeting as a head teacher representative for the SACRE. Members were pleased that Reverend Margaret Dudley had returned from sabbatical and welcomed her return.

 

The Chair noted that two previous consultations had considered the possibility of recommending the inclusion of a humanist representative to SACRE. The decision in both cases had been not to make such a recommendation. The Chair suggested that SACRE might consider instead co-opting a non-voting humanist representative, since references to humanism appear across the RE syllabus and there has been continuing interest, from both Windsor Humanists and Humanists UK, in supporting the work of SACRE.

 

Chris Sayers noted that Buddhism shares many beliefs with humanism. Members queried whether other local SACREs had co-opted humanist representation and it was confirmed that locally, South Buckinghamshire had co-opted a humanist representative and that after one year they were appointed as a formal member.

 

ACTION- That the Chair contact Humanists UK/Windsor Humanists to seek a suitable co-optee.

 

181.

Apologies For Absence

Minutes:

Apologies of absence were received from Saghir Ahmed, Reverend Sally Lynch and Barbara Meaney.

182.

Minutes Of Meeting on 5th March 2019 pdf icon PDF 89 KB

Minutes:

Members of the Forum discussed the previous meetings minutes and various matters arising from the minutes as follows:

 

·         P 7 (iv)- Members discussed and agreed that Louise Ceska and Clive Haines would feedback details from the next BASH meeting and raise the importance of CW/RE accordingly at the meeting.

·         Members discussed concerns over schools not offering RE/SMSC and how to address these. It was noted that previous work with these schools had been attempted but not successful.

·         Anne Andrews asked members for contributions for the summer newsletter and for this to forwarded to her at anne.andrews@oxford.anglican.org

·         The Chairman outlined that he would circulate the constitution for members comments and feedback.

183.

Future venues

Minutes:

Members were asked whether they would be able to provide a suitable meeting venue for future SACRE meetings. It was noted that there had been difficulties in securing a local school as a meeting venue. Members were encouraged to inform the clerk if they were able to offer their facilities.

 

Hilary Harris stated that she would confirm whether the Maidenhead Synagogue would be available for the next scheduled SACRE meeting and would confirm with the clerk. Ravinder Zandu also offered use of the Gurdwara and members queried parking arrangements. Members agreed that the meeting scheduled for the 17th March 2019 would be held at the Maidenhead Gurdwara.

184.

Budget Update and Financing of the Hub

Minutes:

Clive Haines outlined the above titled item. Members were told that the total budget for 2019/2020 was currently £6260 and that £2000 would need to be paid out for the professional services of the advisor. Members were told that that £406 had been spent on conferences and that there was currently £903 remaining. It was highlighted that the budget for 2019/2020 was not confirmed and that it was wise to retain some of the budget as a precautionary measure. 

 

Anne Andrews commented that further monies would need to be given to NASACRE and that this would leave £1900 to spend until March. Karen Butler raised the issue of financing the hub pan Berkshire and members agreed that they would pay the £900 towards the financing of the hub and its resources.

 

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY; That the SACRE agreed to contribute £900 of its remaining budget to the ongoing maintenance of the hub and resources.

 

The Chair highlighted that conferences for RE teachers had been funded over the past year as a pilot, and it was agreed after discussion that this arrangement would continue.

 

ACTION- That Anne Andrews adds SACRE willingness to contribute to costs of conferences for RE teachers across the borough.

185.

NASACRE Conference Feedback

Minutes:

Barbara Meaney provided a written statement relating to feedback from the NASACRE conference. The Chair read the statement provided to the wider forum and it was highlighted that though there had been a large amount of idea sharing that there was very limited discussion with how to link these ideas back to the work streams for SACRE groups. It was also highlighted that there was a good selection of workshops hosted but that there were difficulties in signing up for these ahead of the conference. Anne Andrews highlighted that a regional ambassadors meeting would be held for the faith central area at the start of the summer period and that this would focus on how local groups could work in a joint manner. It was highlighted that there would be a particular focus on better communications between the SACRE groups and NASACRE. Members were informed that there were constructive conversations relating to community cohesion and communities at the NASACRE conference. Details of discussions were fed back to NASACRE and it was suggested that key notes should address various issues faced by SACREs nationally. It was agreed that the conference had proved useful in forging good links and provided the opportunity to network, discuss and creation national and local ambassador relationships.

 

Karen Butler suggested that the feedback from the NASACRE conference would be appropriate material for the summer newsletter.

 

 

186.

SIAMS Inspection Schedule and OFSTED Inspection Schedule Update

Minutes:

 

Anne Andrews gave an update on the above titled item. Members were informed that the SIAMS/Ofsted framework had recently been re-written for Church of England Schools. Members were informed that SACRE were responsible for voluntary controlled schools. It was stated that the inspection schedule had been radically re-written which now had one fundamental question as opposed to four. The question posed was “ how effective is the school’s Christian education and its promotion via the school?”. There was now a focus on schools working with partnerships and the new schedule had raised the bar. Locally this had meant that schools that were previously rated as “good” had to work harder to achieve this status and that the expectations had now changed as a result of the changing framework. It was highlighted that there were two schools in the borough which had received an “excellent” rating, which were Sunninghill St Michaels and Burchetts Green, with Altwood school receiving a “requires improvement” status. It was stated that there had been some leadership management issues at Altwood and that they had previously received an “outstanding” rating when inspected by SIAMS.

 

Across the board, it was noted that RBWM schools had been performing well. Sunninghill St Michaels had recently received funding from the Oxford diocese for the RE quality mark scheme. At the conclusion of the update the chair queried whether the SIAMS reports had been published and it was confirmed that they were published on the school website, Church of England website and the Diocesan website.

 

ACTION- That Anne Andrews circulate SIAMS reports and outcomes to the SACRE group on a termly basis.

 

Clive Haines stated that Ofsted had carried out a day visit and that there had been no specific mention of CW/RE. Members were informed that the new Ofsted curriculum was yet to be published and that there would inevitably be changes with the new framework.

 

187.

Hub Action Plan for Westhill Project pdf icon PDF 52 KB

Minutes:

Karen Butler introduced the above titled item. Members were informed that Karen had attended the last meeting of the hub, which was facilitated and hosted by Wokingham Borough Council. Members were informed that the Westhill Bid had been successful and that the shared plan created in March 2018 had been submitted to NASACRE. It was outlined that £4000 had been awarded and that this was to facilitate the delivery of the project. The project would include visiting of places of worship, recording films involving interviews aimed at responding to questions from the new syllabus and to create a robust bank of resources. Anne Andrews commented that guidance materials for KS3 had been drafted.

 

ACTION- That Anne Andrews circulates KS3 guidance materials.

 

Members queried how their relevant faith centres could prove useful in delivery of the project. It was noted that representative faith leaders would be asked 2/3 questions and that these answers would be filmed and edited. The Chair highlighted the need for quality videos to be produced and for the content to be engaging. It was noted that volunteers from local schools would be contacted across Berkshire. Hilary Haris highlighted that BCA had an active media department and that she would investigate whether they had any capacity to carry out this project work. Clare Theobalds queried whether costs attributed to teachers taking time out of school teaching time had been included within the £4000 proposal and it was confirmed that it had been included but that the actual amount needed to set aside would be investigated. Presently, £600 had been attributed to teachers’ costs and resource time.

 

ACTION- That Anne Andrews investigates the actual costs of teacher resource time.

 

Members discussed ways in which the videos could be publicised and circulated and it was agreed that a conference should be held in 2020. Members discussed that 1 proposal from Eden School in slough had been received to host the conference. Members queried whether the conference should be held in alternate venues or to proceed with Eden School as a venue. Members agreed to look at a range of options before committing to one venue.

 

188.

Schools Collective Worship and RE Policies- Research Feedback pdf icon PDF 119 KB

Minutes:

Anne Andrews highlighted that this suggestion had come from the last meeting where members wished to understand the importance placed on CW/RE in our local schools, and whether and how SACRE could provide support. Members had provided their feedback and this had been collated and circulated. Louise Ceska queried the purpose of the exercise, and cautioned that too much should not be inferred from a school’s website alone.  Clive Haines stated that he did not feel the websites of schools were particularly indicative of how schools perform, and that if they did not have to legally publish details of their RE/CW ambitions then they would not. It was agreed that this initiative was likely to be of limited value, and might be potentially misleading, and would now be dropped. 

 

189.

Dates Of Future Meetings

Minutes:

Anne Andrews outlined the above titled item. It was noted that two local schools had taken part in the RE ambassador scheme and that in 2017/18, visits had been made to Churchmead and Altwood School. Year 9, 10 and 12 pupils had been trained to give a presentation on any faith and had then delivered these to local primary schools. Church mead ambassadors attended Datchet St Mary’s and had raised the profile of RE. It was intended that both Churchmead and Altwood School would be used as a training hub to extend the project. Members discussed widening this project out to Bracknell and more schools in Windsor and Maidenhead.

 

The Chair commented that this was a good way of highlighting good work and that this could also be included in the summer newsletter. Karen Butler agreed that this was a good opportunity for young people to develop a range of skills and to be mentored by RE teachers. Members asked that a case study be provided for the next meeting.

 

ACTION- That Anne Andrews provides a case study of Churchmead RE ambassadors.

 

Clive Haines suggested that members utilise the primary network groups to publicise this work.

 

190.

Dates Of Future Meetings

Future dates of meetings are as follows:

 

-       19th November 2019, Council Chamber, Town Hall, Maidenhead

-       17th March 2020, Council Chamber, Town Hall, Maidenhead

Minutes:

Dates of future meetings were noted as follows:

 

·         19th November 2019, 6.30pm, Council Chamber, Town Hall, Maidenhead

·         17th March 2020, 6.30pm, Council Chamber, Town Hall, Maidenhead