Anne Andrews said that it was important that SACRE started to consider how it could monitor RE teaching in schools again, especially as it was one of SACREs core functions. She suggested using online platforms to engage with teachers.

Thomas Kingsley-Jones asked if it was known what other SACREs did to monitor teaching and if SACRE had done any monitoring pre-Covid.

Anne Andrews explained that monitoring RE across the SACREs that she was involved in was sporadic. Buckinghamshire were planning to undertake a website trawl, with members of the SACRE investigating the school website. At Bracknell Forest, they had come up with a three-year plan, including questionnaires and engaging with school governors.

Thomas Kingsley-Jones suggested that the questionnaire was a good idea but believed that talking to the subject leads and trying to get into the classroom would be better.

The Vice Chairman mentioned that Louise Ceska had invited her to a day at Newlands Girls School in the past, where a report was produced on what had been seen. At the time, a plan was made to go into more schools but this had not happened. The Vice Chairman believed it was important for SACRE members to get into the classroom, they could then be invited at the next meeting to share their experience rather than having to write a report.

Louise Ceska said that she found the visit from the Vice Chairman useful and was provided with helpful feedback. Looking at a school website would not give much information. Over time, a number of reports could be produced which would give SACRE a good understanding of what position RE teaching was in across the borough.

Sarah Bradley asked what exactly SACRE wanted to monitor, as it would depend on what would be the best approach. For example, if it was more quantitative an audit could be produced but if it was a qualitative approach then it would need direct input from teachers.

Sally Lynch said that when making visits to schools it was key to observe without making judgements. It would be great to get back into schools and see what had been going on.

Councillor Stimson suggested that there could be broad report template which could easily be filled in by whichever SACRE member was making the observation.

The Vice Chairman said that it would be good to have an agenda item that invited comments from those that had recently been in a school. She agreed with the comments from Sally Lynch, it was important that the experience was descriptive rather than judgemental.

Anthony Lewis said that he had visited a number of schools for various reasons, but it said something about the school that they were happy to invite a representative from a Humanist viewpoint. He commented that it was possible to gain a good feel of a school as an external visitor.

Anne Andrews agreed with the Vice Chairman that it should be a standing item for future SACRE meetings to allow members to share information and experiences about any visits that they had done. Schools could then be approached using the information for future visits, it was better to go where the door was open to these opportunities. A short summary of the experience could also be included as part of the newsletter.

ACTION – Standing item on SACRE members experiences from schools to be added to the agenda for future meetings, if appropriate.

At the conclusion of the item, Ila Gangotra joined the meeting.