RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the order of agenda items was changed, so that the Forward Plan was considered first.

The Chairman explained that he had worked with Karen Butler, Anne Andrews and Barbara Meaney on the plan, which had been attached to the agenda. They were happy to take any ideas that SACRE members had and incorporate them into the forward plan.

The Chairman shared his screen so that members could see the document and he talked through each section of the plan.

Councillor Sharpe said it was a good piece of work and asked to what extent would the plan be supported by schools.

Barbara Meaney said that some teachers were constantly monitoring RE, the problem was getting all teachers to do it. The plan should be viewed in a positive light, SACRE was there to support teachers.

Richard Rhodes said the sharing of information was not the problem but RE did vary from school to school. The leadership forum was a good place for the forward plan to be discussed as headteachers could talk through any issues.

Maggie Callaghan said that the actions were the hardest bit. It did depend on how RE was delivered, the plan would allow SACRE to understand the level of commitment to RE in schools.

Thomas Kingsley-Jones mentioned the quality of monitoring of RE in schools and that there could often be a ‘fear’ associated with monitoring but it did not have to be like that. Constructive criticism would be good to help improvement.

Sarah Bradley said that teacher networks were great, monitoring would take different levels as some schools did not value RE as much as other schools.

Anthony Lewis asked how the plan could be inclusive of non-religious elements.

Anne Andrews explained that collective worship enabled all to join as everyone was invited, although it was not compulsory. Schools were encouraged to be thought provoking rather than leading pupils to believe in a particular set of beliefs.

Hilary Harris said that the objectives seemed clear, she was interested in how the mechanics of the funding for the plan would work.

The Chairman said that SACRE wanted to see more action and that it played a key role in ensuring the quality of RE in schools was a high level.

Margaret Dudley said that the plan looked really good.

The Chairman asked SACRE members to provide any further feedback in the next couple of weeks.

Anne Andrews mentioned the survey which was due to be sent out to secondary teachers. She asked if SACRE approved of the questions being asked.

The Chairman suggested it would be useful to show the questions to Maggie Callaghan, who was attending her first SACRE meeting. It was agreed that the questions would be circulated to all SACRE members after the meeting.

ACTION – Mark Beeley to circulate secondary school teachers survey questions to SACRE members after the meeting.

Councillor Sharpe said consideration needed to be given on how the plan would be delivered to ensure that it was carried out effectively.