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City of York Council |
Committee Minutes |
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Meeting |
SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education) |
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Date |
22 January 2024 |
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Present |
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Apologies |
Andy Tod (Group C) and Maxine Squire (Assistant Director Education and Skills)
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48. Apologies for Absence and Declarations of Interest (6.18pm)
Apologies for absence were received and accepted for Andy Todd and Maxine Squire.
49. Minutes and matters arising from the minutes (6.19pm)
Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2023 be approved and signed as an accurate record.
Matters Arising:
The Chair reported that a programme of schools visits was to be arranged and the website had been updated. Concerning the Development Plan, this was to be RAG (Red, Amber, Green) rated by himself, Cllr Rowley and Ben Rich. It was noted that the school survey results would be presented at the next meeting. It was suggested that good internet access was needed at external venues should they be used for future SACRE meetings. It was noted that it was not a legal requirement for SACRE meetings to be webcast.
50. Annual Report 2022-23 (6.24pm)
A Member noted that at GCSE the highest achieving groups were of Indian/Asian heritage (28 pupils) and those young people with English as an additional language (57 pupils) and they asked whether this correlated across other GCSE subjects. The Chair undertook to follow this up with Maxine Squire.
Resolved: That the SACRE Annual Report 2022-23 be approved.
Reason: In order for the Annual Report to be submitted to NASACRE and the DfE.
51. Monitoring of Standards (6.28pm)
Members received the Ofsted Annual Report 2022-23 on RE. They discussed the monitoring of RE standards in schools. Referring to the Annual Report, Members noted that York schools were doing well in RE, and the Chair noted the positive comments in the report. It was noted that there has been an impressive SACRE monitoring visit to Ralph Butterfield School and it was suggested that there needed to be more SACRE monitoring visits to schools. A Member suggested that there were two functions of RE in school, to perform well in RE exams and to prepare for life in a multicultural society.
[Ben Rich left the meeting at 6.37pm]
It was noted that schools had RE syllabuses to follow. The Chair undertook to work with Maxine Squire on arranging visits to two primary schools, one religious and one non-religious. It was suggested that the visits take place when the results of the schools survey had been received. It was noted there was a task and finish group for the school questionnaire.
Resolved: That SACRE Monitoring Visits to two primary schools (one religious and one non-religious) be arranged, to be followed by a visit to a secondary school.
Reason: In order to monitor RE standards.
52. Review of SACRE development plan (6.40pm)
It was reported that the Development Plan would be RAG (Red, Amber, Green) rated by himself, Cllr Rowley and Ben Rich. The Chair highlighted NASACRE training on 26 June 2024.
A Member asked whether a reference to non-religious world views needed to be included in the description for Group A on SACRE.
Following discussion it was:
Resolved: That the Chair suggest that the description for Group A be amended to include a reference to ‘religious traditions and world views’ in the Constitution.
Reason: To include a reference to all world views as well as religious denominations on SACRE
53. NASACRE Update (6.50pm)
Members received NASACRE Briefing 36. With reference to the NASACRE Westhill Awards a Member asked if a SACRE event could be held in York. The Chair explained that some work needed to be done before organising an event and he suggested that SACRE could look at what other SACREs had done for this. It was suggested that the awards process needed to be made known to schools and that schools could apply to York SACRE with a project to bid for funding for a Westhill/NASACRE award. Karen Vincent (Group A Member and secondary school RE teacher) noted that she had received information about the NASACRE Westhill Awards, and Taco Michiels (Group C Member and secondary school RE teacher) noted that he was not aware of the awards. He suggested that a Youth SACRE could be formed and asked if SACRE could apply for funding towards this. Following discussion it was:
Resolved:
1. That SACRE investigate sharing information on NASACRE Westhill Awards more widely with York schools.
2. That the SACRE offer to schools be developed.
Reason: In order to improve the SACRE offer to schools.
54. Correspondence on complaints/determinations (7.00pm)
It was reported that there had been no complaints to SACRE.
Resolved: That Members be updated on complaints.
Reason: In order to be kept updated on complaints to SACRE and determinations of complaints.
55. Any Other Business (7.01pm)
Feedback from SACRE meeting with Young People
Prior to the SACRE meeting a number of SACRE Members informally met with young people of different faiths. The Chair asked Members for feedback on the meeting, namely what they picked up from the young people and what SACRE could do as a result of the discussions at the meeting. Members gave the following feedback:
· The meeting was really useful and positive and Members needed to be mindful of their responses when young people make different points.
· There was a balance between discussion versus examination. It was suggested that this could be a future agenda item.
· A Member asked whether there should be some guidance on how SACRE school visits should work.
· A Member asked if SACRE should be looking at how to support different groups going into schools. A Member noted that they had suggested to a young person at the meeting to approach their youth council about this and she added that there was guidance on the NATRE website on this.
· Members discussed how to respond to a complaint made by one of the young people at the meeting and made a number of points relating to different faith groups visits to schools. It was noted that Olivia Seymour (Assistant Director of Education, York Diocese) offered training on this with two Members having attended the training.
· Members discussed the teaching of RE in schools and the Chair noted that if SACRE was aware of the incorrect teaching of RE in schools, this could be reported to the DfE. A number of suggestions were made as to how to address when mistakes had been made in the teaching of RE in schools. This included schools contacting faith leaders for support in teaching a faith. It was suggested that parents should be encouraged to address errors in schools.
· A Member noted the different requirements in balancing the teaching of short courses versus long courses.
After feedback on the informal meeting with young people was given it was:
Resolved: That the Chair write a letter of thanks to the young people for attending the meeting through their faith representors.
Reason: To express SACRE’s gratitude to the young people for attending the meeting.
56. Future meeting dates (7.30pm)
19 March 2024 at 6pm at West Offices
8 July 2024 at 6pm at West Offices
Cllr Webb, Chair
[The meeting started at 6.15 pm and finished at 7.32 pm].