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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 |
29 November 2022 |
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Present |
Group A Penny Coppin-Siddall Daryoush Mazloum Karen Vincent
Group C Andy Tod
Group D Cllr Andrew Waller (Chair) Cllr Ian Cuthberson
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In Attendance
Apologies
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LA Officer Maxine Squire (Assistant Director Education and Skills)
Professional RE Advisor Olivia Seymour (Assistant Director of Education (Distinctiveness) Diocese of York
Ian Hodgson (Group A), Ben Rich (Group A), Kirsty Wordsworth (Group B), Taco Michiels (Group C),and Cllr Fitzpatrick (Group D) and Cllr Rowley (Group D) |
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The meeting was inquorate.
37. Apologies for Absence [18.00]
Apologies for absence were received and accepted for Ian Hodgson, Ben Rich, Kirsty Wordsworth, Taco Michiels, and Cllrs Fitzpatrick and Rowley.
38. Declarations of Interest [18.06]
There were no declarations of interest.
39. Minutes of Previous Meeting and Matters Arising [18.07]
Resolved: That subject to prophletising being changed to proselytising under the A short talk and Q&A on Buddhism item, the minutes be approved and signed as a correct record at the next meeting.
Reason: In order to approve the minutes.
40. Draft SACRE Annual Report 2021-22 [18.09]
Maxine Squire explained that the draft SACRE report followed NASACRE and DfE templates and covered the period July 2021 to August 2022. She advised that a quorate meeting would be needed to sign off the report. It was confirmed that the Chair’s Introduction and membership information in the report needed updating. In response to a question from the Chair, Cllr Cuthbertson (previous Chair) confirmed that he had drafted a Chair’s Introduction.
SACRE members were asked for their comments on the draft report. It was suggested that the venue for two SACRE meetings had been in York schools and that there had been presentations on Buddhism and Humanism at two meetings could be included in the report. It was also suggested that input from RE teachers could be included in the report.
[Penny Coppin-Siddal joined the meeting at 18.18]
Resolved: That the SACRE Annual Report 2021-22 be approved at the next meeting.
Reason: In order for the Annual Report to be submitted to NASACRE and the DfE.
41. National Data [18.18]
Members had been provided with a paper on the National Response to A Level and GCSE religious Education results. SACRE’s role in monitoring the quality of RE was discussed and tt was noted that for secondary schools, monitoring could come through pupil voice, school websites and monitoring data. For primary schools, this could be through school websites, and questionnaires and school visits.
Resolved: That the National Response to A Level and GCSE religious Education results be noted.
Reason: In order to be kept up to date on national data.
42. Development Plan 2022-2024 [18.20]
Maxine Squire gave an update on the Development Plan noting that SACRE discussions had informed the plan. She detailed the actions that had been completed and noted that she had looked at areas of the plan that related back to NASACRE to ensure that SACRE could deliver on its actions. Olivia Seymour explained that SACRE needed to look at the way in which it included school visits in the plan and she highlighted the work of Andy Tod on the Primary RE Network and reported that Taco Michiels had agreed to lead the Secondary RE group.
The Chair asked if schools visits had been arranged. Maxine Squire explained that it was better to look at areas where best practice could be showcased and she undertook to work with Andy Tod and Taco Michiels on this. The Chair noted the need to mindful of the pressure on teachers.
It was suggested that SACRE visits to schools needed to be SACRE Member led and it was suggested that the schools questionnaire could reflect this. Olivia Seymour suggested that it would be useful for Members to have training on the teaching of RE in schools and a Member suggested that that it would be useful for teachers if the visits celebrated the work of RE teachers. It was noted that this would be similar to a governor type of visit into schools. It was noted that visits to schools would need to be approved by Headteacher and a Member asked if school visits could be directed through RE teachers.
The Chair asked if visits could be developed through the Primary and Secondary RE networks. Maxine Squire and Olivia Seymour undertook to organise a scheme of potential visits to be circulated to all SACRE Members. Olivia Seymour suggested that there be training on visits at the February 2023 SACRE meeting.
Resolved: That the update on the Development Plan 2022-24 be noted.
Reason: In order to be kept up to date on the progress of the Development Plan.
43. National RE and Collective Worship updates [18.30]
Olivia Seymour outlined the National RE and Collective Worship updates as detailed in the update paper circulated to SACRE Members. She gave an update on the Regional RE Hub Leads for Religious Education, noting that she was the regional Lead for Yorkshire and the Humber. She reported that there would be a website for the Regional RE Hub and SACRE would be able to put information on that website. It was noted that members of Interfaith York were booked on the training run by the National RE Hubs lead.
Members were encouraged to read the Still Standing: The Future of SACREs Report.
Resolved: That the National RE and Collective Worship updates be noted.
Reason: In order to be kept up to date on National RE and Collective Worship updates.
44. Interfaith Week [18.45]
Penny Coppin-Siddall report that Interfaith Week had been successful. She explained that this year, Interfaith York had experimented with a logo competition through SACRE and there were winning entries from more than one school including Ralph Butterfield. She noted that this had been a good way of connecting with schools. She explained that a number of entries included drawings of Cliffords Tower and this had highlighted a need for schools to educate their children on the history of the tower. There had also been drawings of York Minster which it was used as it did not represent a number of faiths. This was discussed by Members and Olivia Seymour noted that this highlighted an opportunity to use the factsheets launched at the Agreed Syllabus launch. She also noted the resource of the Jewish exhibition at the Castle Museum.
During discussion it was suggested that the work of SACRE could be developed and promoted to schools and it was noted that the logo competition was a good way of engaging with schools. Andy Tod was asked and confirmed that a crib sheet for the RE Primary Network maty be useful.
Olivia Seymour suggested that SACRE may want to consider providing local subject knowledge to schools and she suggested that SACRE consider Interfaith Week at the spring term SACRE meeting.
It was highlighted that Interfaith Week was close to Remembrance Sunday and Anti Bullying Week in schools and suggested that preparation for Interfaith Week could be coordinated throughout the year. It was agreed that Interfaith Week would be considered in the Spring term.
Resolved: That the update on Interfaith Week be noted.
Reason: In order to be updated on the work of Interfaith York.
45. Correspondence on complaints / determinations
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.
46. Work Plan
It was agreed that at the January meeting there would be a focus on getting the monitoring strand going and that there would be a possible update on school standards in RE.
Resolved: That the work plan be updated to reflect the above changes.
Reason: In order to keep the work plan updated.
47. Urgent Business
There were no items of urgent business.
48. Future meeting dates
Thursday 12 January 2023 at 6.00pm in the Hudson room at West Offices.
Cllr Waller, Chair
[The meeting started at 6.00 pm and finished at 7.00 pm].