City of York SACRE Annual Report 2023-24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.     Introduction

Foreword by the Chair of SACRE

 

In the municipal year of 2023/24 York SACRE has been very active. I am pleased that we have built on the work of previous SACRE and carried out Primary School visits in different settings to assess and learn about the state of Religious Education in the City of York.

I would like to thank the schools we engaged with for their openness and positive attitude towards the work of SACRE; we certainly learnt a lot.

As well as this SACRE also invited young people to speak directly about their views and experiences of RE in schools, both good and bad. I believe hearing from young people has made a real difference to SACRE member's outlook this year.

This work wouldn't have been possible without the dedication and expertise of the members of SACRE alongside council officers and I would like to thank them for the time and commitment they have offered. I hope that in the next year we can continue these projects and others and start to share best practise across schools in York for the betterment of young peoples' learning.

Finally, it is with sadness that I must mention the loss of an important member of our group Daryoush Mazloum. His kindness and wisdom will be a huge loss to SACRE in York.

 

Cllr Bob Webb, Executive Member for Children and Education

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meeting and Attendance 2023-24

City of York SACRE met four times in the academic year 2023-24.

 

19th October 2023

22nd January 2024

19th March 2024

8th July 2024

During the academic year 2023-24 City of York SACRE met in hybrid meetings. Ensuring and maintaining quoracy for SACRE meetings was a priority for the academic year 2023-24 and this remains an area of focus for 2024-25. The introduction of hybrid meetings has proved helpful, particularly for teachers in committee C, however, securing consistent attendance from Committee A remains a priority.

The attendance, by Committee, is set out below:-

Committee

19th October

2023

22nd Jan

2024

19th March 2024

8th July 2024

Committee A

Representing Other Denominations / Faith Communities

3

6

0

2

Committee B

Representing the Church of England

1

2

1

1

Committee C

Representing teachers

0

1

2

3

Committee D

Representing City of York Council

4

4

3

3

LA Officer

1

0

1

1

Total

8

(Inquorate)

13

(Quorate)

6

(Inquorate)

9

(Quorate)

 

A focus on the SACRE development plan, a report from the Local Authority officer (including a focus on standards) and a report on national NASACRE and RE professional organisations updates are standing items at each meeting. In 2023-24 there has also been a focus on looking at the outcomes from school visits and on developing the communication from SACRE to schools.

 

2.     RE (statutory responsibilities)

Locally agreed syllabus

There are 17 primary, 2 secondary and 1 special maintained schools who follow the City of York Locally Agreed Syllabus 

There are 27 primary, 4 secondary and 1 special academies who have adopted the City of York Locally Agreed Syllabus 

 

Separate regulations covering maintained special schools require them to ensure that as far as practicable every pupil receives opportunities to explore RE. The City of York Agreed Syllabus 2021-2026 includes specific guidance and support for Special Schools.  Special Schools use the City of York Locally Agreed Syllabus, at least partially, and adapt it to meet the needs of the pupils.

 

 

 Standards and monitoring of RE

 

In 2023-24 York SACRE continued with monitoring visits to schools.  The visit involved three members of SACRE drawn from committee A and D supported by the LA Adviser to SACRE. The visit provided SACRE members with the opportunity to speak to staff and pupils about the quality of R.E. in the school. The visits that have taken place have been to primary schools, both schools are in the same area of the city and are local authority- maintained schools. The visits provided SACRE members with an opportunity to compare and contrast the approach to R.E. by visiting a Church of England primary and a community primary school. The plan for 2024-25 is to visit the two local authority maintained secondary schools.

There were 24 inspections of York Schools between September 2023 and July 2024. 19 primary schools were inspected, 1 secondary special school and 4 secondary schools. No concerns about R.E. were raised through these reports.

Key Stage 5 results

KS5 outcomes remain strong in comparison to schools nationally. However, in common with exam entries nationally, the number of entries both at A level and GCSE went down in 2024. The results for GCSE and A level religious studies are summarised in the table below:

Key Stage

No. of entries

% A*-C

(York)

% A*-C

(York)

Average points Score

Key Stage 5

40

95%

90%

41 (significantly above national)

 

The Key Stage 5 results show that more girls than boys took A level R.E. in 2024 – 27 girls and 13 boys, however the boys out - performed the girls both in attainment and progress. 4 students were from disadvantaged backgrounds and 4 had special educational needs and all achieved A-C grades.  The majority of pupils (35 students) were White British and were identified as Higher Attainers (38 students).

KS4 results

At the time of writing this report the KS4 subject results were unavailable but the report will be updated when they are released.

Teaching, training and materials and advice for schools

The results from the annual survey to schools are being used to inform the SACRE Development Plan and to identify priorities for further training and advice for schools during the academic year 2024-25.

During 2023-24 York SACRE has promoted the support that can be accessed via the Regional R.E. Hub.

The maintained schools have created a curriculum group for teachers of R.E. this now meets termly and Diane Norton has agreed to make contact with the group during the academic year 2024-25. This will allow SACRE members to gain information about what training needs schools may have and this will be used to commission support.

The following themes for guidance and support have come through from the annual schools survey:

·         Support to develop children’s understanding of subject specific vocabulary and topic words

·         Assessment and monitoring of standards in R.E.

·         A resource bank to support the Agreed Syllabus

·         Access to visitors from different faith groups

·         Supporting inclusion for children with SEND

Two members of SACRE (from committees B and C) attended the NASCRE conference in May 2024 and shared information from the conference with SACRE members.

City of York SACRE received no formal complaints regarding RE provision in the academic -year 2023-24.

 

3.    Collective Worship

Besides Religious Education each local authority must work with its SACRE to monitor the provision of daily collective worship.  As a result of changes to the Ofsted framework and in the absence of further guidance, the City of York SACRE published guidance in 2017 to support Collective Worship in schools in the City, which it continues to promote within schools. The guidance is available on the City of York SACRE website (www.york.gov.uk/sacre).

 

Schools may apply to SACRE for a determination in order to provide Collective Worship of a non-Christian or other form. As in previous years, no determinations were requested by schools. 

 

There were no complaints registered with City of York SACRE in 2023/2024 in respect of collective worship. 

 

 

4.    Links with other bodies

City of York SACRE is a member of the National Association of SACREs (NASACRE).  Through the year SACRE members were informed of developments in RE from NASACRE, The National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) and The Religious Education Council of England and Wales (REC).  

City of York SACRE has a long- standing relationship with York Interfaith Group.  York Interfaith Group have set up a mechanism to support visits and visitors to York schools.

City of York SACRE continues to support the York Holocaust Memorial Day event.  This event took place in January 2024.

 

5.    City of York SACRE’s own arrangements

During the academic year 2023-24 City of York SACRE continued its close relationship with City of York Council’s Democratic Services. An officer in the Local Authority’s Democratic Services Section acts as Clerk to SACRE.  

 

During 2023-24 processes to enable members to further develop their monitoring of RE were implemented through school visits, an opportunity to meet young people at the SACRE meeting on 19th October and further revision of the Schools questionnaire. The Schools questionnaire was revised in 2023-24 and this has resulted in an increase in the number of responses received from 14 in 2022-23 to 19 in 2023-24.

The people who serve on York SACRE are invited to do so by the Corporate Director of Children’s Services and Education on the recommendation of various bodies in the local community with a concern for the religious education of school children. The law prescribes that there have to be four “committees” each comprising representatives of specified groups.

The current SACRE is constituted as follows:-

Committee A - Representing Other Denominations / Faith Communities:- 

Karen Vincent joined August 2022 (Catholic)

Ben Rich (Jewish)

Keith Albans (Methodist)

Iman Abid Salik (Muslim)

Deborah Evans joined March 2021

(Religious Society of Friends)

Vacant (Salvation Army)

Vacant (Sikh)

Daryoush Mazloum (York Baha’i Community)

Penny Coppin-Siddall (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

Ian Hodgson (Humanist)   

 

Committee B - Representing the Church of England:-

Sue Bland (Diocese of York)

Joseph Everdell

 

Committee C - Representing Teachers:-        

Andy Todd (Ralph Butterfield)

Taco Michiels (Joseph Rowntree)

Diane Norton (University of York St John) joined SACRE in October 2023

 

Committee D - Representing the City of York Council are Councillors:-                     

Emilie Knight (Lib Dem)

Martin Rowley (Con)

Sarah Wilson (Labour)

Bob Webb (Labour) appointed Chair June 2023

      

In attendance:-

Maxine Squire (Education Adviser)

Angela Bielby (Clerk)

 

Finance – annual budget

York’s SACRE is assigned an annual budget of £3,500. A summary of spend in 2023-24 is shown in the table below:

Item

 

Total Spend

NASACRE annual membership fee for 2023-24

 

£105.00

NASACRE conference fees

 

£240.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total spend 2023-24

 

£345.00

Balance

 

£3,145.00

 

 

Circulation 

This report is circulated to: 

·         NASACRE 

·         Department for Education

·         City of York Council Children, Communities and Culture Scrutiny

·         City of York schools 

·         SACRE members representative bodies