Agenda and minutes

Prior to the start of the main meeting Chris Hughes, representative for the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches and Chairman of the Monitoring Group gave a short presentation.

The Chairman announced that the press and members of the public were permitted to film and broadcast the meeting. Those remaining at the meeting were consenting to  being filmed and recorded, and to the possible use of those images and recording for broadcasting purposes.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Alasdair Richardson, Caroline Welch, Jon Hamer, Graeme Rowe, Sheikh Fazle Abbas Datoo, Sushma Sahajpal, Jeff Williams, Sue Bowen, Rhiannon Love, Patricia Timms Blanch.

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to Part 3 Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code.  Furthermore all Members with a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider, having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 4 of the Code, whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, consider whether it is appropriate to leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3 Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Personal interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 4 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

Justine Ball declared that she works one day a month for NATRE as an RE ambassador for the South East.

Elizabeth Jenkerson noted that she was a judge for the Westhill Awards which gives grants to SACREs.

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting on 25 June 2019.

The minutes of the previous meeting on 25 June 2019 were agreed as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.  There were no matters arising.

To receive any Chairman’s announcements.

The Chairman welcomed four new members to SACRE, Eli Stewart representing the Baptist Union, Dr Julie Maxwell who was being co-opted as a representative for school governors, Charmian Harrison for the Methodists and Rachel Jackson to be co-opted as a representative for Primary Schools.  Carole Koerner, a general phase inspector/adviser from HIAS was welcomed as an observer.

He announced that there had been a number of resignations since the last meeting, from Patricia Timms Blanch and Susannah Burns, both representatives for the Teachers’ Associations, Heather Thorpe-Tracey, the Quaker represented, Kate Stubbings and Pam Brown, both co-opted teachers and Susannah Burns, also a Teachers’ Association representative.

The Chairman indicated that the work to erect a statue to Licoricia of Winchester, one of the most prominent Jews of the Middle Ages would probably be completed in 2021.  He also announced that he was due to attend a Mitzvah Day, on Sunday 17 November, when the Jewish community in Winchester demonstrate their commitment to the community by planting bulbs in a garden they have adopted.

Members’ were encouraged to attend the launch of the Interfaith Calendar on 11November at 4.30pm in the Ashburton Hall and to buy one.

To receive any deputations.

There were no deputations.

To receive a report from the Director of Children’s Services regarding appointments to SACRE.

SACRE received a report from Patricia Hannam, the County Inspector/Advisor informing members of changes to membership (item 6 in the Minute Book).

Members were directed to the report listing a number of new members.  An additional co-option was brought for Members’ approval.  Rachel Jackson was put forward as a co-opted representative for primary schools, replacing Kate Stubbings.

RESOLVED:

·         SACRE noted the appointment of Councillor Zilliah Brooks to Group D

·         SACRE approved the appointment of Dr Julie Maxwell as a co-opted member representing the Governors’ Forum.

·         SACRE noted the appointment of Julie Wells as a full member of Group C.

·         SACRE noted the appointment of Eli Stewart as the representative of the Baptist Union.

·         SACRE approved the appointment of Rachel Jackson as a co-opted member representing primary school.

To receive a report on behalf of the Director of Children’s Services regarding the activities and discussions of the monitoring group in relation to the monitoring of RE and the implementation of Living Difference III.

SACRE received a report from Patricia Hannam, County Inspector/Adviser, on the discussions of the Monitoring Group at its recent meeting (item 7 in the Minute Book).

Patricia Hannam drew Members’ attention to parts of the Monitoring Group’s report. 

The reduction in the number of teachers attending professional development courses was a worrying trend, with budget restrictions being cited as the main reason.  Two half day courses were to be held for secondary heads of RE, targeting those who were not coming on courses and where there was concern over the RE in the school.  This was also the case for primary schools.

It was indicated that there were signs nationally that the new Ofsted inspections were looking at RE more carefully and it was being mentioned more often; this was the case for both primary and secondary schools. The ‘deep dive’ inspections would look at particular subjects and RE was as likely to be looked at as any other non-core subject.

In looking at the RS GCSE results for 2019, it was noted that on the positive side results were above the national, but there are serious concerns that the number of students taking the GCSE have dropped to 27%, below the national average.  Another concern was what the rest of the cohort were doing at Key Stage 4 if they were not doing RE?

Speaking about the research that she and some Hampshire teachers had been involved with on Religious Literacy, Patricia Hannam  began by explaining the term.  She noted that the project had concluded that there were two types of religious literacy - broad or functional literacy which was the responsibility of all teachers and a more specialised literacy which was specific to RE.  This research would have an impact on the review of the Agreed Syllabus.

RESOLVED:

·         SACRE thanked the Monitoring Group for its report.

To consider the SACRE Annual Report 2018/19 on behalf of the Director of Children’s Services.

The Council considered the SACRE Annual Report for 2018/19 prepared and presented by Patricia Hannam, the County Inspector/Adviser. (Item 8 in the Minute Book).

Members were reminded that SACRE has a statutory duty to provide an annual report on its activities and were given an overview of the report. They were provided with an opportunity to discuss the report in small groups and feed back comments and observations.

It was noted that the status and RAG rating on the 3 Year Action Plan had not been completed; this omission would be rectified by the Inspector/Adviser and the updated appendix would be circulated to SACRE for approval before being distributed.

Members queried the possible reasons for the reduction in the numbers of students  taking RS GCSE.  This was partly attributed to schools being under pressure to achieve the EBacc, an accountability measure not a qualification; RS had not been placed in the Humanities group as the DfE claimed that as RS was compulsory it did not need to be.  Some schools have the whole cohort taking RS GCSE on just one lesson a week, others have only 20% taking it.  Where schools put RS in various option groups there is more opportunity for students to take it. Secondary teacher members commented that the new GCSE had an increased amount of work. Not all schools were allowed to do the short course GCSE any more as it does not count in the schools’ statistics.  It was stressed that achievement in RS GCSE was good, but it was important to provide a good RS course for all students and get the numbers taking GCSE back in line with the national ones.

Inconsistency in attendance by SACRE Members, particularly at the June meeting was brought to Members’ attention.  Following a review of attendance numbers, a decision would be taken as to whether to move the date of the ‘away’ meeting or stay in Winchester for all meetings.

Justine Ball, the primary inspector/adviser for RE, advised Members that a change needed to be made to Section 5, Collective Worship on page 34; the second bullet point should read, ‘school visits by the RE Inspectors’. The updated report with Action Plan is available on the County Council’s website.

RESOLVED:

·         SACRE approved the report, subject to the changes noted on page 34 and the inclusion of SACRE approved Status and RAG rating on the 3 Year Action Plan, and agreed that it should be made available to the relevant authorities and on appropriate websites.

·         SACRE would express concern to the County Council regarding the provision of RE at Key Stage 4 and the decline in the uptake of training by teachers.

To receive a report and presentation on behalf of the Director of Children’s Services preparing SACRE for the process entailed in the forthcoming review of Hampshire Agreed Syllabus, Living Difference III, during 2020-2021.

SACRE received a report and presentation from Patricia Hannam, the County Inspector/Adviser preparing SACRE for the forthcoming review of the Hampshire Agreed Syllabus during 2020/2021 (item 9 in the Minute Book).

Patricia Hannam began by explaining to Members the Agreed Syllabus, Living Difference II, was locally determined and that SACRE has a statutory duty to review its Agreed Syllabus every five years, which meant the next review is due for completion in November 2021. Traditionally Hampshire’s Agreed Syllabus has been shared with Portsmouth, Southampton and, more recently, the Isle of Wight.  Other authorities using our current Agreed Syllabus, Living Difference III, are Camden, Westminster, Fulham and Hammersmith and Kensington and Chelsea.  Patricia Hannam gave an overview of the process which would start with the convening of the Agreed Syllabus Conference prior to the next main SACRE meeting on 3 March 2020 which would accept the minutes of the last meeting and agree to the review.  Plans included talking with teachers and Youth Voice members and a meeting in June or July 2020 of teachers from all four authorities; SACRE members were invited to take part.  There are no plans to make great changes to the Cycle of Learning, but to take into consideration recent developments in RE.

RESOLVED:

·         SACRE noted the report and agreed to convene an Agreed Syllabus Conference before its meeting on 3 March 2020.

To receive a report on behalf of the Director of Children’s Services on developments in relation to the work of the Religious Education Council, RE Research and other key national and local RE matters.

SACRE considered a report from Patricia Hannam, the County Inspector/Advisor, on key national and local RE matters (item 10 in the Minute Book).

Members were updated on a number of national and local matters from the report. 

An additional item on determinations was raised with Members.  It was explained that a determination is a power that SACRE has regarding Collective Worship, which has never been used in Hampshire.  All Local Authority schools must hold Collective Worship that is broadly Christian based.  A whole school may request to be released from this requirement and SACRE must ‘determine’ the outcome of this request.  As SACRE currently did not have  a procedure for dealing with determinations it was suggested and agreed that a small task and finish group led by Patricia Hannam would be established to develop one.

RESOLVED:

·         SACRE noted the report

·         SACRE agreed to send 2 delegates to the NASACRE conference on 18 May 2020 in London.

·         SACRE would support the collaboration with NASACRE initiatives in relation to Local Advisory Network(LAN) research.

·         SACRE agreed to convene a time-limited small group to consider the schools’ advice document and to make suggestions, if necessary, for alteration or addition.

·         SACRE agreed to convene a small task and finish group to bring a process for Hampshire SACRE to manage determinations to the next SACRE meeting.

To receive a verbal report on behalf of the Director of Children’s Services on the activities of SACRE Youth Voice since the SACRE meeting on 25 June 2019.

The Council received a verbal report from Patricia Hannam, the County Inspector/Adviser on the activities of the Youth Voice since the last SACRE meeting on 25 June 2019  (Item 11 in the Minute Book).

Members were informed that there had been a very successful Youth Voice conference in July. Two Primary Youth Voice conferences had also been held at Cove and Thornden Schools; these had also been successful and would be repeated next year. The new Youth Voice members had not yet met this term, but would do so on 11 November, where they would take part in the County Council’s Remembrance commemoration.

To receive any other business from Members of SACRE.

No other business was raised.

The Chairman re-iterated his thanks to Chris Hughes for his presentation at the start of the meeting and reminded everyone about the Interfaith Calendar and the launch on 11 November.

The next meeting is scheduled for 3 March 2020 in the Ashburton Hall:

2.00pm for the Agreed Syllabus Conference

2.15pm or on the rising of the Agreed Syllabus Conference  for SACRE.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as Tuesday 3 March 2020 in the Ashburton Hall at 2.00 pm for the Agreed Syllabus Conference and 2.15pm, or on the rising of the Agreed Syllabus Conference for SACRE.