Agenda and minutes

1 To note the resignation of Mr S Platnauer-NUT Group 3

2 To note the appointment of Ms Fiona Hawkes, Head of RE,Philosophy and Ethics,Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys to Group 1 ( Roman Catholic)

(1)       The Members noted the resignation of Mr Platnauer – Group 3 (NUT).

(2)       The Members noted the appointment of Ms Hawkes, Head of RE, Philosophy and Ethics, Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys to Group 1 (Roman Catholic) and Mr Chambers, NUT Representative to Group 3 (NUT).

(1)       Mrs Younosi reported that the Persian New Year was being celebrated on 21 March 2015 by Baha’i and Muslims.

(1)       Mrs Naden requested that the Minutes be amended to reflect the fact that she had volunteered to be on the Youth SACRE Working Group instead of the Shaping the Spirit Working Group.

(2)       Mrs Donnelly requested that the Minutes be amended in 47.3 from ‘there’ to ‘their’.

(3)       Rabbi Cohen requested that the Minutes be amended in 43.3 from ‘Judiasm’ to ‘Judaism’.

(4)       The Members agreed that, subject to these changes being made, the Minutes of the Meeting held on 25 November 2014 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

(1)       Mr Foster advised that an amended version of the Budget had been distributed to Members. He reported that SACRE had spent 69% of its 2014/15 budget. He explained that any budget remaining could not be rolled forward into the new financial year. He was expecting some additional expenses for the SACRE meeting and the NASACRE Conference to be claimed. He explained that invoices for the St Botolph’s School and Oakwood Grammar School’s Quality Mark and the RE Hub Training Meetings had not been finalised.

(2)       Mrs Paterson stated that the RE Hub invoice would be sent directly to the Clerk. She noted that she was happy to send a letter to the County Council asking for the budget to be rolled over into the new financial year. Mr Foster explained that the County Council did not allow any remaining budget to be rolled forward into the new financial year. The Chairman stated it was more important to protect the budget for future years to enable SACRE to implement new projects such as Youth SACRE.

(3)       Mrs Corbyn enquired about the £700 invoice for Youth SACRE. Mr Foster explained that it could not be taken out of the 2014/15 budget as it was for an event being held in the next financial year. He stated that the SACRE budget was in a good position; he had received an indication from the Finance Department that SACRE would receive the same allocation of £5000 in 2015/16.

(4)       Mr Elenor asked about the Kent SACRE budget in comparison with other local authorities. The Chairman reported that, following conversations at the NASACRE, he had found that the Kent SACRE was very well supported by the County Council in comparison to other local authorities. Mr Elenor stated that he found the Hampshire SACRE’s syllabus very impressive. Mr Foster explained that when the Kent SACRE reviews its syllabus, additional funding may need to be requested. He reported that the last Kent syllabus had cost £15,000 to produce hard copies. He noted that the new syllabus would only be published online but explained that there would still be cost implications. He stated that in the NASACRE survey about funding, Kent had one of the highest budgets; in addition to the £5000 budget, the County Council covered the costs of his role for a set number of days throughout the year. 

(5)       Mr Maddison enquired about the amount of additional expenses which would come out of the 2014/15 budget. Mr Foster explained that he expected another £1000 to come out of the budget.

1. Secondary Youth SACRE Update - Mrs J Grant

2. Primary Youth SACRE Update - Mrs V Corbyn

(1)       The Chairman invited Mrs Grant to provide an update on the 2015 Secondary Youth SACRE event. Mrs Grant began by stating that the 2014 Youth SACRE had been very successful, the students who had attended provided positive feedback about the event. She had invited Lat Blaylock to facilitate the 2015 event but had not received a response.

(2)       Members expressed concerns about the lack of aims and objectives for Secondary Youth SACRE events. Members recognised that, whilst the 2014 Youth SACRE had been beneficial to students and had promoted SACRE, the Kent SACRE had gained very little from the event. The 2014 event had been viewed as a conference rather than an opportunity for young people to input their views on RE and the syllabus to SACRE. It was also felt that the event had not been cost effective as the facilitator was very expensive per head. It was stated that it was difficult to release students and teachers from school to attend events due to timetable pressures.

(3)       A number of proposals, designed to provide an opportunity for young people to input their views on RE and the syllabus directly to SACRE, were suggested for SACRE’s future engagement with young people:

§  Asking the Kent Youth County Council or sub group to form the Youth SACRE;

§  Forming a virtual Youth SACRE through the use of online surveys,  Twitter chats and Skype;

§  Encouraging School Councils to discuss the RE syllabus as part of their meetings.

(4)       There was support amongst Members to continue with the conference planned for 2015. A number of proposals were suggested to improve the 2015 conference:

§  Grouping schools together and hosting local conferences with local facilitators;

§  Webcasting the conference from County Hall;

§  Charging a deposit for a place, which would be returned if attended, to promote attendance.

(5)       At the end of the Members’ deliberations, the Chairman stated that SACRE would continue to proceed with a conference for secondary schools and look to engage with students through school councils.

(1)       The Chairman invited Mrs Corbyn to provide an update on the 2015 Primary Youth SACRE event. Mrs Corbyn began by stating that the event ‘Knowing You, Knowing Me’ was based on a conference model and was taking place at Canterbury Christ Church University to give the students an experience of a university campus. The event would start with a lecture; she noted there would be an opportunity to gain feedback from students about their likes and dislikes about RE using post-it notes. The students would then split into two groups; half would take part in a reflection workshop led by Canterbury Christ Church University students and half would meet a representative of a faith different to their own. After lunch, the two groups would swap and participate in the other workshop. She reported that there had been 210 applications for 150 places; a waiting list had been implemented.

(2)       Mrs Donnelly enquired about the cost of the event. Mrs Corbyn explained that the venue was provided for free but SACRE was required to use the university’s catering for the event. She stated that the budget was £750.

(3)       Mrs Younosi enquired about the representation of faith groups. Mrs Corbyn explained that there would be Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist and Christian representatives at the event. She stated that Mr Gillespie had sourced local people from Canterbury with suitable skills to facilitate a workshop with young people. 

(1)       Mr Foster reported that the working group met in early February to revise the Shaping the Spirit document following the publication of new guidance from the Department of Education on SMSC and British Values. He noted that the previous document was out of date and contained expired links.

(2)       Mr Foster stated that the Working Group looked at the new guidance and developed a briefing paper at the meeting. He stated that he had sent the briefing paper to the working group and had received no comments.

(3)       Mrs Paterson enquired when the briefing paper was distributed. Mr Foster explained it was circulated to the working group on 14 February. He stated that he would send the briefing paper to all Members via the Clerk.

(4)       Ms Hawkes enquired about the distribution of the Shaping the Spirit document to schools. Mr Foster explained that a link would be sent to all schools and put on the County Council’s website.  Ms Hawkes advised that she had recently attended an Ofsted Conference and had additional information which could be included in the document. Mr Foster asked her to send him the information as soon as possible.

(1)       Mr Foster presented the revised Development Plan. He stated that Members’ comments from the previous meeting had been taken into account and he advised that the following new points had been added:

§  Review of Agreed Syllabus for implementation in September 2017

-       Develop plan for establishing Agreed Syllabus Conference

-       Set out timeframe for review process

§  Development of SMSC Guidance for schools

§  Briefing meetings for Youth SACRE Conferences

(2)       Mrs Caisley enquired about the Agreed Syllabus Conference. Mr Foster explained that the Agreed Syllabus Conference was the formal body appointed to agree the new syllabus. He stated that SACRE determined the membership of the Conference; SACRE members, teachers, students and academics had been invited to be members of the Conference for previous syllabus reviews.

(3)       Mr Foster explained that SACRE had a legal duty to review the Agreed Syllabus within five years of the previous review. He recommended that the Agreed Syllabus Conference be established in the summer term to enable it to start work in September 2015. He reported that the syllabus would need to be completed by spring 2017 to enable it to be implemented by schools in September 2017.

(4)       Mrs Corbyn stated the importance of having a realistic and manageable timetable to enable the Agreed Syllabus Conference to gather young people’s views. Mrs Burke, Mrs Caisley and Mrs Donnelly stressed the importance of collecting meaningful data from the students at the Secondary Youth SACRE Conference in autumn 2015. Mrs Caisley stated there needed to be early engagement with primary students.

(5)       Mr Foster highlighted the 2014 RE Curriculum Review; he suggested that Members may wish to use it to develop the new syllabus. Miss Walters suggested having the RE Curriculum Review paper as a substantial item on the next agenda to enable the Members to discuss and come to a consensus about its usefulness for the new review. 

(6)       In response to a specific question by Mr Maddison about changing the syllabus, Mr Foster explained that it was time for a drastic change. He believed that SACRE could utilise the RE Curriculum Review to identify gaps in the current syllabus and enable SACRE to develop its new syllabus. He noted that there was no scheduled speaker for the next meeting which would enable a significant discussion on RE Curriculum Review paper.

(7)       Ms Hawkes enquired if new levels set by every school would be a factor included in the new syllabus. Mr Foster stated that this would be the case.

1.    NASACRE-The Trojan Horse aftermath Conference,Fri.20 March 2015, London.  Keynote Speakers: Joyce Miller and Alan Brine

2.    NASACRE AGM and Executive Elections-11am,Thurs.21May 2015,The Council House, Birmingham, Keynote Speaker: Charles Clarke-Prof Politics at University of East Anglia.

3.    Schools access to SACRE members (Minute 49.3 refers)

4.    Kent SACRE Survey Summary 2014 Report

5.    DfE Consultation

6.    Lord Nash letter 7/1/2015

7.    Annual Report Update-Education and Young People’s Services (EYPS) Cabinet Committee - 16 Dec.2014.

(1)       NASACRE - The Trojan Horse Aftermath Conference, Friday 20 March 2015, London.  Keynote Speakers: Joyce Miller and Alan Brine.

(a)       Mr Foster reported that NASACRE was rerunning the Trojan Horse Conference in St Albans; the Chairman and Mr Foster were due to attend. The Chairman explained that he may not be able to attend due to a work commitment and asked if any of the Members would be able to take his place. Miss Walters stated that she was able to attend but thought that it may be useful for a teacher to attend. Ms Hawkes reported that she may be able to attend and would let Miss Walters and the Clerk know.

(2)       NASACRE AGM and Executive Elections, Thursday 21 May 2015, The Council House, Birmingham. Keynote Speaker: Charles Clarke, Professor of Politics at University of East Anglia.

(a)       Mr Foster stated that the Chairman and Mrs Younosi would be attending the NASACRE AGM.

(3)       Schools access to SACRE members

(a)       Mrs Younosi explained that SACRE faith group representatives should be used as a resource; they were able to answer questions about the faith they represented. She stated that the most appropriate way for schools to contact the faith representatives was by email via the Clerk.

(b)       Mr Papadopoullos enquired if he could take his Priest with him on school visits. Mr Foster advised that this would be appropriate.

(c)        Rabbi Cohen reported that he was inundated with requests to visit schools. He stated he was unable to cover the whole county and only accepted requests in East Kent. He stated that he had previously produced a 45 minute educational DVD about a visit to a synagogue which could be shared with schools. The Chairman suggested that the video could be shared on You Tube.  Mrs Paterson advised that many primary schools were unable to access to You Tube.

(d)       Mrs Corbyn raised child protection concerns about SACRE endorsing individuals for school visits. Mr Foster explained that it was not for SACRE to recommended individuals to schools; it was for schools to get recommendations from other schools.

(4)       Kent SACRE Survey Summary 2014 Report

(a)       Mr Foster gave a brief summary of the Kent SACRE 2014 Survey. He stated that there was a similar response rate to previous years; very few secondary schools had responded. He reported that the key issues were collective worships, KS4, lack of CPD and non-specialist teachers teaching the subject. All schools stated that they complied with the legal requirement to provide a daily act of Collective Worship and planned their RE teaching using the Kent Syllabus. He stated that he was reluctant to send out a paper survey again, he would investigate options for an electronic survey.

(5)       Department of Education Consultation

(a)       Mr Foster explained that he received an email on 19 December from Sue Rogers and David Blackburn asking him to provide a response, on behalf of SACRE, to the Department of Education’s consultation on the new examinations. The deadline for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

(1)       Members noted the Patterns of Attendance report.

SACRE

Wed 17 June 2015-Highworth Grammar School, Ashford

Mon 23 November 2015 – County Hall, Maidstone

SACRE Briefings at Oakwood House, Maidstone

Mon 11 May 2015

Mon 19 Oct 2015

All above meetings start at 9.30am

Youth SACRE

Primary – Wed. 20 May 2015 at CCCU

Secondary-

(1)       Members noted the following dates of meetings in 2015:

(a)       SACRE

Wednesday 17 June 2015 -Highworth Grammar School, Ashford

Monday 23 November 2015 – County Hall, Maidstone

(b)       SACRE Briefings - Oakwood House, Maidstone

Mon 11 May 2015

Mon 19 Oct 2015

            (c)        Primary Youth SACRE

                        Wednesday 20 May – Canterbury Christ Church University  

(1)       The Chairman stated that there were no urgent items.

(1)       Miss Walters gave a thought provoking interactive presentation on ‘Preparing teachers to develop SMSC’ which was gratefully received by Members.

(2)       A copy of the presentation is appended to the Minutes.