Agenda item

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 submissions was 3 January 2015; in order for it to be signed off by Patrick Leeson before the deadline, the SACRE response was submitted on 22 December. 

(b)       Mrs Burke noted that the Government had published its response to the consultation. She highlighted that the Government had decided to separate the philosophy of religion and ethics into two distinct areas of study and rejected the inclusion of non-religious worldviews such as humanisan and atheism.

(6)       Lord Nash letter 7/1/2015

(a)       Mr Foster explained that Lord Nash, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, had written to all SACRES to encourage them to consider ways the locally agreed syllabus could help pupils to develop an understanding of Christianity, whilst also learning about the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain. He noted that NASACRE had advised SACREs to respond individually. 

(b)       Mrs Donnelly suggested that the Kent SACRE should write to all schools to ask them to promote voting in the General Election as part of supporting British values. A number of Members highlighted different ways voting was encouraged within schools.

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

(a)       Mr Foster reported that the Committee had welcomed the report but was disappointed to hear that there had been no response from the Secretary of State to Mr Gough’s letter. The Committee had suggested that KCC write to Sir Michael Wilshaw (Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools) regarding the issue of RE being part of the Ofsted inspection.

(b)       Mr Foster stated the report was presented to the Committee as a draft due to the 2013/14 exam results for Key Stage 4 and 5 being unavailable. He explained that there was no data for the number of students being entered into Short Course GCSEs as it was not collected by the County Council. He suggested that when the syllabus was reviewed, the need for students to be entered for an accredited course should be promoted. He noted that the final version of the report was circulated to the Kent SACRE via the Clerk. He requested that the final report be sent out to the Kent SACRE again by the Clerk.

(8)       Additional Local Developments

(a)       Mr Foster stated that the County Council had received a Freedom of Information request about the teaching of Islam in Kent schools. Mr Foster responded to the request and directed them to the Kent syllabus. 

(b)       Mr Foster received a letter from a parent who was concerned about the teaching of RE in their child’s school. Mr Foster responded to the letter and directed them to the Kent syllabus and advised them to contact the school.

(c)        Mr Foster reported that Liz Pope was running a CPD training for RE teachers as part of the RE Hub on 21 March at the Robert Napier School, Gillingham.

(d)       Mr Foster referred Members to the NASACRE newsletter which contained an article on completing annual reports. He stated that this may be something SACRE would wish to consider before writing their next annual report. The Chairman stated that he would send a copy of the SACRE Annual Review to Lord Nash.