Agenda item

To receive a report from the Chairman of SACRE and the Corporate Director of Education and Young People’s Cabinet Committee.

(Report by Mr S C Manion, Chairman of Kent SACRE and Mr P Leeson, Corporate Director of Education and Young People’s Services)

(Mr A Foster, Consultant Advisor to Kent Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE), was present for this item)

1.            Chairman of SACRE, Mr Manion, thanked the Cabinet Committee for agreeing to consider the report on the draft Annual SACRE report for 2013-2014.  He introduced the document that was a requirement under the Education Reform Act 1988.  The Annual SACRE report reflected the key local and national issues that had engaged the Religious Education community in 2013-2014.  The report also contained advice and recommendations to the local authority which should be shared with schools and governing bodies in order to ensure that schools comply with their statutory responsibilities and provide the highest quality teaching and learning in RE and provision for Collective Acts of Worship for pupils in Kent Schools.  He paid tribute to Mr Foster and SACRE for all their work.

2.            Mr Foster referred to the SACRE Annual report being presented as draft due to the exam results for Key Stage 4 and 5 2013-2014 being unavailable and hoped that they would be available shortly so that the report could be finalised.  He then explained the importance of the role RE had to play. He highlighted the need for schools to be reminded of their duty to meet the statutory requirement for Religious Education to be on the curriculum.

3.            The Cabinet Committee noted that the Cabinet Member, Mr Gough, had written to the Secretary of State for Education, Mr Gove, asking for Ofsted to reference RE in their report to show whether the school was meeting their statutory requirement but no response had been received.  Mr Gough agreed to reissue the letter to the present Secretary of State for Education.

4.            Mr Foster highlighted the lack of qualified RE teachers, particularly in Primary schools. SACRE  would be reflecting on this issue for  future annual reports.

5.            Mr Gough and Mr Foster responded to questions by Members as follows:

a)     Members welcomed the report but were disappointed to hear that there had been no response from the Secretary of State to Mr Gough’s letter.

b)     Members suggested that RE and ethics gave young people the opportunity to discuss, intellectually, wider issues in society today.

c)     Mr Tear advised that the Church of England had produced its own report on the quality of teaching RE and found that there was a discrepancy in the teaching in Primary and Secondary schools.  The Secondary sector teaching was found to be better than the Primary sector and there was now an intention to improve the quality of teaching by the Diocese of Rochester.

d)     A suggestion was made that KCC write to Sir Michael Wilshaw (Her Majesty’s Chef Inspector of Schools) regarding the issue of RE being part of the Ofsted inspection

6.            RESOLVED that the responses to questions by Members be noted; and the draft SACRE Annual report 2013-2014 be endorsed.