Agenda item

http://resubjectreview.recouncil.org.uk/re-review-report

(1)       In order to aid debate regarding the curriculum review Liz Pope brought forward her presentation about being part of the NATRE Executive. She thoroughly recommended that all teachers join the national association in order to maximise take up of the many benefits on offer to schools.

(2)       Miss Pope reminded members training bursaries for RE teachers had been reinstated and was anxious publicity need to reach the right audience.

(3)       Miss Pope informed members that she is on the teacher working group for the REC as well as a tutor for the Culham St. Gabriel’s Subject Knowledge Booster Course (SKBC) and secured funding for a Government training place-but was unable to find a recruitment to fill it.

(4)       The question “what can SACRE do to promote the RE teaching profession in Kent schools?” was posed. With such a high number of academies in Kent, Highworth Grammar School dealt with up to 70 feeder schools, a situation unique to Kent which meant it was impossible to forge close working relationships.

(5)       It was noted teaching assistants/unqualified teachers often covered qualified teachers PPA time with RE. The schools were meeting their legal obligation and Mr Foster reminded members that academies and free schools could employ unqualified staff.

6)         Ms Burke reported a crisis in recruitment of RE teachers, and Mr Foster stated this had massive implications on the re-writing of the Agreed Syllabus. He advised that SACRE would need to have great care in deciding what areas to promote and their methods of teaching.

(7)       Ms Burke reported that a worse-case scenario was a third of teaching staff being off work with stress at any one time.

(8)       On a more positive note Mrs Wigg suggested trying to encourage the use of RE texts in other subjects such as literacy, whereby the class teacher would support the TA’s work.

(9)       The Committee noted that the local authority now had less influence on some schools and discussed raising awareness of the syllabus. Mr Maddison enquired about the SACRE website; Mr Foster explained that SACRE did not have one.

(10)     Miss Pope referred to the unofficial national curriculum framework document (NCFRE) developed by the RE Council. It recommended that a good syllabus should cover four areas:

·         Nature of religion and belief

·         Christianity

·         Other faiths

·         Questions of meaning, purpose and value of human life.

(11)     The above would best constitute towards a Locally Agreed Syllabus. The previous syllabus gave a starting point, it was imperative that questions challenged teachers, giving clear direction and be practical and helpful to users.

(12)     The session concluded with a practical exercise for members and the Chairman thanked Miss Pope for her presentation and for holding the SACRE meeting at her school. SACRE agreed a donation of £100 be paid to Highworth Grammar School for expenses and hosting the meeting.

(13)     Mr Foster continued leading the debate and drew attention to the question of how best to use the three aims of the review:

·         Know about and understand a range of religions and worldviews,

·         Express ideas and insights about the nature, significance and impact of religions and worldviews

·         Gain and deploy the skills needed to engage seriously with religions and worldviews.

(14)     Mr Foster noted that he had relooked at the current Kent syllabus-REAct and considered it was still a useful starting point, having been developed from the then national framework. Members agreed it would be necessary to decide how much regard would be given to the previous document in the review and rewrite.