Agenda item

1.         Primary SACRE Event

Mrs Corbyn stated that the Primary SACRE event had been scheduled for 18 October. The speakers had been lined up and the venue booked.  The information and booking details had been sent out via KELSI to schools, but take-up had been low.  Church schools had been written to separately. Seven schools had booked on to the day, six of which were Church of England Schools.  Feedback indicated that October had not been a good time of year for the event, as it was quite early in the new school year.

Mrs Corbyn proposed that the event be re-organised for 5 July 2017 at Highworth School, using the same model for the day.  It was important to promote the event to community schools.

A discussion took place around communicating the event to schools. The following points were made:

·         Schools needed to receive hard copies of documents, as teachers did not have time to read online bulletins etc.

·         It was more expensive to send a letter compared with sending an email, putting pressure on budgets. It was KCC policy to do things electronically.

·         It was possible to send hard copy invitation letters to a third of schools, using the SACRE budget, but it would not be possible to mail all 700 schools.

·         An up to date database to send mailings to was not available.

·         Could KCC Area Education Officers be asked to promote the event?

·         It was important that all schools were informed, and no areas were left out. 

·         It was vital that the event was a success, so that word would spread.

·         Mailings could be addressed to the Chair of Governors.

·         Mailings needed to go out in advance to give plenty of notice of the event.

It was agreed that hard copy mailings go out to Mid Kent schools, funded by SACRE budgets, and addressed to the Chair of Governors.

2.         Secondary Youth SACRE event

Mrs Grant advised that the Secondary event had been scheduled for 9 November.  Publicity for the event had been sent out in June and September, both in hard copy format addressed to Head Teachers.  There had not been any response, and therefore no feedback as to why the take up was low.

Mrs Grant suggested that the event could be run as a roadshow, visiting schools, perhaps targeting a particular area.  The event could be made more interactive, with music etc.  This could be more appealing for schools, as it would save them having to arrange transport to an organised event.

A discussion took place and the following points were made:

·         The roadshow could be broken down into areas.

·         KCC ran a graduate programme, and a roadshow would benefit from a dynamic individual such as a graduate to organise it. 

·         A roadshow would be a huge amount of work, and SACRE’s priority should be the syllabus and raising the profile of RE in the classroom.

·         It was important to ensure different faiths were being projected in the correct way in schools, and SACRE needed to be proactive to ensure this.

·         A roadshow would need funding and a facilitator.

·         Young people could be invited to SACRE from local schools such as Oakwood, and asked what they wanted to get out of RE.

It was agreed that there be an item added to the agenda for the next meeting on how best to move forward on the secondary event.

3.         RE Teachers hub

            In Mrs Pope’s absence, it was agreed that the item be deferred.

4.         Religious Education Quality Mark and funding

Mr Foster confirmed that details about the REQM award was available on the website, at reqm.org.

In response to a question from a SACRE Member, he stated that schools wanting to apply for SACRE funding to achieve the REQM would need to write to the Chairman of SACRE.  Details about this had previously been circulated in the KELSI bulletin, and could be republished in the new financial year.

Rabbi Cohen raised concerns that the schools who had received funding in 2014/15 had not yet achieved the REQM.  Mrs Corbyn responded that it did take a while to put together the application for the REQM. 

The following points were discussed:

·         It was noted that three of the schools in Kent who had achieved the REQM had done so without any funding assistance.

·         Should SACRE be providing the funding if schools were capable of achieving the award without it?

·         It was pointed out that SACRE supported schools with only part of the funding required to achieve REQM.

·         Some follow up with schools who had received funding was needed.

SACRE members noted the list of awards received, and the list of schools funded.

5.         NASACRE constitution

It was agreed that the proposed constitution be adopted.