Agenda and minutes

In the absence of the Chairman at the start of the meeting, Mrs Younosi chaired the meeting in her capacity as Vice-Chairman.

Apologies had been received from Ms Brownfield, Mrs Wigg, Miss Walters, Mrs Roddan and Ms Burke.

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 8 March 2022 were correctly recorded and they be signed by the Chairman.

The Vice Chair welcomed Mrs Michelle Lawson, the Headteacher of Wilmington Grammar School for Girls, as a guest to the meeting.

The Vice Chair welcomed the appointment of Ms S Hamilton, Deputy Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, onto SACRE.

Further to a Membership review conducted earlier in the year, Members were asked to agree the appointment of Miss Elizabeth (Liz) Pope as a co-opted member for another two-year term. There was unanimous agreement on the extension of Miss Pope’s co-option in Group 3.

RESOLVED to agree the co-option extension and to note the membership of the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE).

SACRE Members discussed Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the updated SACRE self-evaluation tool and agreed to the ratings of the key areas. The tool had been created to help SACREs in their role to advise the Local Authority (LA) in meeting the entitlement of pupils across the LA to engage in high quality Religious Education (RE) and Collective Worship (CW) and to support the LA to reflect on its practice.

The areas identified as needing improvement were to be included in the future development plan.

RESOLVED to make a set of recommendations for SACRE to action.

Members were reminded that for 2022, the approach had been amended to include a specific Executive Decision by the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills to better evidence the full process for developing and adopting a Locally Agreed Syllabus. In May 2022 the Agreed Syllabus Conference came to a unanimous agreement to recommend to the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills the licence renewal of the RE Today syllabus A+ for a further five years. The decision was due to be taken at the end of June 2022, and at that point schools could be informed. 

Mrs Smith-Orr provided an update on the new units which had been confirmed as Key Stage 2.

RESOLVED to note the verbal update and to approve the minutes as a correct record and that they be signed by the chairman.

Miss Pope gave a verbal update on the work that had been undertaken to develop links with teaching school hubs. It was said that teaching school hubs were designed to provide high-quality professional development to teachers at all stages of their careers. It was highlighted that, given the size of Kent and the changes in the educational landscape, it was important for Kent SACRE to adjust to the bigger picture of Religious Education.

Miss Pope told the Members that links had already been developed with other key stakeholders, including the Medway SACRE. Although she was still awaiting further contact from some parties, there was an overall positive response and willingness to work together moving forward.

In response to questions from Members, it was said that further work was required to raise awareness about RE training opportunities for early career teachers (ECT). Members agreed that RE training for ECTs would be a key area for inclusion in the 2022-23 development plan.

RESOLVED to note the verbal update.  

Members were asked to consider and make a judgement on the St Peter-in-Thanet CE Juniors and the Reculver Church of England Primary School Wire Award applications. Mrs Paddison endorsed the St Peter-in-Thanet CE Juniors application and Members commended the children’s work. Ms Burke endorsed the Reculver Church of England Primary School.

It was agreed that Mrs Paddison would present the certificate to St Peter-in-Thanet CE Juniors and Mrs Naden would present the certificate to Reculver Church of England Primary School.

RESOLVED to consider and make a judgement on the St Peter-in-Thanet CE Juniors and the Reculver Church of England Primary School Wire Award applications.

It was agreed that Mrs Swansbury would email Max Edwards about hosting the Films for Schools on the Kent YouTube page. It was suggested that the link to the films be provided with the new syllabus.

RESOLVED to note the verbal update.

Mrs Smith-Orr provided a verbal summary of the keynote speeches given at the conference. Members were reminded that a summary of the conference was available on the NASACRE website. SACRE Members who had attended the conference virtually from Sessions House gave positive feedback on the arrangements.

Mrs Younosi provided a brief verbal summary of the workshops she had attended, including one on World Views as a methodology to teach RE. The Chair said that the workshops encouraged SACREs to think more deeply about the issues around curriculum setting and achieving high quality RE.

With reference to the Review of the Performance of Religious Education Report Card, Mrs Smith-Orr highlighted the comment from a Year 10 pupil that “RE is the one time in school where you can talk, listen and try to make sense of people, events and beliefs in the world”. Members were encouraged to critically consider the Report Card.

SACRE Members raised concern regarding the lack of primary school comments on the Report Card. It was said that, as primary teachers were differently qualified and required different training, there was a perceived secondary bias in the document.

RESOLVED to note the verbal update.

Mrs Smith-Orr confirmed that RE teacher training would take place with RE Today on 20^th October 2022 and that four trainers had been booked. The proposed venue would have the capacity to host the attendees across two different areas. Mrs Smith-Orr was in contact with the Education People regarding costings and it was confirmed that schools would be charged a small fee.

In response to questions from Members it was said that there was an ongoing discussion with RE Today about the scope and focus of the training. Members agreed that further information was required about whether the new teaching units would be available by this date.

Members agreed that Mrs Smith-Orr could continue to make the necessary arrangements with RE Today on behalf of Kent SACRE.

RESOLVED to note the verbal update.

10.00am Thursday 24 November 2022

10.00am Thursday 2 March 2023

10.00am Thursday 15 June 2023

RESOLVED to note the future meeting dates.