Agenda and minutes

1.    Mrs Younosi expressed concern that there were a number of vacancies in her Group. She also noted that some of the existing Members had not recently attended SACRE meetings. The Clerk assured the members that a membership review was ongoing and, in line with the SACRE Constitution, failure to attend 2 consecutive meetings without good reason may be deemed as ceasing to represent the appointing body.

2.    Mrs Younosi said that an individual from the Christian Science Church had expressed interest in joining SACRE as a co-opted member in Group 1. It was agreed that members required further information to determine how this would fulfil a particular role, or offer particular expertise that is not otherwise available through SACRE, before making an informed decision on the co-option.

3.    RESOLVED that the membership of the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) be noted.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 22 June 2022 were correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

1.    Mrs Smith-Orr provided an update on recent expenditure and advised SACRE members of the need for frugal spending for the rest of the financial year.

2.    In response to comments regarding the outstanding payments for the training day, Mrs Smith-Orr said she would review the invoicing.

3.    Members expressed their gratitude to the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills for her support for the revised Religious Education syllabus and agreed that the Executive Decision-Making process had demonstrated the Council’s commitment to enhance the quality of religious education in Kent schools. The Chair would formally thank the Cabinet Member for her support.

4.    RESOLVED that the budget update be noted.

1.    Mrs Smith-Orr provided an overview of the training day and said that the attendees had provided overall positive feedback. SACRE members were told that there had been a delay in sending the syllabus to Kent schools due to difficulties in locating a full contact list. However, this issue had recently been resolved. Mrs Smith-Orr would send the Clerk the syllabus to circulate to SACRE members.

2.    Mrs Smith-Orr and the SACRE members expressed their gratitude for Ms Tracy Wimble’s help in preparation for the event. It was said that Ms Wimble had gone above and beyond the call of duty and this had helped to facilitate the smooth running of the day. It was agreed that the Clerk would write to Ms Wimble to pass on the message of appreciation for this support.

3.    RESOLVED to note the verbal update.

1.    Members were asked to consider and make a judgement on the Cecil Road Primary School, St John’s Church of England Infant School and the Allington Primary School WIRE Award applications.

1.1.       Members agreed that while the Cecil Road Primary School application fulfilled the WIRE Award criteria, there were areas for improvement. It was suggested that should a future application be submitted, the impact on learning must be evidenced more clearly.

1.2.       Upon further inspection it was established that the St John’s Church of England Infant School was outside of the Kent jurisdiction. Mrs Smith-Orr would advise the applicant and refer the application to the Chairman of the Medway SACRE.

1.3.       Members unanimously agreed that the Allington Primary School application provided excellent evidence of meeting the expectations of the WIRE Award.

2.    Members agreed that given the discrepancy in the quality of the work submitted, it would be necessary to review the award criteria for the 2023/23 academic year. Suggestions for improvement included introducing a tiered award system.

3.    RESOLVED to consider and make judgement on the WIRE Award applications.

1.    Mrs Swansbury said that she had been in contact with Max Edwards regarding the appropriate host site for the films. It was suggested that SACRE create a Vimeo account and pay a small monthly fee from the SACRE budget for the necessary privacy mechanisms. Mrs Swansbury would contact the Clerk with the estimated costings.

2.    SACRE Members agreed that additional videos needed to be produced to ensure that there was broad representation of different faiths. Guidance for the production of these films would be recirculated after the formal meeting and SACRE Members were encouraged to contribute to this project.

3.    RESOLVED to note the verbal update.

1.    Mrs Younosi expressed concern that Kent SACRE, unlike many other SACREs, did not organise events for National Interfaith Week. She suggested that a Working Group of Kent SACRE be set up to organise events for National Interfaith Week in 2023. Mrs Younosi would discuss this further with the Chairman of the Council and report back to the Members at the next meeting.

2.    SACRE Members identified a number of local interfaith groups that were already hosting activities and events, such as art exhibitions, each year to mark the occasion. Therefore, it was suggested that Kent SACRE first work with the existing networks of interfaith groups to publicise these events, including through the KELSI website. To strengthen these networks, Members from the local interfaith groups would be invited to the summer meeting of Kent SACRE.

3.    RESOLVED to note the verbal update.

1.    Mrs Smith-Orr provided an update on the Kent SACRE Development Plan and highlighted to Members the achievements and progress that had been made to date. Supplementary to this, Mrs Smith-Orr informed Members that a new Development plan had been produced which set out the new priority objectives for September 2022 through to July 2023.

2.    With reference to ‘Analysis of exam results’ in the Development Plan September 2021- July 2022, Mrs Smith-Orr would contact Ms Hamilton regarding the outstanding exam results data. 

3.    With reference to ‘Continued Professional Development (CPD) for Kent schools’, SACRE Members noted that there was an opportunity for further engagement at a primary school level, particularly with state primary schools. Mrs Paddison-Chapman and Mr Shepherd would facilitate a smaller virtual network meeting for primary schools in the spring of 2023. This meeting would aim to promote best practice and increase awareness of SACRE and the WIRE award.

4.    RESOLVED to note the update and to comment on the Development Plan 2022/23.

1.    Mrs Smith-Orr introduced the draft report and confirmed that the Chairman’s comments were still to be included. SACRE Members were encouraged to notify Mrs Smith-Orr of any additional information that should be included.

2.    RESOLVED to note the update and to comment on the Draft Annual Report 2021-22.

1.    Mrs Smith-Orr told the SACRE Members that she and Miss Pope would attend a meeting with the Kent Teaching School Hub in January 2023. Feedback would be provided to SACRE Members at the next meeting.

2.    It was said that the teachers who had attended the training day on 20^th October 2022 had expressed an interest in building links with Teaching School Hubs.

3.    RESOLVED to note the verbal update.

SACRE Members were told that Janet Thompson had passed away suddenly. Members agreed that she had made a significant contribution to Religious Education and offered their condolences to her family. Mrs Smith-Orr would send a card on behalf of Kent SACRE.