Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Ms Brownfield, Ms Hitch, Miss Pope and Ms Williams.

There were no declarations of interests.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2024 were correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chair.

1. Mrs Smith-Orr provided her update and noted that she was still being approached by schools for a copy of the Kent RE Syllabus.

2.During consideration of the item, the following points were noted:

• Ms Pope and Ms Ralph were assisting with the organisation the Kent Teachers Event.  It was expected to take place on 26 or 30 September.
• Details of the Event would be advertised on the KELSI website.
• Mrs Smith-Ore would look into inviting a representative from RE Today to attend the Event, who could deliver a training session.

3.RESOLVED that the update was noted.

1. Mrs Smith-Orr advised that the Local Network Groups had continued to meet and were becoming increasingly well attended as they became more embedded.

2.During consideration of the item it was noted that:

• The Kent Teachers Event could be used to promote the benefit of the Local Network Group meetings to teachers.
• The Groups could invite representatives from external organisations which would help to form partnerships within the community.
• Members thanked those involved in running the Groups and noted that they helped to promote the work of SACRE.

3.   RESOLVED that the update was noted.

1. Mrs Smith-Orr introduced the Plan and advised that, as the year drew to a close, it showed the progress to date. She added that she would be working on the Plan for 2024-2025 and would welcome input from SACRE members.

2.During consideration of the item it was noted that:

·   Exam results had not been released by the Department for Education.

·   The ‘Support of high quality continuing professional development’ row should be updated to detail how the Local Network Groups were going and note the planned Kent Teachers Event.

·   The Kent Teachers Event would provide a good opportunity to further publicise the WIRE Award. 

·   There was a document on KELSI that outlined the best practice for collective worship, with ideas and resources.  The law required collective worship to take place every day.   This could be as a class, a year group or other group and did not require a whole school assembly.

·   A short four or five question survey would be sent to headteachers to assess the extent that collective worship was taking place within schools.

3.       RESOLVED to note the Development Plan.

1.Mrs Smith-Orr advised that the Review took place every couple of years and helped to direct the Development Plan. 

2. During consideration of the item SACRE members considered each key area and agreed the following updates:

1.a: Advanced.

1.b:Established; there was the intention to hold the June 2025 meeting at a non-Council venue.

1.c:Established.

1.d: Established.

1.e:Developing.

1.f: Established.

1.g:Established; there was anecdotal evidence that some Ofsted inspectors were questioning why schools were using the Kent Syllabus and encouraging schools to consider alternative RE syllabi.  Mrs Smith-Orr would speak to other RE Advisers to see if they had come across this.

2.a:Established.

2.b:Requires Improvement.

2.c: Developing.

2.d:Established; Ms Hamilton offered to provide Mrs Smith-Orr with a contact list for the schools in the area.

2.e: Developing.

Section three would be updated when the Kent Syllabus was updated.

4.a: Established.

4.b: Developing.

4.c: Advanced.

5.a: Established.

5.b:Advanced.

5.c:Advanced.

5.d:Developing.

3. RESOLVED that the Self Evaluation be updated as agreed.

Deep and meaningful? The religious education subject report - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

National Content Standard for RE for England – 1st Edition – 2023 – REC (religiouseducationcouncil.org.uk)

1. Mrs Smith-Orr advised that the Ofsted Report had five key findings that she summarised.  During consideration of the Report it was noted that:

• The DFE needed to update its guidance to schools on RE and collective worship.
• The Kent Syllabus was robust and secure in its purpose.  It was expected that the Syllabus would contain more world view content in future iterations. 
• The Report suggested that there was a failing to identify the subtleties of religion, and that one persons’ idea of religion was not the same as someone else’s.

2.       Mrs Smith-Orr introduced the National Content Standard for RE from the RE Council.  It was felt that lots of the guidance was already being done by conscientious teachers.  They were trying to achieve the ideals identified by the RE Council.

3.       RESOLVED to note the Ofsted RE Report and RE Council National Standards update.

1. The Chairman advised that Ms Williams had attended the Conference on behalf of Kent SACRE.  She produced a report with key points and links to further information.  Mr Clapson would circulate the report after the meeting.

2. Thanks were offered to Ms Williams for her attendance.

1.Mrs Smith-Orr advised that the payments for the Kent Teachers Event were expected to be made in September.  This would be for venue hire, the cost of refreshments and for an RE Today speaker. 

2.RESOLVED that the Budget update was noted.

1.Mrs Smith-Orr advised that she believe a number of schools were collating information for submission. Once received, the submissions would be circulated for consideration outside of the scheduled meeting cycle so that successful schools did not have a significant wait for the presentation of their award.

2. RESOLVED that the Wire Awards update was noted.

1. Mrs Lawson highlighted that SACRE members maybe interested in the Science and Religion Forum.  Details about the Forum can be found here: The Science and Religion Forum (srforum.org)

2. Mrs Smith-Orr asked SACRE members to get in touch if they were planning an event for Inter Faith Week during 10-17 November. She offered to advertise the event on the KELSI website.