Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room One, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YL

Contact: Judith Gilbert  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

18.

Opening Reflections to be delivered by Professor B Winston

Minutes:

SACRE received no Opening Reflections as Professor B Winston had given his late apologies.

19.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Dr T Ahmed (Islamic Association of Lincoln); Councillor Mrs J Brockway; Mr C Burke (Roman Catholic); Mrs C Dring (Baptist Church); Councillor C L Strange; Mrs C A Williamson (Secondary Schools) and Professor B Winston (Lincolnshire Jewish Community).

20.

Declarations of Members' Interests

Minutes:

There were no declarations of Members' interests received.

21.

Minutes from the previous meeting held on the 11 November 2014 pdf icon PDF 158 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the Minutes of the Meeting held on the 11 November 2014 were agreed as a correct record subject to the following amendment from those present on Page 1 of the Minutes:

 

          "Mark Plater (Bishop Grosseteste University)". 

 

          It was noted that Bishop Grosseteste no longer was a University College and therefore the word "College" be deleted.

22.

Matters Arising from the Minutes of the Meeting held on the 11 November 2014

·    Religious Education Quality Mark – (Wendy Harrison to update SACRE)

·    Continued Professional Development – (Wendy Harrison to update SACRE)

Minutes:

Wendy Harrison updated SACRE on the following items:

 

(a)     Religious Education Quality Mark

 

It was noted that schools could apply for this Award at Gold, Silver and Bronze level.  It was observed that there was an electronic map available showing the schools which had achieved this Quality Mark already.  However, this was not always kept up-to-date so was not completely accurate.

 

Wendy reported that she would be working as an Assessor for the Religious Education Quality Mark, and an explanation of what was involved in achieving this recognition would be discussed at a future meeting.  She explained to SACRE that it was important that the REQM assessment was not made in an inspectorial way.  The role of the Assessor was to help and support the school and to look at the evidence of what had been achieved.  It was not a requirement for schools to send information to the Assessor in advance. 

 

(b)     Continued Professional Development

 

It was noted that Elizabeth Moore had been informed that her application for a Fellowship to the Farmington Institute had been accepted and SACRE offered their help and support to Elizabeth. 

 

It was noted that centralised RE training had been delivered by Wendy Harrison throughout the year.  Courses for RE subject co-ordinators and non-specialists were well attended and received.  More courses would be made available during 2015/16.  It was suggested that members of SACRE could attend the training sessions if they wished and Wendy Harrison would make the details available to all members.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That the verbal report be noted.

 

23.

Chairman's Correspondence/Report

(To receive a verbal update from the Chairman on information received since the last meeting of SACRE)

Minutes:

(a)     The Chairman reported that the date for the next SACRE meeting would be held on Tuesday 23 June 2015 and NOT Thursday 25 June 2015 as previously arranged in order to avoid a clash of dates with the Lincolnshire Show.

 

(b)     It was reported that a vacancy still remained on SACRE for a representative from the United Reform Church.

 

(c)     Mark Plater, Bishop Grosseteste University, circulated to SACRE a draft questionnaire for completion at the end of the meeting.  SACRE members were asked to feedback how easy and understandable the questionnaire was to complete and whether or not they felt that questions were too intrusive.  The final version of the questionnaire would be launched at the NASACRE AGM on the 22 April 2015.  It was felt that teachers of Religious Education should be asked to complete the draft questionnaire also.

 

(d)     Mark Plater, Bishop Grosseteste University, circulated a flyer advertising Lincs RE Hub which was a meeting for all Religious Education enthusiasts in the region which would be taking place on Tuesday 21 April 2015 at 4.15 pm at Bishop Grosseteste.  Attendance would be free of charge.

 

(e)  The Chairman reported that a letter had been sent by Lord Nash to all SACRE Chairs informing them of the importance of the work of SACRE's and the place of RE in schools.  The Government were currently implementing a new bursary scheme to attract new teachers to RE studies.  It was noted that fifteen places were available at Bishop Grosseteste University and only four places had been filled.  It was reported that the 2014 Religious Studies national results were slightly lower than 2013.  SACRE would have sight of Lincolnshire Schools' examinational results prior to the next meeting when they would receive the 2013/14 Annual Report.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That the verbal reports be noted.

24.

Gillian Georgiou, Diocesan and Cathedral Religious Education Adviser

·    Diversity Day, Swineshead

·    Conference Arrangements – 18 November 2015

Minutes:

Gillian Georgiou, Diocesan and Cathedral Religious Education Adviser thanked members of SACRE who had attended the recent Diversity Day at Swineshead Church of England School near Boston. 

 

The school had been experiencing high levels of Islamophobia and therefore needed to promote aspects of different faiths in order to bring the local community together and to raise parents' awareness of the issues.  The event focussed on listening, learning, tasting and touching techniques.  All parents were invited to attend the Diversity Day many of which had not come into contact with people from different religious backgrounds before that day.  The event was held after school and very good feedback had been received from the parents.  Parents were encouraged to sign a school visitors' book and to make observations on the event.  It was suggested that the work of the Swineshead Church of England School needed to be promoted to encourage other schools who felt that they could benefit from holding a similar event. 

 

It was reported that the Diocese would be working with Swineshead school during Inter-faith week. 

 

It was noted that speakers for the forthcoming Conference to be held on the 18 November 2015 were being finalised along with the budget available to hold the event.  It was also reported that SACRE would need to know the cost of their budget, as during the course of the year, the RE syllabus would have to be reviewed which would have a significant cost implication.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That the report be noted.

25.

Summary of Ofsted Inspections of Lincolnshire Schools with reference to the provision for Pupils' Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development pdf icon PDF 92 KB

(SACRE to receive and comment upon an analysis of pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural developments in schools)

Minutes:

SACRE received an analysis of SMSC in Ofsted reports for Lincolnshire.  It was noted that the comments included in the report were now more detailed, as the Inspectors were now required to incorporate British values into their judgements, as well as how effective schools were at preparing pupils for life in a modern Britain.

 

It was advised that schools were being encouraged to invite speakers into the classroom to speak to children about different faiths. 

 

SACRE agreed to write letters of praise to the following schools:-

 

Friskney All Saints Church of England Primary School

St Bartholomews Church of England Primary School, Spalding

Digby Church of England Primary School, Lincoln

Boston High School, Boston

Fortuna School, Lincoln

 

It was agreed that a letter be sent to the Gainsborough Hillcrest School offering to provide the school with any support needed.  A congratulatory letter be sent also to the Gainsborough Academy where it was noted that students' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development was now a strength of the school.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That the report be noted.

26.

Agreed Syllabus

(SACRE to receive an update on the Agreed Syllabus Review)

Minutes:

It was reported that the five yearly review of the Lincolnshire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education would begin during the summer term 2015.  This Syllabus would then be used by schools from 2017.  It was noted that this review would be time-consuming so it was important that preparation commence during the summer months.  SACRE would be kept updated with regard to the progress made.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That the verbal report be noted.

27.

National Local Updates

(To receive an update regarding training for SACRE members)

Minutes:

Due to the number of members absent from the meeting, it was proposed that the presentation to SACRE on "Religious Education, Collective Worship and British Values" be postponed until the next meeting when hopefully more members would attend.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That the presentation be given to the next SACRE meeting to be held on the 23 June 2015.

28.

Diocese of Lincoln - Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (Section 48)

(SACRE to receive and comment upon the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools, Section 48, if available)

Minutes:

The Section 48 Inspection grades between Autumn 2014 and Spring 2015 were tabled to SACRE.  It was noted that many schools had achieved a good level of improvement whilst the majority had done well to maintain a consistent level.  One school whose progress had declined had unfortunately not realised that there was an updated inspection framework to work to and had worked to the previous one and this had affected the outcomes.  Another school whose progress had declined had a very unsettled time with changes of Headships and there were some things which still had to be improved within the school in order to receive an "outstanding" rating.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That the report be noted.

29.

Date of next Meeting - Tuesday 23 June 2015 - 2 pm

Minutes:

The Chairman reported the following:

 

(a)     It was reported that the SACRE Constitution would hopefully be presented to Council on the 15 May 2015 and that the Legal Team were currently working on this.

 

(b)     Mrs L Gaylard kindly offered to deliver the opening reflections for the next meeting.

 

(c)     Representatives from Bishop King School would be attending the next SACRE meeting.

 

(d)     SACRE members were reminded to complete the questionnaires at the end of the meeting.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That the next SACRE meeting be held on Tuesday 23 June 2015 at 2 pm.

 

 

 
 
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