Agenda and minutes

Venue: Bardney C of E and Methodist Primary School, Henry Lane, Bardney, Lincoln LN3 5XJ. View directions

Contact: Steve Blagg  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

18.

Opening Reflections by Gillian Georgiou

Minutes:

Gillian Georgiou gave the opening reflections.

19.

Bardney CofE and Methodist Primary School - Elizabeth Moore

Minutes:

Elizabeth Moore and Garth Hicks, Executive Head Teacher, outlined the history of Bardney CoE and Methodist Primary School. They stated that the school used to be in special measures but was now classed as a "Good School" by Ofsted. The school was outstanding as a Church school and received support from the Diocese and Methodist Church. The school took religious education seriously and they could request their RE was looked at by a Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) and as a "deep dive" of the curriculum by Ofsted. There last SIAMS was in 2016.

 

Officers explained the purpose of a "deep dive" which involved Ofsted in its inspection ensuring that the curriculum was at the heart of the quality of education on offer by the school. Any Voluntary Controlled and Church School could request a "deep dive" but Voluntary Aided schools were unable to have a "deep dive" because standards in RE were inspected by the denominational authority as part of a SIAMS inspection.

 

The Chairman, on behalf of SACRE, thanked Elizabeth and Garth for their hospitality and for hosting the meeting.

 

 

20.

Election of Chairman

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

          That Chris Burke be elected Chairman of SACRE for the year 2019/20.

21.

Election of Vice-Chairman

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

          That Cherry Edwards OBE be elected Vice-Chairman of SACRE for 2019/20.

22.

Apologies for Absence/Member Changes

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Tanweer Ahmed (Islamic Association of Lincoln), Amanda Grant (Jewish Community), Claire Simons (Salvation Army), David Clements (Church of England), Mark Plater (Church of England), Kay Sutherland (NAHT), Catherine Williamson (NASUWT, Secondary Schools), Councillor Bob Adams (Lincolnshire County Council), Councillor Mark Whittington (Lincolnshire County Council) and Jack Dryden (Humanist, Co-opted Member).

23.

Declarations of Members' Interests

Minutes:

No declarations of interests were made at this stage of the meeting.

24.

Welcome to New Members - Sian Wade, Pentecostal Church and Lynsey Norris, Church of England

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Sian Wade (Pentecostal Church) and Lynsey Norris (Church of England) to their first meeting of SACRE.

25.

Welcome to Roxanne Fearns Davies

(Roxie Fearns, is Head of Religious Studies at Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School. She will give a brief talk about her role as a RE SLE (Specialist Leader in Education), supporting schools around Lincolnshire to deliver high quality RE)

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Mrs Roxanne Fearns-Davies (Head of Religious Studies and Philosophy, Head of Transition/ITT (Initial Teacher Training) and NQT Co-ordinator (SLE (Specialist Teacher of Education)/RE Quality Mark Assessor), Lincoln Christ's Hospital School, Lincoln, to the meeting.

 

Roxanne gave a brief outline of her responsibilities at the school adding that many pupils in her school took the RE at GCSE and A level and the results were above average. In her role she was responsible for sharing good practice in schools and supporting departments where there were non-specialists. She assisted schools in applying for the RE Quality Mark, explaining the implications of the change in thinking by Ofsted regarding "deep dives" which involved an intensive examination of RE in secondary schools. She asked SACRE to investigate how much time had been allocated for RE in schools and the effect of the non-teaching of RE on children and whether academies were unaware of the existence of SACRE?

 

Gillian Georgiou outlined what SACRE could do to support schools, whether primary or secondary, which were not complying with the RE curriculum with particular issues identified at Key Stages 2 and 3. Roxanne Fearns-Davis stated that the teaching of RE in primary schools was on the whole satisfactory and explained that Year 7 pupils now had improved knowledge of Christianity but the understanding of other religions did not meet the requirements of the curriculum. The Lincolnshire syllabus required Christianity, Hinduism and Islam.

 

Comments by members included improving teachers' knowledge of other religions as well as Christianity; the increased interest by children in the Quakers; the teaching of different aspects of religions, e.g. Sunni and Shia in Islam; the need to assess the impact of RE on the beliefs and lives of children; the need to exam why some children were resistant to being taught RE which might come from parental ignorance and the shortage of RE teaching specialists.

 

Members agreed that since the creation of academies SACRE had a role in ensuring that the teaching of RE was taking place, that schools were aware of the changes to Ofsted inspections particularly the "deep dive" approach and that SACRE was interested to know the effects of the changes particularly on academies.

 

It was agreed that the Chairman, in consultation with officers, should examine the creation of a website for SACRE.

26.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting of SACRE held on 16 July 2019 pdf icon PDF 133 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 16 July, 2019, be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

27.

Correspondence Received by the Chairman (if any)

Minutes:

The Chairman had no correspondence to report on since the previous meeting.

28.

Annual Review of Membership of SACRE

(SACRE is required under its Constitution to annually review its' membership. Some of the vacancies have recently been filled. SACRE's membership is detailed on the agenda)

Minutes:

In accordance with the requirements of its constitution, SACRE was required to review its membership annually.

 

It was agreed that the Quakers should be approached to see if they were interesting in becoming a member of SACRE. It was thought that a group representing this community existed at the University of Lincoln. The Clerk stated that he had approached the secretary of the Lincolnshire branch of the Quakers to seek a replacement when Chris Rose had to resign due to work pressures and it had not been possible to find a replacement.

 

The non-attendance of members at meetings was raised and it was agreed that the Clerk should examine attendance at meetings by members.

 

A teacher representative stated that teacher representation on SACRE should be generic and based on an interest in the work of SACRE and not whether each teaching professional association was represented.

 

(Post meeting note: SACRE's constitution states that "the six teaching professional associations recognised by the LA should each nominate one member").

 

RESOLVED

 

(a)  That the SACRE's current membership be noted and that the Clerk be asked to investigate whether there is a Quaker group at the University of Lincoln, which would like to be represented on SACRE

(b)  That non-attendance by members of SACRE be investigated by the Clerk.

29.

Summary of Ofsted Inspections of Lincolnshire Schools with Reference to Provision for Pupils' Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development (SMSC) pdf icon PDF 537 KB

(To receive a report by Wendy Harrison, RE Adviser, summarising Ofsted Inspections with reference to SMSC since the previous meeting)

Minutes:

SACRE considered a report from Wendy Harrison which summarised inspectors' judgements on SMSC, including British values, in those schools inspected by Ofsted since the last report prepared for SACRE.

 

RESOLVED

 

(a)  That the following schools receive a letter from the Chairman congratulating them on the positive remarks made by the inspectors:-

 

Manor Farm Academy, North Hykeham – In addition, Wendy Harrison was asked to write to the school to seek more information about the "tolerance programme".

 

The Pinchbeck East CE Primary, Spalding

Frances Olive Anderson Primary, Gainsborough

Weston St Mary CE Primary, Spalding

 

(b)  That the following schools receive a letter from the Chairman offering support:-

 

Theddlethorpe Primary, Mablethorpe

Osgodby Primary, Market Rasen

St Paul's Community Primary, Spalding

 

(c)  That Wendy Harrison seek further details from the Woodlands Infant School, Lincoln on what is meant by the phrase "growing awareness" stated in the inspector's report.

 

(d)  That, in respect of the St John's West Grantham Academy, Wendy Harrison and Gillian Georgiou consider the appropriate course of action to take in connection with this school.

 

 

 

            

 

30.

Training Session for SACRE

(Wendy Harrison, RE Adviser, will provide training to members on SACRE's role supported by Gillian Georgiou, Diocesan RE Adviser, who will provide information on the role of the Diocese in SACRE)

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That this item be deferred to the next meeting of SACRE.

31.

Diocesan RE Adviser's Report pdf icon PDF 103 KB

(To receive a report from Gillian Georgiou, Diocesan RE Adviser, in connection with work undertaken in the Diocese since the previous meeting)

Minutes:

SACRE considered a report by Gillian Georgiou in connection with work being carried out by the Diocese. Gillian Georgiou drew attention to the new Ofsted Educational Inspection Framework and the new Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools which was the inspection of church schools. She stated that many schools had requested support in thinking about how to incorporate RE as a part of the broad and balanced curriculum.

 

Gillian Georgiou stated that she had also reworked the suggested teaching and learning materials available on the Members' area of the Diocese's website to reflect the fact that the Lincolnshire locally agreed syllabus had been in place for one academic year.

 

Gillian Georgiou stated that she continued to work with Wendy Harrison to ensure that the RE curriculum was being implemented.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the report be noted.

32.

Reflections at the Next Meeting

(A volunteer is sought to do reflections at the next meeting)

Minutes:

Councillor Jackie Brockway agreed to do reflections at the next meeting.

33.

Dates and Times of Future Meetings

(The views of members are sought on the dates and times of future meetings of SACRE in 2020. There are normally three meetings a year and it is suggested that they are arranged in March, July and November (AGM))

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the following dates and times of future meetings of SACRE be agreed:-

 

10 March 2020

16 June 2020

17 November 2020

 

Meetings to start at 2.00pm

 

(Post meeting note: The date of 16 June 2020 is still under review as Wendy Harrison, RE Advisor, is unable to attend)

 

 
 
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