Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual - Online Meeting via Microsoft Teams. View directions

Contact: Steve Blagg  Democratic Services Officer

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Opening Reflections by Councillor Jackie Brockway

Minutes:

County Councillor Jackie Brockway did reflections.

2.

Apologies for Absence/Member Changes

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Tanweer Ahmed (Islamic Association of Lincoln), Peter Crosby (Baptist Church) and Lynsey Norris (Church of England).

3.

Declarations of Members' Interests

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interests made at this stage of the meeting.

4.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting of SACRE held on 26 November 2019 pdf icon PDF 231 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the previous meeting of SACRE held on 26 November 2019, be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

5.

Correspondence received by the Chairman (if any)

Minutes:

The Chairman reported that he had not received any correspondence since the previous meeting.

6.

Training Session for SACRE- Presentation pdf icon PDF 918 KB

(To receive a presentation by Wendy Harrison, RE Adviser, on the role and purpose of SACRE)

Minutes:

SACRE received a presentation from Wendy Harrison and Gillian Georgiou in connection with SACRE's responsibilities, its role and membership.

 

Wendy Harrison outlined the makeup and responsibilities of SACREs. This included legal requirements regarding RE and Collective Worship. The point was made that in some schools the law was not properly followed in relation to Collective Worship and Ofsted seemed to be inconsistent in the way it inspected it, especially in secondary schools. Gillian Georgiou made the point that Collective Worship was still valued in Church of England schools. Wendy Harrison talked about the role of SACREs in relation to academies and it was agreed that more effort was needed to ensure that Academies were represented on Lincolnshire SACRE.

 

Gillian Georgiou provided an explanation about different types of schools, including Church schools. These included voluntary controlled community schools, voluntary controlled schools with religious character (Church of England/Methodist schools) and voluntary aided schools, including some Church of England schools as well as Catholic, Muslim, etc, faith schools. Voluntary controlled schools were required to follow the Agreed Syllabus and were subject to inspection by Ofsted. Voluntary Aided schools had their own governing bodies, (Boards of Trustees in the case of academies) and were able to set their own guidelines on how RE was delivered and were subject to inspection by denominational or faith based inspectors instead of Ofsted.

 

With regard to academies these were not statutorily required to follow a locally Agreed Syllabus. Academies that were originally voluntary controlled schools could have their RE inspected as part of an Ofsted "deep dive". Academies that were originally voluntary aided schools or had been set up with voluntary aided governance had their RE inspected by denominational/faith based inspection.

 

Comments by Members and the responses of officers, included:-

 

·         Could the Diocesan Board of Education receive the presentation as there were a lot of new members? Gillian Georgiou agreed to raise this request with the Diocesan Director of Education.

·         New governors to church schools were informed about the different types of church schools when they were appointed.

·         The teaching of RE as an academic subject was updated by the Government in 2010 but this did not affect the statutory requirements required of schools. The guidance relating to Collective Worship in Circular 1/94 of the 1988 Education Act had not been updated. This had led to many schools, particularly secondary schools, not meeting the statutory requirements in relation to Collective Worship. The changes to Ofsted inspections over the years had also exacerbated the problem with collective worship increasingly being side lined. Officers stated that acts of Collective Worship were seen as anachronistic in some (CoE (deleted)) schools. It was noted that RE and Collective Worship were not the same thing but schools needed support in the way they made provision for both.

·         The point was made that a number of Roman Catholic schools were not aware of SACRE and its purpose.

·         Did the Minster School, Lincoln, receive any advice about the teaching of RE and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Summary of Ofsted Inspections of Lincolnshire Schools with Reference to Provision for Pupils' Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development (SMSC) pdf icon PDF 343 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.

 

Officers explained the "deep dive" aspect of inspections, i.e. that this was an in depth examination of a particular subject which happened during an inspection. Out of the most recent SMSC analysis, only one school had a deep dive in RE. Schools were identified for congratulatory and support letters.

 

RESOLVED

 

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

 

Alford PS

North Thoresby Primary Academy Grimsby

The St Faith and St Martin CE Junior School,Lincoln

Leslie Manser Primary School, Lincoln

The Uffingham CoE Primary School

Spalding High School

 

(b)  That Skegness Academy be sent a letter of support by the Chairman.

(c)  That officers provide a training session to Members about the new Ofsted framework, including the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) and to invite schools with good practice in RE to make a presentation at meetings of SACRE.

8.

SACRE Annual Report 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 1 MB

((To receive SACRE's Annual Report 2018/19 by Wendy Harrison, RE Adviser. Members' comments have already been sought on the report)

 

Minutes:

Wendy Harrison presented the SACRE's Annual Report 2018/19. She stated that the Report had been circulated to Members for their comments prior to today's meeting and that everyone had indicated their support.

 

Officers drew attention to the examination results locally and nationally and the point was made that since the introduction of a new grading system by the Government it was still difficult to make year by year comparisons as it was not a ‘like for like’ comparison. It was clear that girls were out-performing boys and that there was a need for the results of some secondary schools to be examined in more detail. It was agreed to seek the views of secondary school pupils about the teaching of RE in any future examination of secondary schools.

 

Wendy Harrison was thanked for producing the Report and the Chairman agreed to discuss the wider circulation of the Report with officers.

 

RESOLVED

 

(a)  That the Annual Report 2028/19 be approved.

(b)  That the recommendation in the Annual Report in connection with focussing on RE in secondary schools, be supported.

(c)  That the circulation of the report be examined by officers, in consultation, with the Chairman.

9.

RE Agreed Syllabus: North/North East Lincolnshire pdf icon PDF 204 KB

(To receive a report by Jill Chandar-Nair, Inclusion and Attendance Manager, in connection with the proposal for North/North East Lincs to purchase use of Lincolnshire RE Syllabus)

Minutes:

Jill Chander-Nair presented a report in connection with the RE Agreed Syllabus and the latest situation about sharing the Agreed Syllabus with other Local Authorities. She stated that the Lincolnshire RE Syllabus was reviewed and significantly updated in 2018 and training had been provided to schools by Wendy Harrison and Gillian Georgiou. She stated that North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire had approached the Council to see if we were prepared to share our Agreed Syllabus with them. Following an examination of the cost of training and the Agreed Syllabus with the Local Authorities concerned, North Lincolnshire Council had agreed to purchase the Syllabus and training, North East Lincolnshire Council was expected to purchase the Syllabus and confirmation was expected next week and no reply had been received from East Riding of Yorkshire to date.

 

Members welcomed the report and thanked officers for their work.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the report and update provided by officers be noted and that the continuation of the proposals detailed in the report be supported.

10.

Diocesan RE Adviser's Report

(Gillian Georgiou, Diocesan RE Adviser, has provided the following statement –

 

"During the period of lockdown, the work of the Diocesan Board of Education has been focused on supporting church schools and academies to adapt to the new educational context. The Diocesan RE Adviser has continued to support RE teachers and subject leaders where possible, via virtual training opportunities, virtual meetings and regular updates to the RE element of the Diocesan Education website")

 

Minutes:

Gillian Georgiou reported verbally in connection with the Diocesan' RE report. She stated that schools would continue to be supported as the lockdown eased.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the report be noted.

11.

Reflections at the Next Meeting

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

Minutes:

Cherry Edwards OBE agreed to do reflections at the next meeting.

12.

Date and Time of the Next Meeting - 17 November 2020

Minutes:

The date and time of the next meeting of SACRE at 2.00pm on 17 November 2020, was noted.

 

 
 
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