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 Cherry Edwards OBE

Minutes:

Cherry Edwards OBE did reflections.

2.

Election of Chairman

Minutes:

On a motion by Councillor B Adams, seconded by Councillor Mrs J Brockway, it was –

 

RESOLVED

 

That Chris Burke be elected Chairman of SACRE until the AGM in November 2021.

 

Chris Burke thanked members and officers for their continued support.

3.

Election of Vice-Chairman

Minutes:

On a motion by Amanda Grant, seconded by Mark Plater, it was –

 

RESOLVED

 

That Cherry Edwards OBE be elected Vice-Chairman of SACRE until the AGM in November 2021.

4.

Apologies for Absence/Member Changes

(Since the last meeting Kay Sutherland, a teacher representative, has retired. Jenni King, Head of RE at Welton William Farr School has been appointed as a teacher representative and Jayne Watson, Headteacher at Gonerby Hill Foot CoE Primary School, Grantham, is in the process of being appointed to SACRE)

Minutes:

No apologies for absence were received.

 

 

With regard to the membership changes on SACRE, the Chairman placed on record his appreciation for the contribution made by Kay Sutherland, a NAHT representative, who had recently retired from SACRE.

 

The Chairman welcomed Jenni King, Head of RE at Welton William Farr CoE School and Jayne Watson, Headteacher of Gonerby Hill Foot CoE Primary School, Grantham, who had been appointed as teacher representatives on Committee C of SACRE. He also welcomed Sian Wade from the Assemblies of God Pentecostal Church, who had been appointed to Committee A of SACRE.

 

The Chairman sought the views of members on the future location of SACRE meetings and highlighted the very good meeting held at the Lincoln Mosque. Members supported holding meetings at different venues in the future.

 

The Chairman suggested inviting a guest speaker or even asking a member of SACRE to speak at meetings about their faith. Officers considered this a good idea but agreed that it was important for any speaker to support the purpose and aims of SACRE in relation to schools.

 

 

 

5.

Declarations of Members' Interests

Minutes:

No declarations were made at this stage of the meeting.

6.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting of SACRE held on 23 June 2020 pdf icon PDF 240 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 23 June 2020, be approved as a correct record, subject to the deletion of "CoE" in bullet point 3, paragraph 5 (minute 6).

 

Further to an enquiry about whether the Diocesan Board of Education had received the presentation in connection with SACRE's role, responsibilities and membership, Gillian Georgiou stated that this matter had been raised with the Diocesan Director of Education (minute 6) but she had no responsibility for what items appeared on Board meeting agendas.

7.

Correspondence received by the Chairman (if any)

(The Chairman has not received any correspondence since the previous meeting)

Minutes:

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

8.

Annual Review of SACRE's Membership

(The Constitution requires an annual review of SACRE's membership. The current membership is shown on the agenda)

Minutes:

In accordance with SACRE's Constitution, the current membership of SACRE was reviewed. It was noted there were two vacancies on Committee A, one vacancy on Committee B, which was to be considered by the Lincoln Diocesan Board of Education, one vacancy on Committee C and one vacancy on Committee D.

 

A member enquired whether younger people could be appointed to SACRE as some time ago SACRE had established youth SACREs which ran alongside the main SACRE. Councillor Jackie Brockway suggested that Peter Walton from Saxilby might be approached to become a member of SACRE. It was agreed that Councillor Jackie Brockway should provide more details about Peter Walton before an approach was made.  A Youth SACRE could be a very positive move forward but some concerns were expressed regarding the time that would be required for this to be set up and maintained.

 

It was noted that the Humanist co-opted member had not attended a meeting or given his apologies for some time and Wendy Harrison agreed to investigate his non-attendance.

 

RESOLVED

 

(a)  That the membership of SACRE be noted.

(b)  That members be asked for their help to fill the various vacancies.

(c)  That officers examine the comments raised by members.

 

9.

Effects of Covid-19 on Schools

(To receive a verbal update from members and officers on the effects of Covid-19 on schools)

Minutes:

(Note: Jayne Watson and Tanweer Ahmed left the meeting)

 

SACRE received verbal updates on the effects of Covid-19 on schools, particularly RE.

 

Comments were noted as follows:-

 

·         An example was given of a federated school which comprised a small school of 30 pupils and a larger school of 230 pupils. Covid-19 had had little impact on the small school where it had not been necessary to have a staggered school day. The larger school had been affected more and it had been necessary to introduce a staggered school day with different start and finish times, the need to avoid families dropping pupils off at different times and the use of house teams which had been successful. There had been an impact on the school day with half an hour required to allow pupils in to school and half an hour required to allow pupils to exit school. Every attempt was being made to give a broad curriculum to pupils, including RE.

·         An example was given of the effects of Covid-19 on a large comprehensive school. Virtual teaching was successful but access to visiting speakers and trips to enhance the curriculum had not been possible. The staggered school day kept students within their bubbles with some success. It had been possible for teachers to teach their subject areas which compared to colleagues elsewhere was a real blessing  but the staggered school day led to difficult changeover times with noise and disruption. The department had been well supported by the Senior Leadership Team.

·         One of the themes in current Ofsted inspections/monitoring visits was whether a school had a broad curriculum and if this was not the case what plans did the school have of delivering this. This was welcomed by members as it suggested that Ofsted was not expecting schools to just concentrate on the core subjects.

·         There could be negative effects on a school if members of the teaching staff tested positive for Covid-19 and some schools could incur extra costs to employ cover. These extra costs were being raised with the Government.

·         The increased use of ICT for home teaching was welcomed.

 

It was agreed that the effects of Covid-19 on schools should be placed on the agenda for the next meeting.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the comments made by members be noted and that this matter be placed on the agenda for the next meeting.

 

10.

Update on the Education Inspection Framework 2019 and the implications for RE pdf icon PDF 2 MB

(To receive a presentation from Wendy Harrison, RE Adviser, on the new Ofsted Framework. (Note: There have not been any OFSTED inspections of Lincolnshire schools with reference to provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and culture development since the Covid-19 crisis started))

Additional documents:

Minutes:

(Note: Claire Simons joined the meeting)

 

SACRE received a presentation from Wendy Harrison in connection the new Education Inspection Framework 2019 and the implications for RE.

 

The following issues were highlighted:-

 

·    In the past there had been an emphasis on the collection of data for Maths and English to form a basis of judgement. This was often to the detriment of other subjects.

·    The 2019 Education Inspection Framework showed a move towards inspecting the wider curriculum and a focus on the three "Is" ("intent, implementation and impact") and from all of the available evidence inspectors were able to evaluate – "What is it like to attend this school?"

·    The new inspection process was explained. It included more involvement of subject leaders than previously.  

·    The new framework could be good for RE as inspectors were reporting on compliance and where improvements were required. Even when a deep dive was not carried out in RE, any lack of provision would be followed up. It was possible that headteachers might provide subject leaders with more and more non-contact time to support their work.

·    The process of a deep dive in different types of Church schools was explained.

·    An example of a report based on the new framework was provided.

 

Comments by members and officers included noting the use of short sentences in inspector's reports, the lack of depth and the likelihood that Covid-19 could affect the restart of inspections in January 2021.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the presentation and comments by members be noted.

 

 

11.

FOI Request for information - funding of SACREs pdf icon PDF 406 KB

(A FOI request is to be sent to all local authorities by NASACRE in connection with the work of SACREs in supporting RE and collective worship locally. NASACRE are making this request so it might glean the most up to date information for the Department of Education about SACRE funding. The questions to be asked are detailed on the attached document)

Minutes:

(Peter Crosby left the meeting)

 

SACRE received details of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request which had been sent to all local authorities by NASACRE about funding the work of SACREs in supporting RE and collective worship. NASACRE were making this request so it might glean the most up to date information for the Department of Education about SACRE funding. Members agreed that an analysis of NASACRE's findings would be very useful.

 

One member stated that most schools in Lincolnshire were academies and that there was little knowledge of the funding they received.

 

Officers stated that Lincolnshire's SACRE was relatively well funded although there had not been any change to the amount for a number of years. Some local SACREs had zero budgets even though there was a statutory duty for local authorities to fund them from their Central Schools Services allocation. Officers stated that SACREs had a responsibility to support RE and Collective Worship in all schools including academies. It was NASACRE's view that local authorities should be allocating 2% of the Central Schools Services allocation to SACREs.

 

Members noted that Lincolnshire had responded to the FOI.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the report be noted.

 

 

 

 

12.

Diocesan RE Adviser's Report pdf icon PDF 100 KB

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

Minutes:

(Note: Jenni King left the meeting)

 

SACRE received the Diocesan's RE Adviser's report. Gillian Georgiou stated that most training had taken place virtually which had allowed more training sessions to be provided, had improved attendance, had saved money for schools as teachers did not have to travel and allowed flexibility for all.

 

Gillian Georgiou stated that following the retirement of a colleague in the Diocesan Education Team, she had taken on the role of supporting church schools to prepare for inspection under Section 48 (SIAMS inspection). This would have implications for her capacity to support schools in relation to RE. She continued to work collaboratively with the local authority RE adviser in Lincolnshire, as well as with her counterparts in North and North East Lincolnshire.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the report be noted.

13.

Big Ideas In Religious Education

(To receive a verbal report from Mark Plater, a member of SACRE, and Wendy Harrison, RE Adviser, in connection with a request from Dr Barbara Wintersgill's for both Mark Plater and Wendy Harrison to participate in a writing group which will produce materials for Dr Wintersgill's resource: "Big Ideas In Religious Education". Various groups of people are helping to write different sections for this national project)

Minutes:

(Councillor Bob Adams left the meeting)

 

SACRE received a verbal report from Mark Plater and Wendy Harrison in connection with a request from Dr Barbara Wintersgill's for both Mark Plater and Wendy Harrison to participate in a writing group which would produce

materials for Dr Wintersgill's resource: "Big Ideas In Religious Education", similar to one that had been produced for science, and which was designed to support the teaching of RE in the various Key Stages of education. Various groups of people were helping to write different sections for this national project, which had to be completed by Easter 2021. Mark Plater outlined the six main "Big Ideas".

 

Members emphasised that the project was not intended to replace the Agreed Syllabus but to provide ideas to work alongside the curriculum.

 

It was agreed to keep members informed of progress by email.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the involvement of Mark Plater and Wendy Harrison in the "Big Ideas" project be welcomed and that members be kept informed of progress by email.  

14.

Reflections at the next meeting

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

Minutes:

It was requested that anyone who was interested in doing reflections for the next meeting should email steve.blagg@lincolnshire.gov.uk.

 

15.

Dates and Times of Future Meetings in 2021

(Members are asked to note the dates and times of future meetings for 2021 as follows:- 23 March; 6 July and 23 November. All meetings to start at 2pm. It is proposed to arrange all meetings using Microsoft Teams and the appointments will be sent to you after this meeting)

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the following dates and times of future meetings be approved for 2021:-

 

23 March

6 July

23 November (AGM)

 

All meetings to start at 2.00pm and on Microsoft Teams.

 

With regard to the use of "Chair or Chairman" in SACRE meetings it was agreed to use whichever form of address each member felt appropriate.

 

 
 
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