Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed all to the meeting. As there were no SACRE Members representing the Church of England (Group B) the meeting was not quorate however it was agreed to continue with the meeting and defer any decisions to the following meeting.

Apologies for absence had been received from Peter Feinson, Stephanie Ellner, Cllr Ruck, Cllr Tumilty, George Prinn and Dawn Ladbrook.

The absence of the following Members was noted; Rabi Lee Sunderland, Sansar Narwal, Pastor Aloysius Peter, Nasir Mubasher, Om Dhir, Luthaneal Adams, Ruth Everitt, Marlene Wylie and Terry Riches.

There were no new or substitute Members present.

The clerk agreed to contact the unions to see if there were any union representatives who would like to join SACRE as part of Group C.

ACTION: HGS

To elect and Chair and Vice Chair for a term of office of 2 years.

This item would be deferred to the spring term. The Chair invited any interested individuals in the role of Chair and Vice Chair to contact her should they have any questions.

To agree as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 29 September 2022 (attached) and to address any matters arising.

4.1The minutes of the meeting held on 29 September 2022 were received however could not be agreed due to the meeting not being quorate; this would be deferred to the next meeting.

ACTION: HGS

4.2Matters arising from the minutes, not included elsewhere on the agenda, were as follows:

4.2.1Website monitoring (minute 8, refers): A number of website monitoring audits had been completed. Any remaining audits to be emailed to the clerk. It was agreed that if any monitoring highlighted that it appeared that the Agreed Syllabus was not being followed by a particular school that the SACRE Member could contact the school for further information. Once all the audits had been collated, letters would be sent out to schools to either share SACRE’s concern or to praise the school for their comprehensive information. This would be discussed at the next meeting.

A reminder and a copy of the audit would be shared with SACRE Members.

ACTION: HGS

4.2.2Interfaith meetings (Minute 10.1):  G Prinn was not in attendance to confirm if he had contacted Dr J Lester about humanist representation on the Interfaith forum.

4.2.3Meeting details (Minute 10.2): S Naeem had been sent the meeting details.

JDC had provided a written report. It was noted that there had been a great ‘buzz’ at the launch of the new Agreed Syllabus.

JDC was thanked for her comprehensive reports.

JDC stated that despite the White Paper, SACRE would remain in legislation however its exact format had not been confirmed. Regional hubs were being set up nationally, not to replace SACRE but to support SACREs to communicate with each other more effectively and to support the forming of stronger links with MATs. The regional hub lead Stacey Burnham was a much respected colleague.

With reference to the report card which had shown that 34% of academies had no timetabled RE and that £0 had been spent on RE projects compared to £387million on music, for example, Members asked if Havering SACRE would be writing to local MPs to share their discontent with these figures. JDC responded that SACRE Members had to decide what they wanted to do. It was agreed that JDW would contact former RE Advisor, Deborah Weston to see if she had a template letter that could be used to contact local MPs.

ACTION: JDC / Chair

Members noted the NASACRE online training programme. The clerk agreed to check if Havering would pay the £50 to enable all Members to attend. It was suggested that the session on ‘What’s happening to Collective Worship beyond determination’ would be useful to attend (14 March 2023).

ACTION: HGS

To receive and approve the Annual Report 2022.

The Annual Report was received and approved. The clerk would forward to report to NASACRE.

ACTION: HGS

To receive an update on any school website monitoring activities undertaken since the previous meeting.

This had been discussed. Please refer to 4.2.1.

SACRE Members worked in small groups to discuss Havering SACRE effectiveness using the SACRE self-evaluation form from NASACRE.

§  How far does SACRE’s partnership with the LA enable it to carry out its responsibilities effectively? It was noted that it would be great to have the Lead Officer from the LA to attend a SACRE meeting. There were however established links with the Interfaith Forum.

§  How effectively does the SACRE, in partnership with the LA, evaluate standards and the quality of provision for RE in schools? How effective are the strategies to improve standards and the quality of provision? The group felt that SACRE was effective at assisting schools who had recognised that the needed support and putting action plans into practice. Areas for development included being more pro-active about involving academies.

JDC advised that in some local authorities, SACRE Members would attend subject leader network meetings to offer their support and at times CPD. Members were therefore encouraged to contact JDC should they wish to attend such a meeting in the spring term. This would raise the profile of Havering SACRE and potentially encourage other teachers to join.

ACTION: Interested SACRE Members

§  The effectiveness of the locally agreed syllabus. It was noted that Havering SACRE was proficient at reviewing schools and all Members were encouraged to contribute to meetings. Areas of development including increasing diversity of membership and ensuring greater response from schools where not adequate information was available on their websites.

It was agreed that Havering SACRE would benefit from greater support in terms of education and therefore some approaches to practising teachers was recommended.

It was also agreed that from the next meeting, any Members who had not been in attendance for 3 meetings or more would be contacted to ask about their level of commitment. JDC advised that NASACRE had produced a list of national bodies who could be contacted to ask for representatives.

§  Collective Worship. Concern was shared about the lack of information from schools in certain cases. Clarification was sought with regards to the meaning of ‘determinations.’ JDC advised that determination was where a school applied to not have collective worship that is broadly Christian. Although there had been no determinations in Havering to date, a procedure should be established in case it was required. JDC would contact R Everett for any documentation that would be useful. It was noted that governors would be asked to monitor collective worship in their schools.

ACTION: JDC

It was agreed that Collective Worship should be included as an item on the agenda to discuss at the next meeting.

ACTION: HGS

§  Contribution of SACRE to promoting cohesion across the community. SACRE Members were enthusiastic about the role they played however barriers to success included achieving a quorate meeting and relationships with MATs.

The Chair asked Members to identify key areas of action following the completion of the SEF; these ideas would be collated by the Chair and brought to the next meeting. A scanned  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Any member may raise issues previously notified to either the Chair or the Clerk (unless the issue relates to a matter arising from the meeting itself or is of an urgent nature, when the Chair will determine whether to allow it or not).

Cllr Tumilty requested to see the NASACRE video for new Members of SACRE.

ACTION: HGS

Clare Beech was thanked for her support and commitment to SACRE as this would be her last meeting.

To note the following meeting dates for the remainder of the 2022-23 academic year:

Wednesday 8 March 2023 at 6pm

Wednesday 21 June 2023 at 6pm

The date of the next meeting was changed from Wednesday 8 March 2023 to Monday 6 March 2023 at 6pm due to a clash with International Women’s Day. A venue had yet to be confirmed.

Summer term: Wednesday 21 June 2023.