The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.  Apologies were received from Daniel Alfieri and Bjorn Finke.

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Kieran Hughes, Secondary Teacher Representative joined the meeting at 4.39 p.m.

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To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Rutland SACRE held on the 6^th June 2023.

Members requested that the wording ‘world views’ in the minutes be amended to ‘worldviews’.  The minutes of the meeting held on the 6^th June 2023 were approved as an accurate record subject to the requested amendment.

Action 1

It was agreed that the Chair and the SACRE/RE Adviser would write a draft a letter on behalf of the Rutland SACRE to all Councillors and the local MP regarding RE teacher recruitment.

Action carried forward.

ACTION: Gurdev Singh & Amanda Fitton

Action 2

It was agreed that the Clerk would write to all Rutland schools asking for representatives from the teachers and the education support staff to become members of the Rutland SACRE.

It was confirmed that the action had been completed and two new teacher representatives had been recruited: Kieran Hughes, Teacher of Religious Studies at Catmose College and Sam Brooks, Head of RE and Citizenship at Uppingham Community College.

Action 3

Induction information including the NASACRE membership and training details would be sent to the new members.

The Clerk confirmed that the action had been completed.

Action 4

Amanda Fitton to send the Clerk the confirmed attendance for Rutland SACRE at the official launch.

It was confirmed that nobody from Rutland SACRE had attended the official launch of the Agreed Syllabus.

Action 5

Amanda would develop a questionnaire for schools regarding the impact of the Agreed Syllabus to identify if any amendments were required to the non-statutory areas of the syllabus.  The approval of the schools’ questionnaire would be approved by SACRE on the 12th March 2024 prior to distribution to schools.

The RE Adviser confirmed that the questionnaire would be actioned and the item had been added to the group’s work plan for 2023-2024.

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Mary-Ann Marples, Peterborough Diocese Representative left the meeting at 4.55 p.m. and re-joined the meeting at 4.56 p.m.

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The Chair, with the approval of the committee, agreed to take Agenda Item 7 (Rutland Exam Results) next due to IT issues with the Zoom meeting.

To receive an update from Lizzie Papworth, Service Manager – Learning and Skills on the Rutland schools’ exam results for 2023.

A verbal update was received from Lizzie Papworth, Service Manager – Learning and Skills on the Rutland schools’ exam results for 2023.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

Unverified results were received and the figures stated covered all Rutland schools including the independent schools.

Fewer pupils had undertaken GCSE religious education: 140 pupils in the academic year 2021-2022 compared to 105 for the academic year 2022-2023.

More pupils had undertaken ‘A’ level religious studies: 45 pupils in the academic year 2021-2022 compared to 50 for the academic year 2022-2023.

A further breakdown of the examination results, including destination, cohort size and statistical neighbours’ data, would be provided once the examination results were verified.

ACTION: Lizzie Papworth

The Service Manager also confirmed that a congratulatory letter to the appropriate schools would be drafted on SACRE’s behalf and sent to the appropriate Rutland schools once the examination results data were verified.

ACTION: Lizzie Papworth

It was proposed that the RE Adviser should meet with the two Secondary Teacher Representatives to discuss how the statutory requirement that all pupils were entitled to religious education to the end of Year 11, was being fulfilled by Rutland schools.

ACTION: Amanda Fitton, Kieran Hughes & Sam Brooks

It was proposed that a letter from SACRE should be sent to all Rutland schools once the examination data had been verified, to promote the values of religious education and positively influence the decision maker.

ACTION: Gurdev Singh

To receive an update from Amanda Fitton, RE Adviser for Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Rutland County Councils.

A verbal update was received from Amanda Fitton, RE Adviser for Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Rutland County Councils.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

A reminder about the new Agreed Syllabus had been sent to all schools in Rutland.

The promotion of and training on the Agreed Syllabus would be the main focus for this academic year.

Schools in Rutland were comprised of 16 Primary Academies, 3 Secondary Academies and 1 Church of England Voluntary Aided Maintained Primary School.  Academies have to follow an RE syllabus but were not required to comply with the locally agreed syllabus and voluntary aided schools could use the diocesan religious education guidance instead of the locally agreed syllabus.

The RE Adviser confirmed that the training timetable would be distributed to all schools.

ACTION: Amanda Fitton / Lizzie Papworth

To discuss SACRE’s role in the teaching of religious education and how its engagement with Rutland schools could be improved.

A group discussion was held regarding Rutland SACRE’s role in the teaching of religious education and how it could improve its engagement with Rutland schools.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

SACRE contact with schools was currently via the RE Adviser.

The group discussed sending out a brochure or leaflet to schools about SACRE but agreed that SACRE’s role and duties needed to be clearly defined before this was done. 

It was agreed that a SACRE sub-group, consisting of Rev McWhirter, Lizzie Papworth, Councillor McRobb, Amanda Fitton and Sam Brooks would identify and clarify SACRE’s role and duties for approval at the next meeting.

ACTION: Rev McWhirter

Annual review of the Rutland SACRE Constitution for updating (if required).

Members reviewed an updated draft version of the Rutland SACRE Constitution which had been circulated with the agenda pack.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

Changes to the constitution had been highlighted in yellow for the attention of members.

It was agreed that the review of the Constitution would be deferred to the March meeting so that any changes recommended by the SACRE sub-group at the next SACRE meeting could be incorporated into the constitution.

To create the Rutland SACRE Development Plan for 2023-28.

Members reviewed the draft Rutland SACRE Development Plan for 2023-2028, which had been circulated with the agenda pack.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

A sub-group would be required to work on the SACRE development plan.

The plan should include the areas of improvement identified in SACRE’s self-assessment so that there was a continuous improvement cycle.

It was agreed to postpone work on the development plan until SACRE’s role and duties had been clearly defined and approved at the next SACRE meeting. 

To receive an update from Amanda Fitton, RE Adviser for Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Rutland County Councils.

A verbal update was received from Amanda Fitton, RE Adviser for Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Rutland County Councils.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

The RE Adviser would be meeting with Mary-Anne Marples to discuss what schools actually wanted from the network meetings and the possibility of inter-county meetings with Peterborough and Cambridgeshire.

The RE Adviser confirmed that, following the meeting, she would distribute feedback to the Rutland SACRE members for discussion at the next meeting.

ACTION: Amanda Fitton

To receive a verbal update from Members of SACRE on any training attended.

Madeleine Gilbert and Councillor Wise informed attendees that they had attended the NASACRE ‘So, you’ve joined your local SACRE…’ virtual training session held on the 26^th June 2023 and both had found it very helpful and informative – details attached.

Sheila Gewolb notified members of the RE Hubs website and the training and free resources that were available: Upskill (re-hubs.uk)

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Councillor McRobb left the meeting at 5.53 p.m.

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Rev McWhirter informed members of a video about worldviews produced by THEOS Think Tank.  The video entitled ‘Nobody Stands Nowhere’ was available to view on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFRxKF-Jdos&t=17s

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Mary-Ann Marples left the meeting at 5.58 p.m.

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To receive a verbal report from Lizzie Papworth, Service Manager – Learning and Skills, RCC and to receive any Ofsted Inspection Reports:

·       Langham CofE Primary School

A verbal report was received from Lizzie Papworth, Service Manager – Learning and Skills, RCC and members reviewed the Ofsted inspection report for Langham CofE Primary School.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

The Ofsted inspection report for Langham CofE Primary School was  reviewed and the very positive comments regarding the school’s teaching of different beliefs were noted.

To review/update Rutland SACRE’s Work Plan for 2023-2024.

The work plan was discussed and updated as follows:

The review of the SACRE Constitution would be deferred to the March 2024 meeting so that any changes recommended by the SACRE sub-group could be incorporated once approved at the SACRE December meeting.

There was no urgent business

Tuesday, 5^th December 2023 at 4.30 p.m.

Tuesday, 5th December 2023 at 4.30 p.m. via Zoom