The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.  Apologies were received from Madeliene Gilbert and Sheila Gewolb.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Rutland SACRE held on the 5^th December 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 5^th December 2023 were approved as an accurate record.

Action 1

The RE Adviser to finalise and send the drafted letter regarding RE teacher recruitment to all Councillors and the local MP with a copy also sent to the Clerk for distribution to the Rutland SACRE members.

The RE Adviser confirmed that the letter had been drafted and would be sent a.s.a.p.

Action 2

Following her meeting with the two Secondary Teacher Representatives regarding how their schools were meeting the statutory requirement that all pupils were entitled to religious education at the end of Year 11, the RE Adviser would send a copy of her report to the Clerk for distribution to the Rutland SACRE members.

The RE Adviser informed attendees that the report had not as yet been circulated but would be once it had been updated to include Cambridgeshire schools.

ACTION: Amanda Fitton

Action 3

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.

The Learning and Skills Service manager confirmed that the examination data had been verified and the Chair confirmed that he would finalise the letter and send it out to all Rutland schools.

Action 4

The RE Adviser and the Learning and Skills Service Manager to draft a press statement and send it to the Council’s Communications Team via the Clerk for publication.

Quotes from the Ofsted inspection reports regarding the teaching of RE in Rutland schools to be included in the press statement.

Action to be carried forward.

ACTION: Amanda Fitton & Lizzie Papworth

Action 5

The Learning and Skills Service Manager would produce a matrix of what RE curriculum/syllabus schools were using plus details of the RE lead in each school.

The Learning and Skills Service Manager reported that the matrix had been completed and that details of the RE lead in each school would be added once the information had been received after the questionnaire had been completed by schools and returned to Rutland County Council.

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Councillor Christine Wise joined the meeting at 4.37 p.m.

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Action 6

The SACRE sub-group to meet to discuss the following and report back at the next meeting:

·       Summarise the content of the Rutland SACRE webpage.

·       Identify how the Rutland SACRE webpage would be maintained.

·       Identify how Rutland SACRE could better communicate/engage with schools.

·       Identify how the Rutland SACRE might better support RE teaching in schools.

Action on the agenda for discussion.

Action 7

Members to contact the Clerk before the 31st December 2023, with any comments/ amendments to the Annual Report.

The Clerk to publish the finalised Annual Report 2022-2023 in January 2024 and submit a copy to NASACRE.

The Clerk confirmed that no comments/amendments had been received and the Annual Report for 2022-2023 had been published and a copy submitted to NASACRE.  The RE Adviser noted that a copy should also be sent to the Department for Education (DfE).

  ACTION: Jane Narey

Action 8

The RE Adviser confirmed that she would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To receive the schools’ questionnaire from Amanda Fitton, RE Adviser for Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Rutland County Councils for review and approval prior to it being sent to schools for completion.

Members received a presentation (copy attached) regarding the schools’ questionnaire from Amanda Fitton, RE Adviser for Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Rutland County Councils.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

The question regarding the name of the RE Lead should be the first question and a secondary question should be ‘Do you feel supported in your role as the RE Lead?’

‘Question 2 – Do you find the syllabus useful?’ was identified as a closed question i.e. it only required a Yes or No answer.  It was agreed that the question should be amended to be more production e.g. ‘What do you like about the new Agreed Syllabus?’ ‘How has the new Agreed Syllabus supported you?’  ‘Are there any aspects of the new Agreed Syllabus you feel could be improved?’

A question should also be included for schools to identify the most and least popular modules within the Agreed Syllabus.

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Rev. James McWhirter joined the meeting at 4.49 p.m.

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The Clerk informed attendees that the committee needed to ensure that it did not ask for any ‘personal data’ when requesting information from schools. It was agreed that the finished questionnaire would be checked by Rutland County Council’s Information Governance team to ensure that it was compliant with the Data Protection Act 2018.

ACTION: Amanda Fitton and Lizzie Papworth

The RE Adviser confirmed that the aim of the questionnaire was to monitor the use and effectiveness of the new Agreed Syllabus. 

The Chair stated that this should be clearly stated on the questionnaire along with details explaining that this would be the first in a series of surveys so that Rutland SACRE could monitor the progress of the new Agreed Syllabus and identify any required improvements.

To receive a report from Rev. McWhirter to:

Ø  Summarise the content of the Rutland SACRE webpage.

Ø  Identify how the Rutland SACRE webpage would be maintained.

Ø  Identify how Rutland SACRE could better communicate/engage with schools.

Ø  Identify how the Rutland SACRE might better support RE teaching in schools.

A verbal report was received from the Rev McWhirter.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

Members were informed that the Clerk had confirmed that Rutland SACRE would not be allowed a second webpage but that the existing webpage could have a section entitled ‘Further Information’ as per Peterborough SACRE’s webpage.  This would highlight links to key RE websites for further information regarding worldviews and classroom resources. 

Mary-Anne Marples joined the meeting at 4.58 p.m.

It was agreed that members would contact the RE Adviser (amanda.fitton@cambridgeshire.gov.uk) by the 27^th March with suggestions and ideas on:

1. How the Rutland SACRE webpage could be improved.
2. How Rutland SACRE could better communicate/engage with schools.
3. How Rutland SACRE might better support RE teaching in schools.

ACTION: All

Agenda

A discussion regarding SACRE members engagement with and attendance at Rutland schools.

A discussion was held regarding SACRE members engagement with and attendance at Rutland schools.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

The Clerk had circulated NASACRE’s generic code of conduct for discussion. 

Members agreed to accept the NASACRE code of conduct details as the code of conduct regulations for Rutland SACRE members. 

The generic NASACRE code of conduct would be updated, published to the website and circulated to members.

ACTION: Jane Narey

A discussion following the publication of the report from the House of Lords: Quality of religious education in schools in England on how SACRE could address some of the issues.

The RE Adviser highlighted a report that had been issued by the House of Lords on the quality of RE: Quality of religious education in schools in England - House of Lords Library (parliament.uk)

The article was purely for information but did highlight how RE was regarded as an afterthought by some schools even though it was a compulsory subject in English schools.

To receive details of the verified Rutland RE exam results from Elizabeth Papworth, Service Manager – Learning and Skills, RCC.

Elizabeth Papworth, Service Manager for Learning and Skills presented the verified RE exam results.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

The verified RE exam results were included in the agenda pack.

The Learning and Skills Service Manager confirmed that comparison data with neighbouring local authorities would be circulated with the minutes.

ACTION: Lizzie Papworth

Rutland’s rate for GCSE 5 or above (53.1%) was queried as it was below the national average (61.3%); was this a trend or a one-off result?

The Learning and Skills Service Manager stated that Key Stage 4 and 5 results in RE for Rutland schools had not been published for 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID pandemic but that a comparison with last year’s results would be circulated with the minutes.

  ACTION: Lizzie Papworth

Members were asked to note that due to the small numbers dealt with in Rutland, any changes had a big impact on the percentage figures.

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

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

A Network Meeting was held at the beginning of March 2024. 

Megan Davies was the only teacher who attended from Rutland despite extensive publicity of the event.

The next meeting would be held in June regarding ‘Exercise Books vs Floor Books: pros and cons of usage.’

Further details would be sent to all Rutland schools.

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

RE Adviser had attended NASACRE webinars on monitoring and data.

Most of the NASACRE training events were free for Rutland members to attend. 

Information and training resources were also available on the Humanists UK website.

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

The work plan was discussed and updated as follows for the next meeting:

The NASACRE annual conference (2024: How can SACREs support high quality RE & Collective Worship?) would be held on Monday, 20^th May 2024 at the Hilton in York and online via Zoom. 

A maximum of 2 delegates per SACRE would be allowed to attend.

£120 per delegate, including a choice of 2 online workshops to be delivered 3^rd – 6^th June or

£170 per delegate, including a choice of 2 online workshops to be delivered 3^rd – 6^th June which 2 additional SACRE members may attend.

Members to contact the Clerk (democraticservices@rutland.gov.uk) if they would like to attend.

Tuesday, 11^th June 2024 at 4.30 p.m.

The date of the next meeting was proposed for Tuesday, 11th June 2024 at 4.30 p.m. in person in the Council Chamber – date/time to be confirmed.