Apologies were received from Mr Andreas Menzies.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Rutland SACRE held on 21 January 2020 (previously circulated).

The record of the meeting of the Rutland Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) held on 21 January 2020 were confirmed as a correct record.

Nominations were invited for the position of Chairman of Rutland SACRE for the academic year 2020-21. Councillor Powell was proposed by Councillor Stephenson and seconded by Mr Singh. A vote was taken and was agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED

That Councillor Powell be appointed as Chairman of Rutland SACRE for the academic year 2020-21.

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Nominations were invited for the position of Vice-Chairman of Rutland SACRE for the academic year 2020-21. Councillor Stephenson was nominated by Councillor Powell and seconded by Mr Hull. A vote was taken and was agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED

That Councillor Stephenson be appointed as Vice-Chairman of Rutland SACRE for the academic year 2020-21.

For members to review the Development Plan 2020-22.

During discussion the following points were noted:

      i.        Mr Hull questioned whether it was possible to identify the number of schools that had adopted the agreed syllabus.

    ii.        Mrs Fitton responded that were three secondary schools and a sixth form within Rutland and they were all academies. Mrs Fitton explained that academies were not required to use the Agreed Syllabus, however they are encouraged to do so.

   iii.        As there were not many schools within Rutland it would be possible to check all the schools’ websites to see the syllabus they are adopting as schools are legally obliged to show the syllabus they follow on their website.

   iv.        There was a discussion on how SACRE could measure success within Religious Education. Suggestions included looking at examination results and developing a questionnaire for schools.

    v.        Mrs Fitton stated that each year the GCSE and A Level results show how many students the schools are putting through for RE, showing how successful RE is in Rutland’s schools.

   vi.        While the majority of schools in Rutland are academies, Rutland SACRE still has a responsibility for the RE in academies. Rutland SACRE can request evidence on what provision of RE they are providing if for example a school put 20 students forward for the RE GCSE but they have a cohort of 200.

  vii.        Revd Holmes asked whether Rutland SACRE had a budget, and if so, could it be published. Mr Silcock stated he would look into this outside of the meeting.

 viii.        In order to raise the profile of RE, it was noted that it was important to have data from primary schools. Whilst hard data would be difficult to obtain, Mrs Fitton suggested that a survey could be done asking about the syllabus they were using, and how and when RE was being taught.

   ix.        Mrs Fitton would work on questions for the survey and send them to Ms Davis to look over.

    x.        It was clarified that Philosophy and Ethics student data was included within the RE data Rutland has.

To receive an update from Cllr Stephenson regarding the Rutland SACRE Annual Report.

Mrs Stephenson introduced the latest draft of the Annual Report. The group went through the report and noted the following points:

      i.        The role of SACRE, RE and collective worship would be included within the appendix.

    ii.        Section 48 inspections were not within the remit of SACRE and would be taken out of the annual report.

   iii.        Mrs Fitton would work on the RE teachers network section

   iv.        Ms Papworth would gather the KS4 and KS5 results for the report.

    v.        The reporting to parents section would be taken out.

   vi.        Mr Silcock would include the SACRE member attendance.

  vii.        Revd Peter Holmes noted that he and Mrs Fitton had attended the NASACRE annual conference in 2019.

viii.        It was clarified that the annual report covered April 2019-March 2020.

To receive an update from Amanda Fitton.

During discussion the following points were noted:

      i.        Mrs Fitton stated there hadn’t been a major update with Ofsted as they had only been doing inspections regarding safeguarding, health and safety, and how schools are coping with the challenge of being closed. Ofsted were not currently going into lessons.

    ii.        The Chair noted that in the new year Rutland SACRE may want to look into how schools coped with the past year and how they dealt with the challenges faced.

   iii.        Ms Davis noted that a lot of the RE taught over the past few months depended on the parents and what access the children had through the internet. Paper packs were made for students that were unable to access the internet.

   iv.        There was discussion on how SACRE could measure success within Religious Education. Suggestions included looking at examination results and developing a questionnaire for schools.

To receive an update from Amanda Fitton.

Mrs Fitton stated training and network meetings were now being done via Zoom. Upcoming training included a series going through the basics of each faith and world views. No Rutland schools had signed up to them yet, but they were being attended by between 6 and 23 people for each session.

Mrs Fitton stated if there were any resources that schools should be aware of, that members of SACRE feel free to forward them onto her so she could pass them on to schools.

Tuesday 19 January 2020

Tuesday 12 January 2021 at 4.30pm.