We gather together here today intent on doing good work.

We seek to represent fairly and well, those who have given us this task.

May our efforts be blessed with insight, guided by understanding and wisdom.

We seek to serve with respect for all.

May our personal beliefs give us strength to act honestly and well in all matters before us.

The committee undertook a moment for reflection.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor L Stephenson, Andreas Menzies and Sara Barrett.

Councillor R Powell opened the meeting and asked for nominations for the position of Chair. Councillor R Powell was nominated by Revd Dr Peter Holmes and seconded by Gurdev Singh. There being no other nominations, a vote was taken and a unanimous vote for Councillor R Powell was given. 

Councillor R Powell took the Chair. Councillor L Stephenson, the current Vice-Chair had given apologies for the meeting. As there were no nominations for Vice-Chair it was proposed that the re-election of the Vice-Chair be deferred to the next SACRE meeting in January 2022. This was agreed by Members.

RESOLVED

1.    That Councillor R Powell be APPOINTED as Chair of SACRE for the forthcoming academic year.

2.    That the re-election ofVice-Chair of SACRE be DEFERRED to the next meeting.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Rutland SACRE held on 6 July 2021.

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 July 2021 were considered and AGREED as a true record of the proceedings.

It was AGREED that matters arising from the minutes would be addressed during items later on in the agenda. 

To receive and approve the SACRE Annual Report.

The draft annual report was introduced by the Chair. The report covered an seventeen month period and, as such, spanned the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdowns.

During the discussion it was AGREED by the group that Item 6 – Agreed Syllabus would be amended as shown below:

An action plan with timelines and budgets is being developed and this has been added to the development plan.

The Chair attended a NASACRE online meeting regarding the annual report and a new framework template had been introduced from 1 September 2021. The Chair stated that it would be good practice for the 2021/22 annual report to be undertaken utilising the new template. The self-evaluation toolkit for SACRE groups had also been mentioned at the meeting and the Chair suggested that this be included on the agenda for the January 2022 meeting for the group to undertake.

The Chair highlighted to the group the Worldviews training event that would be taking place online on 10 November 2021.

Revd James McWhirter had attended a NASACRE online meeting for new members of SACRE and a handbook had been produced for all members. The Chair requested that a standing agenda item be added to all future meetings headed, Meetings and Training attended by SACRE Members.

RESOLVED

1. That the amendment be made to Item 6 of the report and finalised for publication as required. The report to be circulated to Chair of Childrens Scrutiny at Rutland County Council, published on the RCC website, sent to NASACRE and shared by SACRE members with their organisations.

To review the SACRE Development Plan 2020-22.

The Council CONSIDERED the SACRE Development Plan for 2020-22 and no comments or issues were raised. 

To receive a report from Amanda Fitton.

Amanda Fitton, SACRE and Religious Education Advisor, provided a verbal update on the Agreed Syllabus from September 2023.

During the discussion the following points were noted:

• Amanda Fitton had created a questionnaire for schools regarding the current syllabus. It had been highlighted by the schools that they favoured the current syllabus as it allowed them to think and create a curriculum that suited their pupils but also that more guidance on how to build a curriculum was required.
• A discussion had taken place for a joint website to be created for Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and Rutland where resources could be shared which would be extremely useful for teachers.
• Amanda Fitton and Gurdev Singh would be meeting with Jonathan Lewis, Head of Education for Peterborough and Cambridgeshire to discuss funding requirements for teachers to be taken out of school to provide their knowledge and expertise.

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Andrew Hull, Representative of Humanists UK joined the meeting at 17:05 having experienced technical issues.

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• Gurdev Singh explained that the funding requirements were not yet known, and a proposal would be shared at the next SACRE meeting in January 2022.
• An agreed syllabus conference would be created where the new syllabus would be discussed. The conference would report back to each SACRE meeting regarding progress and the terms of reference would be shared.

The following viewpoints were outlined by the group, and these would be taken forward to the Syllabus conference:

• That the Rutland SACRE would prefer an existing local syllabus to be adapted and evolved.
• That the Rutland would make the syllabus available free of charge dependent on funding requirements.
• That the Rutland SACRE would work in collaboration with Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.
• That Gurdev Singh would represent the Rutland SACRE at the Agreed Syllabus Conference subject to no longer being required to represent Peterborough.

RESOLVED

1. That the Rutland SACRE APPROVE the need for an agreed syllabus conference to be convened.
2. That Gurdev Singh be appointed as the Rutland SACRE’s representative on the Agreed Syllabus Conference.

To receive an update from Amanda Fitton

The next Network meeting would be taking place on 11 November 2022 via Zoom and Amanda Fitton would share the details with the group.

Elizabeth Papworth, Education Development Lead and Amanda Fitton were creating a programme for schools in Rutland regarding training on RE requirements for Ofsted visits.

To receive a verbal report from Elizabeth Papworth, Education Development Lead.

Elizabeth Papworth explained that RE was now mentioned on all school websites which was agreed as a positive improvement.

To receive any Ofsted Inspection Reports.

There were no Ofsted Inspection Reports to discuss.

It was AGREED that the next SACRE meeting in January 2022 be undertaken via Zoom.

18 January 2022

The date of the next meeting was NOTED as Tuesday, 18 January 2022.