Agenda and minutes

Resolved - That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 8^th November 2018 be approved subject to the following amendment:

Present: ‘Andrew’ Sparrow amended to  read ‘Andrea’ Sparrow.

Members were asked to note the  updated version of Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education - Pan Berkshire SACRE 2018-2023. Key changes to the document would be highlighted in the presentation in the next item. 

Resolved – That the Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education (RE) - Pan Berkshire SACRE 2018 - 2023 - Update on Syllabus Review be noted.

The SACRE Advisor gave a presentation on the updates that had been made as part of the Agreed Syllabus Review 2018 at the Pan-Berkshire Hub meetings.

The following is a summary of the key points that were noted during the course of the Presentation and discussion:

·  Early Years – Needed to be aligning with the most recent National Early Years Framework (2017) – this had now been achieved.

·  Which religions to be mandatory and when – Removal of Key Stage (KS) 1 and KS2 and added a Primary section in Syllabus. Would give teachers more flexibility as to which religions to teach in conjunction with Christianity and how to group them.

·  Agreed mandatory requirements - That by the end of KS2, Christianity in every year group in addition to Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism. Other religions and worldviews such as Humanism could be added but not compulsory. Islam was now compulsory in primary schools.

·  Key Stage 3 – Christianity to be taught in every year group in addition to Buddhism, Islam and Humanism (or another secular worldwide view). Humanism, a new requirement but not compulsory at KS3.

·  Key Stage 4 – Decision taken to strengthen the expectation that all students would have a statutory entitlement to RE at KS4 and should all have access to an accredited course such as GCSE.

In light of these decisions the questions grids for each religion would now be grouped accordingly as teachers would need to select from all required religions and humanism at each of the key stages 1-3.

It was highlighted that there was no requirement for academy schools to follow the Agreed Syllabus which was mandatory to community schools. However, Members acknowledged that the main issue was to establish and ensure that RE was accessible to all students.

Actions and next steps were noted as follows:

·  Deadline for comments to be received – 29 March 2018

·  Feedback at Hub meeting – 24 April 2018 (4.15pm – 5.30pm), training would also follow from 6pm to 7pm. Members queried that 4.15pm start was problematic for many and that the start time should be revised to 5pm to allow time for members to be able get to the venue after school.

·  Comments would also be sought from Teacher Focus Groups.

·  Chair of SACRE to draft and sign foreword and signed off by the Cate Duffy, Director of Children, Learning & Skills Services.

Following discussion, it was agreed that hard copies of the Agreed Syllabus would be provided to all schools, as well as supply the document on USB stick to enable easy access on school systems. The total cost was estimated at £676 for both. 

Launch of the Agreed Syllabus

There was a discussion about the most effective way of launching the Agreed Syllabus and it was considered that combing the launch with a training session would be most useful for teachers at schools in Slough.

Members agreed therefore to launch the Agreed Syllabus on Thursday 12^th July 2018 from 1pm until 4.30pm in conjunction with a short training session with a keynote speaker. It was proposed that the venue for the launch should be at a school and agreed that the Chair would approach the Head teacher at Eden Girls’ School to check availability. Failing this, the Clerk would book a room in the Council building at St Martin’s Place.

Resolved:

i)  That progress on the Agreed Syllabus Review be noted and the final document be reported to the Agreed Syllabus conference for approval - date to be confirmed.

ii)  Launch of the Agreed Syllabus to take place on Thursday 12^th July 2018

iii)  The hard copies of Agreed Syllabus and on USB be distributed to schools in Slough at a cost of £676.

The date of the next meeting would be confirmed as required.