Agenda and draft minutes

No declarations of interest were received.

The Clerk informed SACRE the meeting was not quorate.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2023, having been circulated amongst the members, be taken as read and correctly recorded, ad signed be signed by the Chair.

Cllr J Davison asked members to welcome Mr Peter Altoft.

Resolved – That Mr Peter Altoft had been approved to be part of the membership.

Mrs V Oxley advised members that the Terms of Reference had been reviewed. Guidance for local authorities about the membership of Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education (SACREs) had been recently updated. This had been due to a recent court ruling and shares the Department for Education’s (the Department) view that representatives from non-religious belief systems may be appointed to Group A of a SACRE and/or to an Agreed Syllabus Conference (ASC).

The recent legal case of Bowen v Kent County Councilclarified that applications for Group A membership from persons who represent holders of non-religious beliefs should be considered in the same way as applications from those who represent holders of religious beliefs.

In the Department’s view, the non-religious beliefs adhered to by the person to be appointed must be analogous to a religious belief. To be “analogous”, the non-religious beliefs must, in accordance with case law under the European Convention of Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998, attain the necessary level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion, and importance to attract protection under the Convention Rights.

The final decision on appointment of persons to a SACRE or ASC is a matter for local authorities. This may include consideration of whether such a representative would help ensure that the relevant traditions and beliefs in the local authority’s area are appropriately reflected in Group A.

Resolved –That non-religious beliefs representative to be considered on the membership.

Mrs J Taylor advised members feedback from the SACRE Conference on Wednesday, 28 June 2023, was positive and well attended.

Feedback from teachers who attended felt the workshops provided an opportunity to learn and develop their understanding. The format of the conference incorporating local students from Sir John Nelthorpe, to attend, this was well received. It was noted this gave an opportunity for students to provide their own experiences and reflections.

Mrs J Taylor advised members there had been discussions regarding doing a joint SACRE Conference in 2024, across Lincolnshire. This is currently in the early stages of development.  

The SACRE Annual Report had been circulated prior to the meeting.

Recommended –That comments regarding the SACRE Annual Report to be sent to J Taylor.

Mrs J Taylor advised that data provided by the National Association of Teachers of Religious (NATRE) had provided an insight on the local picture, regarding GCSE RE.

Schools which have been identified as further development needed have been contact by the SACRE Chair and Lead, to advised them of what is required in relation to GCSE RE.

The SCARE Self-Assessment Tool had been circulated prior to the meeting.

Mrs J Taylor advised members the tool is provided by the National Association of Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (NASACRE). The tool had been created to help SACREs in their essential role to advise the Local Authority (LA) in meeting the entitlement of pupils across the LA to engage in high quality Religious Education (RE) and Collective Worship (CW) and to support the LA to reflect on its practice.

This toolkit is an amended version of the 2015 document. It takes account of changes in inspection arrangements and in the role of LAs, and of the development of maintained schools independent of their LA. It is designed to help individual SACREs evaluate their effectiveness, including considering their impact on pupils’ educational experience and learning. It also helps SACREs review their organisational patterns and structures, and their partnership with the LA and other key stakeholders.

It had been noted that in ‘Key Area: 1c – Membership and training’ the membership of the SACRE needed to be improved. Members agreed that representation of local faith leaders had been improved.

Resolved – That (a) further developments of the membership continue (b) the Self Assessment Tool continued to be used to assess the development of the SACRE.

The Interfaith week programme had been circulated prior to the meeting.

Resolved – Members agreed to attend events and activities during Interfaith week.

Resolved – the next meeting was agreed to take place on Thursday, 1 February 2024, 4pm, at the Connect Church, Ashby Road, Scunthorpe, DN16 1NR