Council and democracy

Agenda item

Minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Educationmeeting held on Enter Date.

Minutes:

The meeting was declared inquorate as there was no representation from Committee C. Due to this it was agreed that the meeting would continue informally and recommendations put to members at the next quorate meeting of SACRE.

 

The Chair also noticed an error on Page 4 of the Minutes point 26, which will be corrected and prepared for the upcoming meeting in January.

 

The Associate Adviser for Religious Education introduced the Appendices on the self- evaluation form on Religious Education in Secondary and Primary Schools. Members discussed the completed self-evaluation form commenting that there were some positive feedbacks received from specific schools although the majority of schools had failed to share relevant information. SACRE members were aware of who the Religious Education leaders were within each school, and this gave SACRE a direct contact link to the Schools which they agreed they should feedback to each school.

 

SACRE Members shared slight concerns with limited funds for extra bibles and they were conscious the students were not receiving books with different faiths.

 

The Associate Adviser for Religious Education mentioned the importance of a Conference, however there were no funds to organise this. Ms Winston, School Improvement Manager agreed to fund a Conference as it would remind individuals of the importance of Religious Education in Schools.  

SACRE members advised during the discussion on the self-evaluation form that some schools had included a long term plan which was positive to see. There were concerns that it had been difficult to discover how much Religious Education was being done in primary and secondary schools. It is not clear if enough time is being focused on Religious Education, and the majority of the forms had advised that there were no visitors or visits regarding Religious Education.

 

SACRE members felt it was positive that most schools had two teachers with a post A – Level qualification on Religious Education.

 

The Associate Adviser for Religious Education gathered the information on the self-evaluation as a guide of what is being taught, She wanted SACRE members to feedback what their conclusion was on the responses.

 

Mr Ojetola felt the response from schools was positive and it was a good idea to have them complete the form. The Chair advised that this task had been done face to face with two separate schools and he felt it was positive with one school however the second school struggled which could have been due to the lack of information agreed on the syllabus.

 

The Associate Adviser for Religious Education pointed out that the agreed syllabus should be raised with schools as there are a lot of people who are unaware that Religious Education is still being used. The Chair commented that SACRE members need to explore whether schools in Thurrock are using the agreed syllabus and if they were failing to use the agreed syllabus then it should be revealed as to why. The Associate Adviser for Religious Education made a complaint to the Secretary of State expressing SACRE concerns with the inadequate amount of Religious Education being used in schools.

 

Mr Ojetola said it would be positive if the schools who had taken the time to complete the self-evaluation form were acknowledged.

 

It was noted that the Teaching Association representatives did not receive their agenda’s prior to the meeting as they were sent directly to the Education department at Thurrock Council.