Skip to Main Content

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Room P3 - County Hall, The Rhadyr, Usk. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services 

Items
No. Item

1.

To note the appointment of chair as the Cabinet Member for Children and Young people as appointed by Council.

Minutes:

The appointment by Council of the Cabinet Member, Children and Young People to the position of Chair was noted as County Councillor R. John.

2.

Election of Vice Chair

Minutes:

Mr. A. Jones was appointed as Vice Chair.

3.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made.

4.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 28th March 2019 and to consider matters arising pdf icon PDF 127 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 28th March 2019, were confirmed as an accurate record of the meeting.  It was confirmed that item 9 of the minutes was sent off as the response to the White Paper.

5.

Public Open Forum

Minutes:

No members of the Public were present.

6.

To receive a membership update.

Minutes:

The Clerk provided a Membership update as follows:

 

 

County Councillors

One vacancy following the resignation of County Councillor J. Watkins

Roman Catholic Church

One vacancy

Free Church Council

New member representing the Methodist Church – Dr. L. Brown

Hindu Faith

One vacancy

Jewish Faith

One vacancy

Muslim Faith

One vacancy - Abdul-Azim Ahmed offered seat.  Response awaited.

Sikh Faith

One vacancy

Teacher Representative

S. Oram stepped down due to secondment in Powys.

Co-Opted Members

One vacancy

 

It was noted that a letter will be sent to the Onyx Foundation to seek assistance in filling the faith representative vacancies.  Contact will also be made with Cytun.

 

Welsh Government guidance was sought on Humanist representation on SACRE.  It was noted that this matter is not for SACRE to determine; a report will be presented to Council in July to revise the terms of reference and to consider Humanist representative.

 

A discussion on definition of religions and beliefs took place.

7.

Curriculum development update: Welsh Government Consultation on the draft curriculum for Wales 2022, the Humanities AoLE and the supporting framework for Religious Education. pdf icon PDF 166 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

It was announced that SACREs throughout the South East Wales region agreed to form a collaborative working party to respond to the Welsh Government consultation on the Curriculum for Wales 2022. The deadline date to respond is 19th July. It is very important that the views of SACREs on the place and visibility of Religious Education within the curriculum, particularly within the Humanities AoLE, are heard. Differing views held between SACREs would be recorded in the collaborative response. 

 

It is the intention to encourage as many teachers as possible to be involved in this working group and also that each SACRE sends at least one other member.

 

Newport City Council will host this working party on Tuesday 9th July, 10.00am to 3.00pm.

 

An update was provided that some dates have been arranged to work on the RE framework.  This will be published in draft for consultation with SACREs.

 

The RE Adviser provided a presentation on Humanities and agreed it will be circulated to all members.

8.

Monitoring of Religious Education and Collective Worship

8a

GCSE and GCE Examination reports (to be tabled)

Minutes:

The report was received and the following comments were made:

 

·         The Numbers taking the GCSE full course decreased from the previous year but pass rates are up.  It was pointed out that schools previously putting forward whole cohorts had moved to an options system.  Next year there will be a return to whole cohorts and a new specification.  The new specification will be more challenging and a national dip in performance can be expected.

·         Results in Monmouthshire compared well to EAS and Wales and results have risen significantly.

·         Short course results compared well with previous years.

·         A Level numbers had increased and there were no major concerns.  Results were above national and regional performance.

8b

Estyn Inspection Reports (to be tabled)

Minutes:

SACRE considered Estyn Inspection overview and noted that Estyn will now comment on spiritual development whereas previously it was very often a view on collective worship. Estyn has asked NAPFRE for more details to assist the formation of judgements.

 

No issues were identified.  There were good references to the quality of collective worship noting that assemblies are sometimes pupil led and there are opportunities for moral awareness such as anti-bullying.

 

The RE Adviser informed SACRE that she is making available training to raise the profile of spiritual development across the curriculum.

 

It was noted that the inspection framework has changed and that there will be more self-evaluation.  The local authority is calling for more detailed reports.  It was suggested that there is a need to re-evaluate how we review RE in schools and also how we will monitor.  The suspension of the inspection cycle in 2020 will provide the opportunity to conduct a review.

 

The authority will wait to see the changes from the Estyn review then consider revising the self-evaluation form.

 

It was clarified that the self-evaluation process includes recommendations of areas for development and these can be added to the School Development Plan.

 

It was suggested that, as a follow up to the receipt of inspection reports, letters of congratulation or letters offering support from SACRE may be sent.

 

Schools may also be asked if they are willing to share best practice.  SACRE will arrange to visit best practice schools.

8c

Self-evaluation Reports (to be tabled)

Minutes:

 

A Member commented that it was worrying to see that the Chepstow School report noted that there were no AS students and no Year 9 going forward.  He would have expected to see some take up of options.  An update was provided that the report is the oldest one presented and a lot has happened since its publication.  Discussion is in progress about the potential for collaborative work with Caldicot School. 

 

It was agreed that Caldicot School’s self-evaluation report will be presented at the next meeting.

 

9.

WASACRE

9a

To receive and note the draft minutes from the WASACRE meeting held on 28th March 2019 pdf icon PDF 371 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 28th March 2019 were received.

 

SACRE was informed that a meeting had been held with Kevin Palmer (Welsh Government, Curriculum Reform) to look at professional learning and funding for RE.  The RE Adviser attended the meeting and hoped that an outcome will be funding for professional learning for RE teachers.

9b

To consider nominations for the WASACRE Executive Committee pdf icon PDF 66 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

SACRE endorsed nominations for the WASACRE Executive Committee as: Mark Prevett, Andrew Jones and Matthew Maidment.

 

The nomination of Rachel Samuel for the position of Vice Chair was supported by SACRE.

 

9c

To note dates of future WASACRE meetings: Friday 28th June 2019 - Colwyn Bay, Conwy.

Minutes:

It was noted that Paula Webber, Andrew Jones and Dr. Louise Brown would attend the meeting; the surplus place to be offered to other members of SACRE.

10.

SACRE News Bulletin - to consider information briefings from members for inclusion in the next SACRE News Bulletin. pdf icon PDF 740 KB

Minutes:

SACRE received a copy of the Summer News Bulletin.  The RE Adviser referred to an article omitted from this edition.  This will be published in the next bulletin.

 

·         The authors of the Abergavenny Parables will be asked to provide an article for a future edition;

·         A Member expressed concern that RE: Online and RE Today contains information on non-religious beliefs; other members endorsed the information available in RE Today.

·         A Member asked that Care.org was added to the list;

·         Members were impressed with the Caldicot School event on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child;

11.

Correspondence Update

Minutes:

SACRE Members had been sent an invitation to the AREIAC conference on the 1st July 2019.

 

The document Exploring Secularism was received.  Andrew Jones agreed to review the brochure and to report back on its suitability for endorsement by SACRE.

 

A Member thought that there should be less emphasis on non-religious topics to allow more time for religious education, noting that the Scottish curriculum covers main religions mostly and had less content on world beliefs.  It was suggested that time allocation will be less of issue as the curriculum is not extending to non-religious beliefs, as these are already in place.  The concerns were not generally shared.  It was added that the emphasis within the new curriculum will be that teaching about religious and non-religious worldviews should be objective, critical and pluralistic.

12.

Effectiveness of SACRE (to include discussion on the recommendations made by Estyn) pdf icon PDF 41 KB

Minutes:

SACRE discussed the recommendations of the report.  It was noted that the EAS is rolling out training on Humanities.

 

SACRE can help with advice to schools on sensitive issues as required and schools can be supported more generally on RE matters.  It was noted that some parents sometimes have concerns about visiting religious sites, for example. SACRE can also facilitate for schools to meet people from other faiths by developing links.  It was agreed that the suggested visits and visitors guide would be reissued to schools on the understanding that this is not an approved list.

 

ACTION (PW): It was agreed that the survey results for Monmouthshire on withdrawal from RE needed to be checked.

13.

To note dates and venues of the future meetings

Minutes:

It was agreed to set meetings for the year and to circulate to Members accordingly.