Agenda and draft minutes

The Vice Chair, in the absence of the Chair, welcomed everyone to the meeting.

None.

The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed as a true record.

SAC Members provided feedback on the EAS training resources available on Hwb.  Members noted that the collection of resources is at a starting point and it is planned to develop them to be broader and to look at more specific aspects of religion. The RE Adviser welcomes anyone willing to work on the development of resources

particularly lived experiences of faith or belief. The following points were made:

·        The reference to veganism should be changed to reflect that it may be a non-religious philosophical conviction.

·        It was pointed out that the balance between the content for some faiths and beliefs was disproportionate to others.  The tone of the content was also variable with the effect that some faiths and beliefs appear more interesting than others.

·        The slide referring to census results in relation to no religion/Christianity may be misleading e.g. no religious belief may not necessarily refer to humanism and could include a variety of beliefs. 

·        The slide referring to the quick quiz on the Census may be misleading as Christianity is still the most common response given for those who have a religion.

·        The availability of resources for some faiths and beliefs is limited.

·        It was suggested that a slide could be added to outline the legal requirements for the teaching of RVE with a link to the locally agreed syllabus. The possibility of adding slides, or a separate section, bespoke to Monmouthshire, its Schools and the locally agreed syllabus was discussed.

·        It was suggested that local areas of pilgrimage could be added to the Christianity resources.

SAC Members were reminded that the resources on Hwb include videos e.g. personal accounts of lived experience that were not circulated with the slides.  Comments and amendments are invited from SAC Members and can be sent direct to the RE Adviser (hayley.jones@sewaleseas.org.uk).

1.     Summer Conference Report

2.     Other WASACRE Business

The conference was successful with many online modules available.  Arrangements are in hand to make these accessible post-event. There was significant teacher engagement, a notable session on Philosophy for Children and engaging keynote speakers whose videos will also be made available. Additionally, a promotional film clip for WASACRE, SACs, and RVE was shown at the WASACRE conference.

Monmouthshire SAC is hosting the Autumn WASACRE meeting. The meeting is to be held exclusively online via Zoom and will be organised by WASACRE.  All Monmouthshire SAC Members will be able to attend the meeting.

It was agreed that some schools would be asked to contribute a video to showcase some work. This can be in the form of short clips that can be collated into a montage. This will be raised at the Headteachers’ meeting on 30^th September (Sharon Randall-Smith/RE Adviser to follow up).

It was noted that Will McLean, Chief Officer for Children and Young People will provide a Welcome Speech (Sharon to secure a suitable date in November).

Sharon Randall-Smith, Head of Achievement and Extended Services provided an update that the report to Full Council is written, awaiting communication on a nomination from one professional association. To date there are two primary school and two secondary school nominations.  If no further nominations are received, the remaining two vacancies will be offered to the Secondary Headteachers’ Group and the Primary Headteachers’ Group.

SAC was reminded that teacher nominations are considered by Joint Advisory Group so there is no formal involvement by the SAC Appointments Panel. 

It was reported that the Church in Wales will be making a nomination to replace Rebecca Morteo in due course.

It was confirmed that the SAC Appointments Panel only reviews applications for Faith and Belief nominations, then a recommendation is made to full Council. Sharon Randall-Smith was asked to send forms to the Church in Wales and the Roman Catholic Church requesting nominations for the respective vacancies.

SAC received its draft Annual Report as compiled by the RE Adviser. It was agreed that the report should contain a link to the locally agreed syllabus. Members were invited to review the report for accuracy for a week and to advise the RE Adviser of any additions and/or amendments, prior to translation and publication.

The RE Adviser was thanked for her work in producing the report.