To welcome members to SACRE and receive a prayer

The chair welcomed the attendees and introduced Mr Geoff Sallis as a guest and explained that following ratification of the constitution he would be joining SACRE as the Humanist representative. Councillor Stone delivered the thought for the moment and asked the group to think of the hardships being suffered on all sides of the Ukraine conflict, the kindness of those offering aid/refuge and to pray for a peaceful outcome. A moment of silence followed.

Apologies were received from Councillor Hewitt and Alison Naylor.

Mr Ben Caldicott emailed SACRE to inform it that, with regret, he had made the decision to resign from his position on Herefordshire SACRE, due to current and future pressures/commitments as a school leader. The chair circulated a card for the group to sign containing the message “Thank you Ben for the time and energy that you’ve given Herefordshire SACRE”.

Tracy Westlake would be acting as the Primary Teacher Representative as a co-optee.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 19^th November 2021.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting on 19 November 2021 are agreed as a correct record and signed by the chairperson.

No pubic questions received.

To note the budget for SACRE 2022/23

SACRE received a report from the lead officer for SACRE to note the budget for 2022/23 as being £6,120. The strategic finance manager, corporate services, introduced the report and explained that the funding for SACRE came from the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and a bid for extra funding of £1,120 was agreed through the Schools Forum. £1,000 was to ensure sufficient funding for the 5 year syllabus review. The £120 was requested by the chair to pay for annual membership of the NASACRE and that was readily agreed by Schools Forum. The chair made a detailed proposal for consideration by schools for the funding of SACRE and included in that was a proposal for funding for an annual conference of schools. The budget working groups had been informed that two secondary heads teachers had volunteered to arrange events at their own schools which would be used as examples for other schools to follow, and preferred that approach rather than granting additional funds for this in the budget. Hopefully, this would provide a starting a point to develop an annual schools conference. The budget as it was agreed was sufficient to cover SACRE’s needs for 2022/23 and would be reviewed as required.

The Chair sought clarification that the £1,000 pound increase would also be used for training requirements and the reinstatement of a third meeting in the summer, the strategic finance manager confirmed this.

SACRE welcomed the increase in funding during these difficult financial times and also extended its gratitude to the two school heads who had volunteered their schools as venues for conferences and meetings. 

The Chair noted that RE Today would charge the current rate for the July 2022 meeting, but would need to review this for 2023. It was also pointed out that he Schools Forum didn’t accept any of the vision funding at all and that there was a need to contact the head teachers to see what could be worked out.

The Chair also pointed that SACRE had not be granted funding for the Bluecoat’s School Saturday event, but that the Mayor of Hereford had suggested that SACRE could apply for specific funding that available for people in Hereford City, which might be able to provide funding for a faith/culture event in the future. SACRE would not apply for this until September 2022 as the money would need to be used within a limited time.

SACRE felt it was good to have the third meeting reinstated as it allowed for greater continuity throughout the year and for initiatives to be followed through. 

To receive a verbal briefing from the local NASACRE representative.

Mr Paul Smalley of NASACRE gave a talk about what NASACRE is and what it does.

It was explained that there are 151 SACREs and two levels of membership for SACREs - subscribed and unsubscribed.

It was also explained that the overriding aim of NASACRE was to help provide good quality religious education and collective worship in all schools across England. NASCRE looks to strengthen local SACREs by helping them to carry out statutory duties and conduct their affairs in the most effective manner. It also holds regular conferences, workshops and an AGM.

Mr Smalley explained that NASACRE represents the interests, cares and concerns of local SACREs to other bodies at a national level, for example the DfE.

NASACRE was currently anticipating the release of a White Paper containing proposals to bring more schools into the academy structure, Mr Smalley explained the concerns NASACRE had over this and how it would be looking to support SACREs in dealing with any new legislation that came into place in the future. A number of links to the NASACRE website were provided:

https://nasacre.org.uk/file/nasacre/1-505-nasacre-final-virtual-training-plan-2021-22.pdf

1-505-nasacre-final-virtual-training-plan-2021-22.pdf

https://www.nasacre.org.uk/file/nasacre/1-376-nasacre-report-on-sacre-funding-in-england-2021.pdf

https://nasacre.org.uk/file/nasacre/1-58-final-still-standing.pdf

https://nasacre.org.uk/file/nasacre/1-505-nasacre-final-virtual-training-plan-2021-22.pdf

RESOLVED: SACRE agreed to join NASACRE on the 21st April 2022

To receive details of the 2022 RE conferences.

SACRE received an update from the RE Consultant concerning the 2022 RE Conferences. The RE Consultant outlined plans for the three counties secondary conference 23^rd June. The conference would be held at Puckrup Hall Hotel in Tewkesbury. It was explained that the conference would ensure a more formal process for the provision of feedback to guide the content of the following year’s conference. The RE Consultant explained that the secondary conference would also be conducted online and would be covering: Religion and Worldviews, approaches to Sikh Worldviews, multidisciplinary approaches, TeachMeet and evaluations and syllabus consultation.

The RE Consultant then outlined plans for the Herefordshire Primary RE Conference 4th July. The conference would be an online event and would cover areas including, ways of knowing: worldviews. SACRE would be able to talk about local groups, other resources that might be available and pupil days next year. It presented an opportunity to get some impetus behind those practices and programmes. This was a fee per-school conference, which made it good value. SACRE membership was free.

The decision on special schools (SEN) was still pending on being able to match funding with NASACRE, but certain challenges had stalled progress. However, those involved were confident it would happen in the near future.

To consider recent national initiatives and there implications for the teaching of religious education in Herefordshire schools.

Ms. Westlake gave an update on a resource sharing meeting, which had focused on fun practical activities across religions. The next meeting was planned for Tuesday 5^th April at 3:45pm and would be online, the focus of the meeting would be on remembering, reflecting and reimagining.

The RE Consultant introduced the updates on new RE Initiatives and provided an update on issues including: OFSTED Inspections, Analysis of teacher survey on Secondary RE and RS, Religious Education and the lack of support by government funding

NASACRE Conference 2022 and NATRE Spirited Arts.

SACRE discussed concerns about the amount of time schools were dedicating to teaching RE and felt that it would be useful to draw up a draft survey for primary and secondary schools, which could be sent out to RE leads to establish hours per week being and the number of pupil withdrawals being made by parents and schools.

RESOLVED: The RE Consultant (Mr Stephen Pett), Mr Jonathon Nicholas and Mrs Lou Barker would work together on drawing up a draft using existing surveys and report back to SACRE at the next meeting. 

To note the dates below for meetings of SACRE in 2022/23:

·         8^th July 2022

·         18^th November 2022

·         10^th March 2023

·         8^th July 2022

·         18^th November 2022

·         10^th March 2022