Agenda item

Isobel Short presented the SACRE Updates (for copy see file of minutes).

Government are encouraging schools to apply for Academy status. Shotton Hall is now an academy, two other academies in County Durham are opening in September with another 5 schools registering an interest in Academy status.

Academies are no longer Local Authority schools; as a result SACRE would no longer have an official role in these schools. The legal position of RE in Academies is still unclear. Guidance 2010 states that non-faith Academies should teach RE according to the Agreed Syllabus but that is not the case under the Academies Act 2010 where RE may no longer be statutory. 

Isobel wrote to SACRE members in January informing them of the Governments proposals of introducing a new English Baccalaureate which excludes Religious Studies. Isobel has written to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education with concerns that the exclusion of RE will have a detrimental effect.

The response from the Government as to why RE is not included in the English Baccalaureate is because RE is already a compulsory subject.

Concerns about the position of RE due to this Government initiative were discussed.