Agenda item

Members considered the Education Durham Report to SACRE that provided details of the Education Durham Support to Schools in 2020-2021 to date. The report also advised Members that Darlington Borough Council had approached the Council in relation to adopting the 2020 Durham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education (for copy of report, see file of minutes).

The Education Durham Support and Provision Lead presented the report.

Discussion ensued regarding the topic of ‘worldviews’ and it was noted that an online event offered by NASACRE would be held on 10th Nov 2021, 7-8pm: What do SACREs need to know and understand about worldviews. The aim of the session was to share an overview of what the term 'worldviews' means in a number of different disciplines and would reflect upon how it provides useful concepts from which teachers feel more equipped to teach RE. The session was available to all SACRE members and details would be circulated following the meeting.

Following a request from the Chair, K Passmore agreed to provide an overview on the topic of ‘worldviews’ at a future session.

It was noted that children in different stages of education had varying understanding of worldviews and noted that a lot of teachers in primary schools were not RE trained. This highlighted the importance of having RE practitioners on SACRE to complement members of other faiths.

The Education Durham Support and Provision Lead added that it was acknowledged that support was required for staff in schools and the way in which support could be provided was being reviewed to determine how it could be adapted to provide the level required.

Whilst it was acknowledged that ways of working had significantly altered since 2020, in the present situation it was very difficult for teachers to attend meetings of SACRE due to ongoing pressures and timing of meetings. Discussion then ensued regarding online meetings and whether SACRE could explore options for holding meetings remotely or in a hybrid way alongside seeking the views of teachers as to how they felt SACRE could support them going forward.

It was noted that the comments regarding remote meetings would be passed to Legal Services and a response be provided at the next meeting.

Resolved: that the content of the report be noted.