Agenda item

The Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education considered a report of J Rimmer, Education Durham which provided an overview of support provided to schools since April 2021 to date (for copy see file of Minutes).

Councillor Walton asked whether further information regarding SLAs with schools was available and what services these covered. P Hodgson advised that SLAs provided access to a number of contracted hours of general support, usually 6/9 hours.

Further to a question regarding ‘deep dives’ into Religious Education via Ofsted and P Hodgson explained that deep dive exercises were a process of gathering evidence on the effectiveness of the curriculum and how well it is being taught. The intent of the deep dive was to seek to interrogate and establish a better understanding on the quality of education provided in the school.

L Burton added that the quality of provision provided to schools by this local authority was not clear from reading the report and noted the excellent working relationship that Durham County Council had with SACRE. In response P Hodgson noted previous concerns raised regarding the previous resources which had been made available to SACRE via Isobel Short. He further noted that many schools were no longer maintained and therefore the council had no mandate over them unless there was a standards’ concern.

W Gray added that she agreed with Councillor Walton and that sight of the Ofsted reports where a deep dive had been conducted would be useful.

Further discussion ensued regarding the regarding the resources which could be made available to SACRE. P Hodgson noted that there were obvious budget constraints and the climate of education had changed considerably over recent years, however he would endeavour to get the right support for SACRE.

Resolved: That the content of the report be noted.