Agenda item

Following on from discussion on SACREs self-evaluation at the previous meeting, the Chair requested that the meeting split in to 4 smaller groups, to look in more depth at the following areas of evaluation, with a view to feedback being used to inform and develop a medium-term plan as to what SACRE do well and what could be improved going forward;

·      Strengths

·      Weaknesses

·      Opportunities

·      Threats

The group reconvened and reported upon their finds as followings:-

Strengths

The Chair explained the findings from his group as follows:

·       Good working relationships, active and work in meetings and between meetings.  

·       Meetings are quorate and well attended with County Councillor representation.  

·       Renewed connections with the Local Authority, senior officer.  

·       Colleagues who report back to faith communities & who they represent (two-way dialogue). 

·       Involvement in Humanist representation 

·       Actively reviewed and evaluated SACRE. 

·       Keeping up to date with contemporary changes in RE – Religion & Worldviews  

·       Support the LA (e.g. School absence and religious observance) 

·       Clerking support & Education Durham support.  

·       Access to NASACRE and LA training and support.  

·       Well represented by Academies on SACRE (not official).  

·       Offer support schools with faith speakers, places of worship, networking opportunities.  

·       Agreed Syllabus / Agreed Syllabus Conference, quality. Impact – other LA’s.  

Past strengths: 

Involvement in Interfaith Conferences with the LA & training. 

Survey new teachers in RE (primary) 

Weaknesses

L Burton outlined her groups findings as follows:

·       Attendance at meetings was poor and dissatisfied with meetings almost being unable to proceed due to quorum rules and legal advice. Suggest a review of the meeting timings and whether it could be held in a hybrid way would possibly improve attendance.

·       Quality data was also considered to be a current weakness, although there was collective appreciation for the tremendous input that P Hodgson had offered since he had started to attend the meetings.

The Chair noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had not helped with the continuity of meetings and attendance, however he did note that it had already been agreed that future meetings would be reviewed before the diary was set by Durham County Council for 2022/23 meetings.

In response to the issues surrounding data, P Hodgson explained that primary school data was always harder to obtain, however he did suggest that there may be future opportunities for the Student Council to be invited to attend a meeting to discuss their experiences in the classroom.

Further discussion took place regarding initiatives that could be made available but a lack of funding for Durham SACRE meant that options were limited. K Passmore noted that funding was available nationally for SACRE led initiatives, however a clear plan and direction would be required in order to access it.

Opportunities

S Walker outlined her groups findings as follows:

·       Chance to become more inclusive and open, especially with rewrite of constitution to review membership to be inclusive of other groups.

·       Emphasis on worldviews

·       To be informed in a more practical and meaningful way and updates from P Hodgson will assist with this

·       Induction training for new members would be beneficial

·       Should seek to publicise Durham SACRE online and via social media

·       Seek to share best practice and utilise the LA to better effect to communicate with schools.

Threats

C Spencer detailed her groups findings as follows:

·       The biggest threat to SACREs (including Durham SACRE) would be RE being added as a national curriculum subject, but since we all serve on SACRE because we value RE, this threat does not concern us.

·       Lack of religious diversity in Durham is a threat to the strength and vibrancy of SACRE because it makes it hard to recruit active Faith members who live locally and can serve more easily. (The lack of diversity also probably affects the ease with which teachers can develop varied visits and Faith encounters).

·       Lack of authority / opportunity to collect information on the teaching of RE and implementation of the Agreed Syllabus in schools is a threat to the ability of all SACREs to do what they are legally supposed to i.e. to advise the Local Authority on RE teaching and on what to do about it. Instead, SACRE is dependent mostly on the Local Authority for information, and we are grateful for the efforts made by P Hodgson to share available data. There is even less data on primary schools than on secondary.

·       Financial constraints (lack of direct budget for SACRE and increasingly tight school budgets) mean that it is difficult for teachers to get time and permission to attend SACRE meetings, leading to a further reduction in our knowledge of RE teaching and issues in schools. Financial constraints can also limit the ability of SACRE to establish conferences where pupils and teachers can meet and share with people from a range of Faiths and other world views to learn more about how Faith affects daily life.

·       Constraints / changes within Education Durham, which have led to the loss of a full-time Inspector for RE mean that the departments resources, including time, are much more restricted when it comes to revising the Agreed Syllabus, giving less opportunity for SACRE members to input to the process. We do appreciate that it has been revised and acknowledge that it remains a well-respected syllabus used in many areas, not just Durham.

·       The COVID-19 pandemic is still a threat to SACRE (and to the teaching of RE) because it disrupted the launch of the Agreed Syllabus, which eventually took place virtually. It has been suggested that Durham could follow Sunderland and relaunch the Syllabus now that face-to-face events are possible again. This could be of benefit but does have financial implications.

·       The increasing proportion of schools which are now academies is a threat to SACRE as there is no formal role for SACRE to be involved with them (unlike with Maintained schools), however are aware that several local academies do still use the Durham Agreed Syllabus, and some have links to SACRE.

P Hodgson suggested that there may be ways for SACRE members to be more involved with those teachers who attend network meetings, whether in person or virtually as they currently do both to enable more teachers to attend.

In conclusion the Chair thanked all present for their input, noting that the working group would continue to meet to discuss self-evaluation and assessment would be ongoing.