Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the STANDING ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION held at The Castle, Winchester on Monday 1 October 2001.

PRESENT:

S.W. Juniper (Chairman); Mrs E.L. Bellchambers; C. Benton; D. Bothwell; J. Graham; C. Hughes; D. Kirk; Mrs J. Lowndes; Mrs J. Murrell; M. Riyami; Rev. G. Rock; Mrs S. Thatcher; P. Tipple; Mrs L. Weatherley.

Also in attendance: Councillor B. Dash (deputising for Councillor Mrs P. Peskett).

1. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 13 February 2001 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Matters arising:

Minute 88 - the funding of the County RE Centre

The County Education Officer confirmed that to date approximately 250 schools had so far subscribed to the RE Centre funding. It was hoped that this figure would increase over the coming months. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman asked to be kept informed of the progress made.

2. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Chairman confirmed that the meeting held in February 2001 was in fact the last within the previous Committee administration cycle. The Chairman therefore wished to express his thanks and gratitude to all members and officers involved on SACRE and its working parties over the past 4 years.

The Chairman reported that he was approached by Councillor D. Allen, Executive Member for Education, towards the end of the summer term, asking if he would be prepared to continue to act as Chairman of SACRE until 2005. Mr Juniper confirmed he would be delighted to resume duties on the Committee.

The Chairman confirmed that the County Education Officer had been successful in finding a speaker for the Annual Lecture to be held during the Spring term. It is hoped that the event, incorporating Southampton, Portsmouth and Hampshire SACRE's, would be addressed by John Gay from Oxford Culham College. Further details would be available at a later meeting.

3. TEACHER RECRUITMENT IN R.E.

The Council received a report from the County Education Officer (Item 3 in the Minute Book) concerning teacher recruitment in Religious Education.

Following the last meeting where significant concerns were raised about the teacher recruitment within secondary schools, two initiatives were undertaken:

    (i) A letter was sent to the Secretary of State

    (ii) A survey of the current situation in Hampshire schools in relation to recruitment of R.E. specialists was undertaken.

    To date a response to the letter dated 5 March 2001 has not been received and the Council agreed that a further letter should be sent to Estelle Morris, MP, Secretary of State for Education highlighting the ever increasing problem of recruiting specialist R.E. teachers in Hampshire. At this point the County Education Officer confirmed that the DFES had recently published its new White Paper "Schools - Achieving Success". The White Paper "celebrates the achievements of the last four years and outlines where the Government think we can get over the next four". With this document in mind, it was felt that a broader reply should be made incorporating existing concerns whilst emphasising the need for religious education training.

    Following discussion it was agreed to establish a small working group of members to study the White Paper document with a view to co-ordinating responses into the main Local Education Authority's reply to be returned in November 2001.

    The working group would comprise Councillor D. Kirk, C. Hughes, M. Riyami, Roger Mead and Alan Brine.

    In order to establish a wide ranging response it was agreed to write to all faith groups serving on SACRE asking for comments to be taken on board by the Working Party which could then be fed directly into the LEA's response.

    Following consultation with Hampshire's recruitment strategy manager, all County secondary schools were sent a questionnaire requesting information about the current situation in relation to the recruitment of RE specialists. The survey prompted a high return rate which highlighted the level of concern over the issue of recruitment of R.E. teachers. More than 50% of those responding indicated that recruitment problems in R.E. are more significant than in other subject areas. The main conclusions are set out in Appendix 2, Section 3 of the report.

    RESOLVED:

      (i) That a further letter be sent to the Secretary of State for Education drawing attention to the problem of recruitment of specialist R.E. staff while incorporating a broader response to the White Paper. A copy of the survey and results should accompany the letter.

      (ii) That the teacher training agency be sent a copy of the report and survey together with a letter expressing concern at the lack of suitable candidates coming out of training.

      (iii) That secondary heads should be commended for their efforts to secure sufficient quantity and quality of R.E. specialist staff and be encouraged to continue in their efforts to fully resource this area of the curriculum.

4. NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS IN R.E.

The Council received a report from the County Education Officer (Item 4 in the Minute Book) concerning the recent national initiatives and publications relevant to R.E. It was reported that QCA had organised two conferences to be held on 3 and 4 December 2001 in London. The main focus for the conference will be the partnership between local and national responsibilities for R.E. A representative from Hampshire SACRE was sought and the Chairman agreed to attend on behalf of the Council.

RESOLVED:

    (i) That the report be noted.

    (ii) That the Chairman be asked to represent Hampshire SACRE at the QCA conference in 2001.

5. REPORT FROM THE NASACRE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Council received a report from the County Education Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) concerning the County Education Officer's recent attendance at the AGM on the National Association of SACREs. Two major issues were raised at the meeting.

    (i) The legal requirements of DFEE guidelines on collective worship.

    (ii) The future of the balance between national and local responsibility for R.E.

    The County Education Officer also confirmed that Hampshire SACRE had been successful in its bid for a grant from NASACRE/Saltley Trust to fund the project to investigate good practice in GCSE short course (Religious Studies). Hampshire were one of four successful bids out of a total of 41 applications.

    RESOLVED:

    That the report be noted.

6. R.E. INSPECTOR'S REPORT

The Council received a report from the County Education Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) concerning some of the recent activities and developments in relation to R.E. in Hampshire schools.

The report informs Council members that Hampshire Local Education Authority had recently been through an OFSTED inspection but no specific reference was made to the work of SACRE.

The County R.E. Centre held a successful open evening in June which several Members of SACRE including the Chairman attended. The R.E. Centre maintains a strong collection of recent materials for R.E. and collective worship. This information is being produced as a computerised catalogue.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

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