Archived decisions
AT A MEETING of the STANDING ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION held at The Castle, Winchester on Tuesday, 26 February 2002.
PRESENT:
S.W. Juniper (Chairman); Mrs. E.L. Bellchambers; C. Benton; Miss S. Boothman; D. Bothwell; Mr. B. Hay; C. Hughes; Mrs. J. Lowndes; Mrs. P. Peskett; Ms M. Post; M. Riyami; Rev. G. Rock; Mrs. T. Ronane; Mr. T. Strong; Mr. P. Tipple; Canon J.R. Turpin; Mr. N. Utton; Mrs. L. Weatherley.
Also in attendance: Councillor D.G. Allen
7. MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 1 October 2001 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. The Note of an informal meeting held on 6 November 2001 was noted for information.
Matters arising:
Minute 3 - Teacher Recruitment in RE
The County Education Officer confirmed that with Members agreement, a further letter be sent to the Teacher Training Agency expressing continued concerns at the low number of students training to become RE teachers, highlighting the need to
make it an attractive subject to teach not just for the children to learn. Councillor D.G. Allen confirmed that SACRE's concerns and comments had been included in the County Council's response submitted to the DfES in relation to the White Paper "Schools - Achieving Success" document.
8. CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS
The Chairman welcomed Mr. A. Angiolini (Group A, Roman Catholic representative), Mrs. S. Boothman (Group B Church of England representative), Mrs. T. Ronane (Group C, Teacher Association representative) and Mr. N. Utton (Group C, Teacher Association representative) to their first meeting of SACRE.
Members received Guidance on Islam which had been written and circulated to all primary schools after extended consideration by SACRE in response to the events of 11 September 2001.
9. HIAS INSPECTOR'S REPORT
The Council received a report from the County Education Officer (Item 3 in the Minute Book) concerning current developments and activities in relation to R.E.
It was reported that the 2001/02 SACRE Annual Lecture had been confirmed for Wednesday, 13 March. The lecturer at this year's event would be Rev Dr. John Gay of Culham College speaking on "A Positive Future for RE." Members had been invited to attend. It was agreed that the invite should be extended to Hampshire County Council's Education Committee Members.
The County Education Officer confirmed that the schemes of work for RE at Key Stage 3 had now been issued to all schools via that Secondary RE Newsletter. It is also available to view on the Hampshire RE Website. At this stage the scheme had been issued as "work in progress" and it will be added to when further material becomes available.
Members were also informed that the County Council had approved its new Education Development Plan (EDP) which sets priorities for the period 2002-2007. The previous EDP allowed for a significant level of direct RE related activity but the new version is much more limiting because of the priorities and requirements of the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).
RESOLVED:
(i) That Hampshire County Council's Education Committee Members be invited to the Annual Lecture to be held on 13 March.
(ii) That the report be noted.
10. SACRE ANNUAL REPORT 2002
The Council received a report from the County Education Officer (Item 4 in the Minute Book) seeking approval of the SACRE Annual Report 2001 summarising its activity over the previous year.
RESOLVED:
That the report be approved.
11. QUALIFICATIONS AND CURRICULUM AUTHORITY (QCA) CONFERENCE 2001
The Council received a report from the County Education Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) concerning the Chairman and Alan Brine's attendance at the QCA Conference held in London on 3 December 2001.
The Chairman informed Members that the keynote speakers were from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), National Association of SACRE (NASACRE), Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) and Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and presentations were given on behalf of these bodies.
Particular gratitude was felt by the Chairman for the continued support, appreciation and understanding received by the Executive Member for Education and the Education Policy Review Committee for the work of SACRE which is not necessarily reflected by all Councils nationally.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted.
12. SACRE MONITORING SUB-GROUP REPORT
The Council received a report from the County Education Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) concerning the SACRE Monitoring Sub Group meeting held on 29 November 2001.
It appeared there was an emerging picture of a polarisation of provision for RE at Key Stage 4. Where Short Course GCSE had been introduced the overall provision and standards of RE appear to improve significantly. There is also evidence that RE is becoming squeezed by the pressures of the KS4 curriculum. The Monitoring Sub-Group felt that further information needed to be sought from OFSTED in order to ascertain whether this is a national trend.
GCSE Results for 2001 confirmed that the number of pupils taking full course studies had increased by nearly 16% although results had declined overall. A*-C grades were down from 64.2% to 58.4%. More detailed analysis across the LEA indicates that there is a very significant variation in performance. Members noted that as in previous years there appears to be a worrying by close correlation between the results and the examination board taken. Pupils who take one popular examination board appear to perform very well whereas pupils taking another board appear to under perform.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted.
13. THE COUNTY RE CENTRE
The Council received a report from the County Education Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) concerning the work of the County RE Centre based at Romsey Road, Winchester.
The Centre continues to provide services to primary and secondary schools including those situated in Portsmouth and Southampton. Schools wishing to use the facilities of the RE Centre are required to subscribe and are charged on a sliding scale according to the size of the school. Members were pleased to learn that the number of schools had risen from 200 at the start of the 2001 academic year to 435 in January 2002. Even with this significant increase a shortfall in funding is forecast and regrettably, at the end of the financial year fees will need to be increased accordingly. The RE team endeavours to improve the provision in order to maintain value for money.
RESOLVED:
That the report be noted.
14. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
That the next meeting be held on Tuesday 18 June 2002.
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