Archived decisions

ITEM 2

AT A MEETING of the STANDING ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION held at The Castle, Winchester on Tuesday 2 November 2004.

PRESENT

S.W. Juniper (Chairman); Councillor D.A. Kirk (Vice-Chairman); H. Benzie; Miss S.E. Boothman; D.B. Bothwell; Councillor Mrs J.K. Frankum; B.W. Hay; C.A.R. Hughes; J.J. Klein; Mrs J. Lowndes; Mrs A. Post; M. Riyami; G.E. Rock; Ms L. Smith; P.E.G. Tipple; N. Utton.

79 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of the debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed.

80 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2004 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

81 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

(a) Councillor Wheeler

The Chairman informed the Council of the recent death of Councillor Wheeler, a longstanding member of SACRE. Members spoke of his conscientious attitude and his constructive manner during his time on the Council. There was a moment's silence in his memory. Councillor Mrs Frankum was welcomed in his place as Labour representative for the County Council.

(b) New Members

The Chairman welcomed Mr Hill as the new Roman Catholic representative on the Council.

(c) Retiring Members

The Chairman informed the Council that Mr Bothwell would be attending his last meeting as Humanist representative and thanked him for his hard work and contribution over the years. Mr Bothwell presented the County Education Officer with a CD Rom entitled `Living Religions - A Primary Resource' as a teaching aid for the County Religious Education Centre.

(d) Non-Statutory National Framework

The County Education Officer brought to the attention of the Council an article in Church Times concerning the recent launch of the Non-Statutory National Framework in relation to the publication of Hampshire's New Agreed Syllabus in July 2004. The article appeared to suggest that the publication of Hampshire's New Agreed Syllabus was an act of defiance and the Council was concerned about the way in which schools may interpret the views expressed in Church Times. This matter would be reported back to a future meeting of SACRE.

82 OFSTED FINDINGS ON RE IN HAMPSHIRE SCHOOLS 2003-4

The Council considered a report from the County Education Officer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) detailing the findings of OFSTED inspections in relation to RE in Hampshire schools in 2003-4. The County Education Officer and Members highlighted several points which they felt it was important to bear in mind when viewing the figures contained in this report:

· The individual schools from which these figures were obtained change from year to year;

· The number of schools from which these figures were obtained had increased significantly from previous years;

· Her Majesty's Inspectorate had of late been more rigorous when awarding a `satisfactory' grading than in previous years.

The Council welcomed the increase in the number of schools which had been inspected for the provision of RE.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

83 SACRE ANNUAL REPORT

The Council considered a report from the County Education Officer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) concerning the SACRE Annual Report 2003-04. He highlighted the increase in the recruitment of newly qualified teachers in the area of religious education. The Council welcomed the evidence indicating an increase in pupils studying the subject. Following discussion the Chairman thanked all those officers responsible for raising the profile of RE in Hampshire schools.

RESOLVED:

That the report be approved.

84 SACRE SELF EVALUATION AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN

The Council considered a report from the County Education Officer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) concerning the first meeting on 17 September 2004 of the provisional Self Evaluation Sub-Group. Members of the Sub-Group and the County Education Officer felt that the guidelines were helpful if used in a flexible way.

RESOLVED:

(a) That SACRE carry out a Self Evaluation.

(b) That SACRE appoint Mr N. Utton and Councillor Mrs Frankum to the Sub-Group and that a Church of England representative be put forward at a later date.

85 REPORT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF DfES 2 YEAR KS3 PROJECT FROM COWPLAIN COMMUNITY SCHOOL

The Council considered a report from the County Education Officer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) concerning the impact of the DfES two year KS3 Project on the teaching of RE at Cowplain Community School. The Chairman welcomed Mr Nick Brockhurst, Senior Assistant Headteacher of Cowplain Community School. He highlighted the beneficial effect of the adoption of this project on the teaching of RE within the school by enabling teachers to provide more intensive learning to pupils throughout Years 8 and 9. The Council welcomed the considered and thoughtful manner in which this project had been implemented by the school. There were concerns among Members to ensure that if other schools chose to adopt this project they should only be able to do so if a similar level of consideration were given to its manner of implementation. The Council approved of the fact that the school were continuing to teach religious education in Year 9, the year in which students choose subjects to study for GCSE.

RESOLVED:

(a) That SACRE welcome the report and approve Cowplain Community School continuing with religious education being included in the DfES 2 Year KS3 Project provided that religious education continue to receive its statutory time entitlement and that the subject continue to be taught in Year 9.

(b) That SACRE review the situation in two years time.

86 DATE OF NEXT MEETING

It was noted that the date of the date of the next SACRE meeting would be Tuesday 8 February 2005 beginning at 2.00 pm.

8SM231104

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