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Archived decisions

Appendix 1

The National Association of SACREs Annual General Meeting

8^th May 2007


1.	Keynote address from Brian Gates, the Chair of the RE Council Summary
	·	RE is at a critical stage. Religion is receiving a bad press.
	·	The National Strategy for RE has been based on wide consultation with government agencies and religious bodies. The proposals for funding the National Strategy were presented to the Department of Education and Skills (DfES) in April for consideration. SACREs have much to gain if the bid is successful.
	·	There are current deficiencies in RE which need to be addressed by:- - acknowledgement by government of RE through to 19 - recognition of SACREs as vital agents - attention to RE in further education colleges
	·	Agreed syllabuses "I shall battle for these continuing as long as they are necessary"
	·	New statutory arrangements are required, eg: - the co-opting arrangements need to be reviewed in relation to minority religious groups such as Jehova Witnesses. - SACRE should be an ecumenical council - The parental right to withdraw children from RE should be removed
2.	Reports from NASACRE executive
	·	Denise Chaplin is the new Chair of NASACRE
	·	Bill Moore (RE Adviser for Buckinghamshire) was voted to become Vice Chair
	·	The treasurer to NASACRE gave his report and proposed an increase in the annual subscription from £75.00 to £85.00 per annum. This was agreed.
3.	Report from HMI (Her Majesty's Inspector) for RE Alan Brine
	·	The nature of inspection has changed and now focuses on validating schools' self evaluations.
	·	Ofsted less frequently checks on compliance issues as they once did.
	·	Schools can receive a good Ofsted report in terms of an overall judgement in spite of non compliance for RE at Key Stage 4.
	·	30 primary and 30 secondary schools are selected from across the country for subject inspection. This provides a diagnosis of trends in RE but no data or quantifiable evidence.
	·	The evidence so far is that secondary schools are completing a form of self evaluation for RE but the quality of the evaluation is limited and non consistent. Analysis of data is often poor. Self evaluation for RE in the primary phase was often of a better quality. Effective evaluation depends, crucially on worthwhile assessment.
	·	In 2007/08 Ofsted will focus on inspecting some `good practice' schools and would welcome recommendations.


4.	Report from Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) Mark Chater
	·	There is evidence for rapidly improving RE Nationally, revealed by Ofsted reports.
	·	The chief area for improvement should emanate from learning from religions
	·	Clive Erricker asked if there were plans for changes to GCSE criteria. Currently the low level expectations, lack of challenge and emphasis on acquisition of knowledge is a backward step for Hampshire pupils who have developed skills in the enquiry into concepts approach to RE. Mark's response explained that QCA now focus on concepts in KS3 units of work and this is imbedded in the levels of attainment. He said that any future Agreed Syllabus should focus on concepts rather than content to equip students to approach GCSE which is under review.
	·	The secondary curriculum review is becoming more flexible with an aim to breaking down distinct subject barriers. Case studies will be provided on the website to exemplify good practice.
5.	Youth Interfaith Projects
	There were 7 presentations from authorities that had been awarded funding and had developed a youth interfaith project. These were:-
	-	East Riding and Hull
	-	Portsmouth
	-	Blackburn
	-	Kirklees
	-	Surrey
	-	Thameside
	-	Newham
	All projects had produced a DVD to illustrate their activities. These included special events involving music, poetry, dance, sport and art workshops, a team building weekend of outdoor activities, producing photopacks and virtual learning environments of places of worship, student and junior SACRES established and links with the Corymeela community in Northern Ireland for conflict resolution training. Hampshire have been successful in the bid for funding a Youth Interfaith project and have been awarded £3,000.