Agenda and minutes

79.1   The Chairman welcomed Mrs Burgess to the meeting as she would soon be appointed to Committee D. He also welcomed Karen Hammond, who had been engaged to assist SACRE in its work on agreeing a Syllabus for implementation in September 2020.

Members and officers must declare any pecuniary or personal interest in any business on the agenda. They should also make declarations at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting. Consideration should be given to leaving the meeting if the nature of the interest warrants it. If in doubt, contact Democratic Services before the meeting.

80.1   None declared.

Members to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 10 June 2019 as a correct record.

81.1   SACRE considered the minutes of the previous meeting and agreed that Mr Simpson should be listed as having apologised for absence.

81.2   Resolved – That, subject to adding Mr Simpson to the list of apologies for absence, the minutes of the meeting held on 10 June 2019 be agreed as a correct record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

SACRE is asked to agree a date for an Agreed Syllabus Conference where it will review the current agreed syllabus and make suggestions for the new agreed syllabus.

SACRE members are to work together on agreeing a process for developing the new Syllabus and also milestone dates for communicating progress and sharing drafts with a sample of schools through the process.

SACRE members are to agree their individual and collective roles and responsibilities for developing the new syllabus and agree working dates for SACRE to come together or to work in sub groups to work on sections and to agree content, structure, outcomes and further guidance.

82.1   Karen Hammond advised that she had been asked to provide support to SACRE with an aim to establish a new Agreed Syllabus by September 2020. She clarified that she was not providing any other general support to SACRE on behalf of the Education Service. SACRE welcomed Karen’s appointment.

82.2   SACRE expressed concern that the timetable for introducing the new Agreed Syllabus by September 2020 would be challenging, but acknowledged that this was a requirement and so would have to be achieved, and that the previous Working Group had concluded that the current Syllabus would be likely to need minor revision rather than a major change. Members highlighted that the previous Agreed Syllabus had been issued with little training or guidance for RE teachers and hoped that the Education Service would provide sufficient resources to help SACRE to establish training and guidance material for them in time for September 2020.

82.3   SACRE considered how fundamental a review of the current Syllabus would be required and agreed to establish a Working Group to examine a range of other authorities’ Syllabuses to help it compare the current one. In parallel, a network of RE teachers should be established to provide comments on the existing Syllabus and to comment on the emerging draft. It was clarified that the Working Group and network could both meet at County Hall, Chichester.

82.4   Resolved – 

(1)         That SACRE will aim to agree a new RE Syllabus for West Sussex for implementation in September 2020.

(2)         That SACRE welcomes the appointment of Karen Hammond to support it in agreeing the Syllabus but asks the Education Service to provide resources to help SACRE to issue training and guidance for RE teachers ahead of the implementation of the new Syllabus.

(3)         That a Working Group comprising Mrs Bell and Mr Firoozmand (Committee A), Mrs Black (Committee B), Miss Barker (Committee C), Mrs Pendleton and Mr Simmons (Committee D) and Mrs Waker (co-opted member) be established to work with Karen Hammond to review other Syllabuses with a view to preparing a draft Agreed Syllabus for SACRE’s consideration.

(4)         That the Working Group will meet on Friday 7 February at 1pm and Tuesday 25 February at 4.30pm.

(5)         That Miss Barker and Mrs Smith be asked to establish a network of RE teachers to support teachers.

SACRE is asked to agree protocols and methods of communicating to schools and also for managing any consultation and feedback.

83.1   SACRE acknowledged that its statutory role included having an overview of standards of RE in West Sussex schools and in promoting high standards. It asked the Chairman to write to the Director of Education and Skills and the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills to highlight SACRE’s role and to ask that the Education Service provides sufficient resources to enable SACRE to carry out its work.

83.2   The Vice-Chairman reminded SACRE members of the Youth Voice Project that had provided an RE conference hosted by the University of Chichester. She asked SACRE members to provide any support possible to continue this successful project, possibly including a future conference in the north of the county.

83.3   Resolved – That the Chairman write to the Director of Education and Skills

and the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills to set the role of SACRE and to ask for confirmation that the Education Service will provide sufficient resources to enable SACRE to carry out its role effectively.

Future meeting dates are: 26/03/20, 08/06/20, 16/11/20 and 01/03/21

SACRE to discuss whether to continue to hold all meetings during the day at County Hall, Chichester.

84.1   SACRE noted that its future meeting dates were 26 March 2020, 8 June 2020, 16 November 2020 and 1 March 2021. The next meeting will be held at 10.30am at County Hall, Chichester, but other timings can be considered for future meetings, such as 2.15pm.