Agenda and minutes

47.1   The Chairman welcomed the Reverend Dawn Carn representing the Methodists to SACRE and thanked Lt Cdr Noel Atkins from the local authority, who had to step down from due to work commitments, for his time on SACRE.

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.

48.1   Mr Smytherman declared a personal interest in respect of item 5 (Inspection Results for West Sussex Schools) as a Foundation Governor of

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Worthing (Bosco Catholic Education Trust).

Members to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 26 February 2018 as a correct record.

49.1   Resolved – that the minutes of the 11 June 2018 meeting were agreed and that they be signed by the Chairman.

An update on progress made on issues raised at previous meetings will be given.

The results by school for RE at Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 are appended.

SACRE is asked to note the update.

50.1   The following actions/updates were recorded:

·        An amount of money had been made available by the Council to cover the expenses of speakers attending the Youth Conference

·        There was an improvement plan in place to address issues at Littlegreen school

·        The Council did not fund any children in independent mainstream schools, but did fund some places at special schools

·        Independent schools had no obligation to teach RE

50.2   The following comments were made regarding Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 results:

·        Nationally, there had been a fall in the numbers of students taking RE exams, possibly due to pressures around subject choices for the English-baccalaureate

·        RE exams were largely compulsory in all faith schools and four or five others

·        The number of students taking RE exams varied greatly across the county

·        Problems recruiting RE teachers and challenges with the new curriculum might be factors in the low take-up

·        17 schools had 71% or more of its students who took RE at GCSE getting grades A – C

·        Changes in the grading system would make it difficult to compare year on year results from 2018

·        Best practice was shared between school networks and alliances – some lower performing schools had been identified by the Area Inclusion and Improvement Boards and got help from other schools

·        Seven schools did not enter any pupils for RE GCSE, but this did not necessarily mean that RE was not taught in those schools in some form –SACRE queried the number of specialist RE teachers in the county – Action: Rev Chrissie Millwood offered to carry out a survey of school heads to establish the number of specialist teachers in the county

·        Support for RE teachers was available from a range of sources including teaching schools – the local authority no longer has a comprehensive Continuing Professional Development programme

·        Under the new exam structure, GCSEs would be harder, which could mean that the transfer to A level would be easier – results after the new system had bedded-in would be interesting

·        SACRE suggested that a letter be sent to all schools congratulating them on their RE exam results

50.3.  Resolved – that SACRE notes the update.

Report by the Director of Education and Skills.

The report covers spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and collective worship from inspections between March January 2018 and May April 2018.

SACRE is asked to note the report.

51.1   SACRE considered a report by the Director of Education and Skills (copy appended to the signed minutes) which was introduced by Victoria Ludlow, who told SACRE that there had been more inspections this term than last and that some did not include comments on spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

51.2   The following points were covered in discussion:

·        Inspectors were restricted in the way they reported so might use examples under other headings that showed how spiritual, moral, social and cultural development was covered by schools

51.3   Resolved – that SACRE notes the report.

Update by the RE Youth Voice Steering Group.

SACRE is asked to note the update.

·        SACRE members showed interest in attending the Youth Conference – Action: Rob Castle to send details of the conference to SACRE members

Future meeting dates are: 19 November 2018, 25 February 2019.

53.1   The following dates were noted.

10.30 am, 19 November 2018

10.30 am, 25 February 2019