Agenda and minutes

63.1   The Chairman welcomed Mrs Black as a new Church of England representative.

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.

64.1   The following personal declarations were declared:

·        Mr Smytherman in respect of Item 7 (Inspection Results for West Sussex Schools) as a Foundation Governor of St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Worthing (Bosco Catholic Education Trust)

·        Mr Cornford in respect of Item 7 (Inspection Results for West Sussex Schools) as a teacher at Thomas A Becket Junior School, Worthing

·        Mrs Llewelyn in respect of Item 7 (Inspection Results for West Sussex Schools) as Headteacher at St Mary’s Church of England Primary School, Clymping.

Members to agree the minutes of the meeting held on 19 November 2018 as a correct record.

65.1   The following changes were agreed:

·        The second half of bullet two, minute 58.1 to read 'this is a national issue and some schools deliver aspects of RE in cross curricular ways, e.g. through aspects of PSHE’

·        Bullet three, minute 58.1 to read ‘The need for specialist teachers’ only

·        Bullet four, minute 58.1 to read ‘The challenge of delivering the GCSE syllabus in relevant and engaging ways’.

65.2   Resolved – that the minutes of the 19 November 2018 meeting, with the amendments above, are agreed and that they be signed by the Chairman.

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

SACRE is asked to note the update.

66.1   The following actions/updates were recorded:

·        A letter had been sent to schools congratulating them on their results in RE – Action: Victoria Ludlow to let SACRE members know which schools had been sent letters

·        A letter reminding headteachers of their obligation to teach RE would be sent this week

·        The Chairman reported that the next meeting of regional SACRE chairmen would take place in June

·        The Agreed Syllabus Working Group meeting scheduled for 1 February had to be cancelled and a replacement date was being sought. SACRE agreed that Jude Edwards and Rosie Black could attend the meeting as well as, or in place of, Firooz Firoozmand and Angela Smith respectively

·        Location and judgement had been added to schools’ information in the paper on OFSTED inspection reports.

66.2   Resolved – that SACRE notes the updates.

Report by the Director of Education and Skills.

The report covers spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and collective worship from inspections between September 2018 and January 2019.

SACRE is asked to note the report.

67.1   SACRE considered a report by the Director of Education and Skills (copy appended to the signed minutes).

67.2   The following points were covered in discussion:

·        Inspection reports for three schools judged as ‘Good’ did not include comments on spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development– Action: Victoria Ludlow to check whether the three schools were inspected by the same lead inspector

67.3   Resolved – that SACRE highlights the omission of SMSC reporting in some full inspections in the OFSTED consultation.

Report by the Director of Education and Skills.

The report informs SACRE of the validated data on exam results for West Sussex from Summer 2018.

SACRE is asked to note the report.

68.1   SACRE considered a report by the Director of Education and Skills (copy appended to the signed minutes).

68.2   The following points were covered in discussion:

·        The new syllabus was more challenging for teachers and students

·        GCSEs were now graded from 9 to 1 instead of A to G with no correlation between grades so year on year comparisons could not be made

·        21 out of 38 secondary schools with sixth forms submitted students for A level RE – Action: This information to be added to future reports on examination results

·        The numbers of students taking the short course were dropping, probably because it did not count towards school statistics or the English Baccalaureate

68.3   Resolved – that SACRE notes the report.

An update on this year’s RE Youth Voice Conference to be provided by Angela Smith.

69.1   Mrs Smith and Mr Smith gave the following update:

·        This year’s conference would take place at Chichester University on 25 June

·        All secondary schools had been invited to take part and 13 had accepted – this was an increase on previous years

·        SACRE members were invited to take part or observe

·        It was hoped there would be 13 workshops, 7 had so far been confirmed

·        Financial help was requested for travel expenses and staff/speakers’ lunches – it was pointed out that SACRE does not have a budget – Action: Victoria Ludlow would see if money could be taken from another budget source

·        Various suggestions were made for the provision of lunches including sponsorship by supermarkets and packed lunches – Action: Graeme Smith to see if the University caterers would object to lunches being provided by an outside source

Future meeting dates are: -

10 June 2019

18 November 2019

2 March 2020

70.1   The dates of future meetings were noted as set out below.

10.30 am, 10 June 2019

10.30 am, 18 November 2019

10.30 am, 2 March 2020