Agenda and minutes

* Mrs Hamid replaced Mrs K Cooper for this meeting only.

Officers in attendance

Mr J Hewitt - Head of Quality and Continuous Improvement, Lancashire County Council, Children and Young People Directorate.

Mr J Mynott - Committee Support Team Leader, Lancashire County Council, Office of the Chief Executive.

Mr M Neville  - Senior Committee Support Officer, Lancashire County Council, Office of the Chief Executive.

Apologies were presented on behalf of Ms V Chauhan, Mrs J O'Rourke, Mrs H Sage, Miss L Fenton, County Councillor P Buckley, Ms J Harris and Mr N Anwar.

Resolved: That the Minutes of the meeting held on the 16^th June 2014 are confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

Resolved: That the Minutes from the SACRE Quality and Standards Sub Group are noted.

Mr Hewitt presented the Lancashire SACRE Development Plan 2014/15 which had been amended in response to various comments made at the last meeting of the Quality and Standards Sub Group; including providing timelines and identification of Officers responsible for implementing specific points.

Priority 1 - To fulfil SACRE's statutory role by providing effective leadership of RE and collective worship.

With regard to monitoring Mr Hewitt reported that information would be collated from a variety of sources, including the results from Key Stage 4. Responses from a sample of schools and Youth Voice would also inform the future monitoring of the quality of provision for Religious Education. He added that a report on the outcomes of the monitoring would be presented to SACRE in March 2015. The value of the Youth Voice was emphasised in this area and in the work of the SACRE in general.

Priority 2 – To raise achievement in Religious Education.

It was reported that the Religious Education website would be developed to assist schools to share examples of good practice and enable teachers to network and exchange ideas. It was noted that as part of the developments the website would be made more easily accessible and navigable for teachers.

The low take-up of courses was discussed and it was suggested that many schools were finding it difficult to release staff to attend courses for a range of reasons. Whilst courses would continue to be offered it was recognised that there needed to be a range of approaches in order to reach as many schools and teachers as possible.

It was also noted that there was a role for Governors in terms of raising the profile of Religious Education and Collective Worship and in ensuring that the subject had a place in School Improvement Plans so that it would be allocated the necessary resources.

The high quality of school support services in Lancashire was discussed and it was recognised that there was an opportunity for services to be marketed to those adjacent local authorities who were keen to improve standards in schools within their area.

With regard to the government decision not to set national levels and the impact this would have on monitoring the progress of pupils, Mr Hewitt reported that arrangements were being made to establish a group to develop an approach around the assessment of RE for Secondary Schools. In response to a query Mr Hewitt undertook to communicate the planned course of action to schools in order to reassure teachers that action was being taken to address concerns around levels. 

Priority 3 – To improve the provision of Collective Worship.

The importance of Collective Worship (and Religious Education) in relation to community cohesion and the promotion of 'British values' was recognised. It was noted that there was a range of excellent material available via the SACRE website though it was suggested that many schools had difficulty in accessing the information. As a result Mr Hewitt informed the meeting that details of how to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Mr Hewitt informed the meeting that the SACRE Hub had met in July and September and continued to provide an opportunity for a valuable and productive discussion between representatives of local authorities in the northern part of the North West. Students from Broughton High School had attended the last meeting of the Hub and made an excellent contribution to the discussions.

It was also reported that a number of local authorities in the Hub had expressed an interest in RE training and support which would be discussed further at the next meeting. Mr Hewitt suggested that involving Youth Voice in the process of sharing best practice and experience with other local authorities also presented an opportunity to develop young people within Lancashire. 

It was noted that the next meeting of the SACRE Hub would be held on the 24^th February 2015.

Resolved: That the update in relation to the work of the SACRE Hub is noted.

Oral report.

It was reported that the latest version of the handbook from Ofsted highlighted the need for School Inspectors to satisfy themselves that schools followed a 'broad and balanced' curriculum.

Members of the SACRE gave examples of their experience of recent  inspections and acknowledged that greater emphasis had been placed on Religious Education provision, the promotion of 'British values' and challenging young people in relation to their social, moral, spiritual and cultural development.

The Chair also reported that he had been contacted by the ACCORD Coalition for Inclusive Education regarding the availability of the Inclusive Schools Award 2015 and suggested that details of the Award be circulated to members of the SACRE so that schools in Lancashire could consider submitting an entry for consideration.

Resolved: That details of the ACCORD Inclusive Schools Award 2015 are circulated to all members of the SACRE for information.

There were no additional contributions from the Observers present at the meeting.

The next scheduled meeting will be held at 10.00am on the 24^th November 2014 in Cabinet Room C – The Duke of Lancaster Room at County Hall, Preston.

It was noted that the next scheduled meeting would be held at 10.00am on the 24th November 2014 in Cabinet Room 'C' – The Duke of Lancaster Room at County Hall, Preston.