Doncaster Metripolitan Council

Councillors: 56

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Meetings (2024): 113

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Meeting

Name: Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE)
Start: 2024-11-14T16:30:00Z
End: 2024-11-14T20:30:00Z
Location: 008, Civic Office

Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) - Doncaster

Agenda

Published

Minutes

Published

Meeting Times

Scheduled Time

Start:
Thursday, 14th November 2024
4:30 PM

End:
Thursday, 14th November 2024
8:30 PM

Actual Time

Started:
Thursday, 14th November 2024
12:00 AM

Finished:
Thursday, 14th November 2024
12:00 AM

Meeting Status

Status:
Confirmed

Date:
14 Nov 2024

Location:
008, Civic Office

Meeting Attendees

Chair

Mr Bob Kiddle

Present, as expected

Committee Member

Danielle Heath

Expected

Committee Member

Mrs Pahani Kaur

Expected

Committee Member

Lucy Saxton

Expected

Committee Member

Support Assistance

Mary Sivaanbu

Expected

Committee Member

Mr S Syed

Expected

Committee Member

Tara Moxon

Expected

Committee Member

Mrs Sally Faulkner

Expected

Committee Member

Mr Andy Wright

Expected

Committee Member

Jugtinder Singh

National Education Union Teachers Association

Expected

Committee Member

Harvey Kasin

Expected

Committee Member

Jemma Gelder

Expected

Committee Member

Vanessa Gregory

Expected

Committee Member

Amy Roddam

Expected

Officer

Head of Service - Education

Jane Reed

Expected

Officer

Learning Standards and Effectiveness Officer

Sameena Choudry

Expected

Committee Member

Councillor Martin Greenhalgh

Conservative

Present, as expected

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Vice-Chair

Councillor Glynis Smith

Apologies

Committee Member

Councillor Yetunde Elebuibon

Apologies

Committee Member

Councillor Sue Knowles

Present, as expected

Agenda

0 A. Reports where the public and press may not be excluded.

1 Welcome/Introductions and apologies for absence

Minutes The Chair welcomed all those present to the meeting. Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Glynis Smith, Andy Smith and Jugtinder Singh.

2 Declarations of Interest, if any

Minutes There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

3 Minutes of the meeting held on 25th July, 2024

Attachments:

Document 250724 SACRE draft mins 07 Nov 2024

Minutes RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on the 25th July 2024 be approved.

4 Doncaster Locally Agreed RE Syllabus 2025-2030 (recommendation to adopt) (BK)

Attachments:

Document Believing and Belonging in Doncaster_241105_ar 07 Nov 2024

Minutes Prior to the commencement of the meeting the Chair announced that the Standing Advisory Committee on Religious Education (SACRE) meeting was inquorate, therefore items on the agenda would be for noting only.

Members were informed that a further meeting of SACRE would need to be scheduled to agree the Doncaster Locally Agreed RE Syllabus 2025-2030.

RESOLVED that the report be noted and tabled at a future meeting of SACRE.

5 Current Agreed Syllabus 2019-2024 (recommendation to extend to 31st August 2025) (BK).

Minutes Members were informed that a further meeting of SACRE would need to be scheduled to formally agree to extend the current Agreed Syllabus 2019-2024 until the 31st August 2025.

RESOLVED that the recommendation to extend the current Agreed Syllabus 2019-2024 until the 31st August, 2025 be noted and tabled at a future meeting of SACRE.

6 RE Specialist Report - Ian Nicholson, RE Today

Minutes Debbie Yeomans, RE Today, provided the committee with a verbal overview of RE Specialist Report and highlighted the following key points;

· The number of students taking a full course of RE in England and Wales at GCSE increased.

· The number of students taking a short course of RE had risen in England but declined slightly in Wales despite the ongoing challenge of recruiting specialist teachers.

· Recruitment targets were missed in 11 out of the last 12 years.

· 51% of those teaching RE mainly teach other subjects and are not RE specialists.

· The number of teachers teaching RE remained the same since 2011.

· The number of teachers being trained in teaching RE is declining.

· The REC and National Association for Teachers of RE have called for a new national plan for RE to be introduced that would give fair allocation of resources and priorities as part of the plan to recruit more specialist teachers.

· The number of students taking RE at A Level standard has declined in Wales but remained stable in England, this is reflected for all humanities subjects, however the number of entries for Science and Technology subjects has seen a large increase.

· Interfaith Week was running from 10th – 17th November 2024.

· Competitions available to RE GCSE and A Level students.

· Strictly RE, a National RE Conference, had not gone back to face to face meetings since Covid, however they will hold their first face to face on the 25th January 2025.

· The EPICS Cup a competition which runs within secondary schools, is being ran by St Andrews University.

· Angela Hill will take up the position of CEO of National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE).

Following a question, the committee were advised that RE is promoted, and the possible career paths that can be taken by those who take RE as a GCSE or A level qualification are highlighted to students. However, it was acknowledged that there was still work to be done to encourage more pupils to take the subject.

RESOLVED that the presentation be noted.

7 Doncaster SACRE Annual Report 2023/24 (BK).

Attachments:

Document Doncaster SACRE Annual Report 2023-24 Draft 07 Nov 2024

Minutes SACRE board members received the Doncaster SACRE Annual Report 2023/24. Following a brief discussion it was suggested that members of the committee review the report, and forward any suggested amendments to Jane Reed, with final comments to be submitted by the 25th November, 2024.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

8 Recruitment & succession planning for SACRE Chair - Progress Update (JR)

Minutes Beth Turner, Commissioning Lead, Children Young People and Families, provided SACRE board with a verbal update on the recruitment process so far and succession planning for a new SACRE Chair.

It was explained that advertisement of the position had been circulated to all staff, schools and the current SACRE members, however by the application deadline date of the 8th November no expressions of interest were received.

The board briefly discussed their thoughts and made suggestions of possible ways to recruit a new Chair of SACRE. The Chair stressed during discussion that the role was both worthwhile and enjoyable and that anyone interested should contact either Jane Reed or himself for further discussion.

RESOLVED that the update be noted.

9 Any other business.

Minutes Due to the inquorate meeting the board suggested appropriate dates for an additional online SACRE meeting, and it was noted that this should take place on the 28th November, 2024 at 3.30pm.

The Chair suggested that at a future meeting of SACRE the committee seek to remove the directory of available resources within Doncaster from the website and move it to the RE Hub and SACRE webpages.

10 Date and time of next meeting - Thursday 6 March 2025 at 4.30pm.

Minutes RESOLVED that;

· a further meeting of SACRE be scheduled for the 28th November, 2024 at 3.30pm.

· following the additional meeting, the next meeting of SACRE will take place on Thursday 6th March at 4.30pm.

Previous Meetings

31st Jul 2025