Hampshire County Council Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education Meeting

Apologies had been received from:

·         Sheikh Fazle Abbas Datoo, Group A – Muslim Representative

·         Rhian Jones, Group A – Salvation Army Representative

·         Jeff Williams, Group B

·         Cllr Donnelly, Vice-Chairman, Group D

·         Rev James Pitkin, Co-opted Member for Governors

Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed as an accurate record.

There were no deputations received.

The Chairman welcomed The Rev'd Dominik Chmielewski, newly appointed Church of England representative for Group B.

The Chairman also noted that SACRE members may be aware that the Department for Education was undertaking a Curriculum and Assessment Review. A MS Teams meeting had been arranged by Officers to update the SACRE on this and discuss their contribution to NASACRE’s response to it.

The Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education received a verbal update from the Director of Children’s Services regarding the membership of SACRE.

The SACRE noted that vacancies remained for Group A representatives for the following belief groups; Hindu, Buddhist, Baha’i and Baptist. There are also a number of vacancies for the deputies for members of Group A, alongside Group’s B & C.

It was noted that there had been progress on finding a Baha’i and Baptist representative but there was not yet a named individual.

RESOLVED:

That the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education notes the verbal update on their membership.

The Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education received a report from the Director of Children’s Services providing an update on the activities of the Monitoring Group at its recent meeting on the 1 October 2024. It was noted that SACRE had a statutory responsibility to monitor the effectiveness of the locally agreed syllabus, which was undertaken through this Monitoring Group.

Members noted a summary of the following areas discussed by the Monitoring Group, including:

·         Reports from Primary and Secondary Hampshire Ofsted Visits,

·         Update on Work with RE and Disadvantaged Groups,

·         Professional Education Opportunities,

·         Monitoring of Living Difference IV in schools,

·         SACRE Monitoring Visits,

·         Information gathered from other inspector/adviser visits,

·         Update on teacher vacancies and ITE provision.

Officers drew attention to the Collective Worship training course taking place on 27 November for Hampshire’s schools and that the SACRE had won a Westhill Award grant for the reestablishment of a secondary youth voice event in July 2025. It was noted that the reintroduction of bursaries had led to an increase in the number of teachers training to teach R.E. to GCSE level.

It was noted that all members of SACRE can undertake Monitoring Visits to witness religious education produced in a classroom, and that it would be beneficial for their monitoring role if more members endeavoured to do so.

RESOLVED:

That the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education notes the Monitoring Group report.

The Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education received a report from the Director of Children’s Services setting out key national and local RE matters.

Members noted the update on the work of NASACRE, RE Hubs, the Association of University Lecturers in Religious Education (AULRE) and initiatives being led by the Culham St Gabriel’s Trust.

Officers provided a summary of the RExChange Conference organised by Culham St Gabriel’s in October 2024, noting that the sessions had been recorded and were available to view by those interested.

RESOLVED:

That the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education notes the report on key national and local re matters.

The Standing Advisory Panel for Religious Education received a report from the Director of Children’s Services setting out the proposed annual report for 2023 to 2024 for Hampshire’s SACRE.

Officers summarised the annual report which included an overview of the key activities of Hampshire’s SACRE throughout the 2023/4 year and details of how SACRE had undertaken it’s role to monitor the quality of RE.

In response to questions members found that:

·         The report noted that 15.9% of Hampshire’s students opted for GCSE Religious Studies, however this figure also included students educated at schools where this subject was compulsory. This was consistent with the recording of national figures.

RESOLVED:

That the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education approved its Annual Report and forwarded to the relevant internal and external bodies.