Hampshire County Council

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Meeting

Name: Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education
Start: 2024-11-04T14:00:00Z
End: 2024-11-04T18:00:00Z
Location: Ashburton Hall, EII Court, Winchester

Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education - Hampshire

Agenda

Published

Minutes

Published

Meeting Times

Scheduled Time

Start:
Monday, 4th November 2024
2:00 PM

End:
Monday, 4th November 2024
6:00 PM

Meeting Status

Status:
Confirmed

Date:
04 Nov 2024

Location:
Ashburton Hall, EII Court, Winchester

Meeting Attendees

Committee Member

Carson Elday

Group C - Hampshire Teachers' Liaison Panel

Present, as expected

Deputy

Robert Sanders

Group B - Church of England

Not required

Committee Member

Rachel Jackson

Group C - Hampshire Teachers' Liaison Panel

Present, as expected

Committee Member

Group B

The Rev'd Dominik Chmielewski

Group B - Church of England

Present, as expected

Vice-Chairman

Councillor Christopher Donnelly

Conservative

Apologies

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Deputy

Imam Sayfullah Nasir

Group A - Muslim

Not required

Committee Member

Revd Peter Rayson

Group A - Methodist

Present, as expected

Committee Member

Vacancy

Group A - Baha'i

Expected

Committee Member

Vacancy

Group A - Baptist

Expected

Committee Member

Vacancy

Group A - Buddhist

Expected

Committee Member

Chris Hughes

Group A - Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches

Present, as expected

Deputy

Joyce Wan

Group A - Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches

Not required

Committee Member

Vacancy

Group A - Hindu

Expected

Committee Member

Chris Robinson

Group A - Humanists

Present, as expected

Deputy

Mary Wallbank

Group A - Humanists

Not required

Committee Member

Danny Habel

Group A - Jewish Community

Present, as expected

Committee Member

Sheikh Fazle Abbas Datoo

Group A - Muslim

Apologies

Committee Member

Yasmeen Hussain

Group A - Muslim

Present, as expected

Committee Member

Father John Chandler

Group A - Roman Catholic Church

Absent

Committee Member

Rhian Jones

Group A - The Salvation Army

Apologies

Deputy

Captain Victoria Crawford

Group A - The Salvation Army

Not required

Committee Member

Harjinder Virdee

Group A - Sikh

Absent

Committee Member

Noel Thorpe-Tracey

Group A - Society of Friends

Present, as expected

Committee Member

Vacancy

Group A - United Reform Church

Expected

Committee Member

Maria Ackland

Group B - Church of England

Absent

Committee Member

Sue Bowen

Group B - Church of England

Present, as expected

Committee Member

Jeff Williams

Group B - Church of England

Apologies

Committee Member

Maureen Barnes

Group C - Hampshire Teachers' Liaison Panel

Present, as expected

Committee Member

Julie Kelly

Group C - Hampshire Teachers' Liaison Panel

Absent

Co-opted Member

Gill Heron

Academy Schools

Absent

Co-opted Member

James Pitkin

Governors

Apologies

Co-opted Member

Rhiannon Love

Higher Education

Present, as expected

Co-opted Member

Alasdair Richardson

Higher Education

Absent

Committee Member

Councillor Wayne Irish

Liberal Democrat

Present, as expected

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Committee Member

Councillor Pal Hayre

Conservative

Present, as expected

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Conservative Deputy

Councillor Jackie Branson

Conservative

Not required

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Liberal Democrats Deputy

Councillor Jackie Porter

Liberal Democrat

Not required

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Chairman

Councillor Elaine Still

Conservative

Present, as expected

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Conservative Deputy

Councillor Juliet Henderson

Conservative

Not required

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Agenda

1 Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes 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

2 Declarations of Interest

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to Part 3 Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore all Members with a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider, having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 4 of the Code, whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, consider whether it is appropriate to leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

No declarations were made.

Minutes 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.

3 Minutes of the Previous Meeting

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

Attachments:

Document Minutes Public Pack, 11/06/2024 Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education 25 Oct 2024

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

4 Deputations

To receive any deputations notified under Standing Order 12.

Minutes There were no deputations received.

5 Chairman's Announcements

To receive any Chairman’s announcements.

Minutes 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.

6 Membership Update

To receive a verbal update from the Director of Children’s Services on the membership of Hampshire’s Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education.

Minutes 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.

7 Monitoring Group

To receive a report from the Director of Children’s Services regarding the activities and discussions of the monitoring group in relation to the monitoring of RE and the implementation of Living Difference IV.

Attachments:

Document Report - SACRE Monitoring Group Report 25 Oct 2024

Minutes 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.

8 Key National and Local RE Matters

To receive a report from the Director of Children’s Services on developments in relation to the work of the Religious Education Council, RE Research and other key national and local RE matters.

Attachments:

Document Report - Key National and Local Matters 25 Oct 2024

Minutes 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.

9 Hampshire SACRE Annual Report 2023-24

To receive from the Director of Children’s Services Hampshire SACRE’s Annual Report for 2023 to 2024.

Attachments:

Document Cover Report - SACRE Annual Report 2023-2024 25 Oct 2024
Document SACRE Annual Report 2023-2024 25 Oct 2024

Minutes 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.

Previous Meetings

28th Jan 2025