Venue: Kingston Centre, Fairway, Stafford ST16 3TW. View directions
\n\t\tContact: Helen Phillips \n\t\t Email: helen.phillips@staffordshire.gov.uk\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\t\t\n\t\tItems\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\tNo.\n\t\t\tItem\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tMinutes of the meeting held on 26 February 2009 PDF 35 KB
\nMinutes:
\nUpdate on Key Issues PDF 312 KB
\nReport of the Corporate Director (Children and\nLifelong Learning)
\nMinutes:
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SACRE received\nan update on key issues that had developed or arisen since their\nlast meeting. The issues raised included:
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\n\ni) \nfrequency of subject inspections (Members received a copy of the\nletter sent to Mr A. Brine, HMI with responsibility for RE, and his\nletter of response);
\n\n\nii) \nsubject inspection report for Endon High School (SACRE asked that a\nletter of congratulations be sent to the School);
\n\n\niii) \nthe Student Council;
\n\n\niv) \nStaffordshire SACRE web page;
\n\n\nv) \nMonitoring of provision;
\n\n\nvi) \nThe SACRE awards (the Awards were scheduled for 2 July and all\nSACRE members were welcome to attend); and
\n\n\nvii) \nPersona dolls.
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RESOLVED – That the report\nbe noted.
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NASACRE Update
\nOral Report of the Chairman
\nMinutes:
\nThe Agreed Syllabus Review PDF 32 KB
\nReport of the Corporate Director (Children and\nLifelong Learning)
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Minutes:
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At their\nmeeting of 17 June 2008 SACRE had convened an Agreed Syllabus\nConference and had set in motion the Agreed Syllabus Review for\nStaffordshire. Members had considered the progress made at\nsubsequent meetings.
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Members\nreceived details of the action taken following comments and\nrecommendations made by SACRE. Specifically members were informed\nthat:
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\n\na) \nThe Early Years Adviser had\nbeen consulted and it had been decided to leave the sections on\nEarly Years Foundation Stage and Reception/Key Stage 1 as they were\nin the statutory section of the syllabus to reflect the legal\nposition of RE in these phases. Full account would be taken of\nSACREs comments in the guidance material where careful attention\nwould be paid to addressing the specific needs of each\narea.
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\nb) \nIt was not a requirement for\nspecial schools to follow the locally agreed syllabus and therefore\nit was not appropriate to include guidance in the statutory section\nof the syllabus for this sector. For teachers of pupils with\nSpecial Educational Needs (SEN) in other schools an information box\nhad been added to the section \n“How can pupils and\nteachers recognise progress in religious\neducation?” referring them to the guidance material\nwhich would include planning information and the ‘P’\n(performance) scale for RE, a set of descriptions for recording the achievement\nof pupils with SEN. \nThis was in keeping with the way in which requirements were\npresented for other subject areas by QCA.
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\n\nc) \nThe text had been amended as\nappropriate to include full reference to conceptual and\nexperiential faiths.
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The draft syllabus had been circulated\nto all subject leaders in secondary and middle schools, to primary\nsubject leaders on the county database and to SACRE\nmembers. All responses\nreceived had been taken into account and members considered the\namended syllabus.
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SACRE discussed the amended syllabus in\ndetail. In particular discussion centred on the section outlining\nKey Stage 4 Programmes of Learning and whether it was appropriate\nto alter some of the wording to allow greater flexibility without\ncompromising the standards.
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After a considered debate SACRE agreed\nthe following amendments to the Key Stage 4 section, to now\nread:
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“At Key Stage 4 all pupils should\nfollow, as a basis, an accredited specification (from a recognised\nexamination board) in Religious Studies. Schools should provide\nreasonable time for pupils to complete this, and if appropriate, to\nattain an external qualification.
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Schools wishing to base a Religious\nStudies programme on any other accredited specification, for\nexample Humanities or Citizenship, must take advice from\nSACRE.
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In keeping with the aim of religious\neducation and the underlying principles of the Staffordshire Agreed\nSyllabus pupils must have the opportunity to study Christianity and\nto draw examples from at least one other faith.
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The decision to enter pupils for an\nexamination at the end of the course is at schools’\ndiscretion.”
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A further amendment was agreed within\nthe Legal Framework page to move the table showing hours of study\nper year for each key stage from the “statutory\nrequirement” section to the “strongly\nrecommended” (though not a legal requirement)\nsection.
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It was intended that, once the Syllabus\nhad been agreed, it would be launched on the evening of the SACRE\nlecture, on Tuesday 22 September 2009.
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RESOLVED –\nThat: a) the report be received;
\nb) the new Staffordshire Agreed\nSyllabus, with the inclusion of the amendments listed above, be\napproved for consideration by the Agreed Syllabus Conference;\nand,
\nc) outline arrangements for the launch\nof the new syllabus be agreed.
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Agreeing the Staffordshire Syllabus: The Agreed Syllabus Conference PDF 22 KB
\nReport of the Corporate Director (Children\n& Lifelong Learning)
\nMinutes:
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The\nSACRE’s is required by law to convene an Agreed Syllabus\nConference to enable the any new syllabus for Religious Education\nto be formally agreed.
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The Chairman\nconvened an Agreed Syllabus Conference. Each Committee formally\nconsidered the amended Syllabus, as approved by SACRE for their\nconsideration.
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The four\nCommittees were unanimous in agreeing the new Syllabus.
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RESOLVED – That the Agreed\nSyllabus for Staffordshire 2009 be approved.
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Professional Development Opportunities for SACRE Members PDF 48 KB
\nReport of the Corporate Director (Children\n& Lifelong Learning)
\nMinutes:
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SACRE was\npresented with a draft copy of the Professional Development\nProgramme available to teachers of RE in Staffordshire for 2009-10.\nSACRE members were invited to attend any of the events, with prior\nnotice given to the Senior Advisor for RE.
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Previously\nmembers had discussed the possibility of an activity focusing on\nSACRE’s professional development. It had been suggested that\nthis be arranged during an extended meeting to be held in the\nautumn term. Key Stage 4 RE was suggested as the topic for the\ndevelopment session.
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RESOLVED – That, a) the\ndraft professional development programme be noted; and
\nb) the autumn\nterm professional development session for SACRE be based around Key\nStage 4 RE.
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National Inter Faith Week 15 - 21 November 2009 PDF 24 KB
\nReport of the Corporate Director (Children\n& Lifelong Learning)
\nMinutes:
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The Inter Faith\nNetwork for the United Kingdom and the Department for Communities\nand Local Government was facilitating a one off Inter Faith Week in\n2009.
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The event was designed to:
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SACREs and\nother organisations were being invited to consider ways to\nhighlight the importance of inter faith understanding and\nco-operation. Information on this would be circulated to\nschools.
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RESOLVED – That the report\nbe received.
\nSACRE Development Plan PDF 110 KB
\nReport of the Corporate Director (Children\n& Lifelong Learning)
\nMinutes:
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At their\nmeeting of 25 June 2007 SACRE agreed to merge the existing\nStaffordshire action plan with the Ofsted self-evaluation\ndocumentation to create a single document addressing the key\nissues. It was proposed that progress against the self-evaluation\ndocument be reviewed by SACRE annually at their summer term\nmeeting, with targets agreed for the forthcoming academic\nyear.
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Members\nreceived copies of the development plan for 2008-09 and considered\ntargets for 2009-10.
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RESOLVED – That the report\nbe received.
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The SACRE Budget 2009 - 2010 PDF 20 KB
\nReport of the Corporate Director (Children and\nLifelong Learning)
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Minutes:
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Members\nreceived a breakdown of the SACRE budget for the financial year\n2009-10.
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Continuing\npriorities for the year 2009-10 were: support for the Student\nCouncil; development of guidance materials to accompany the 2009\nAgreed Syllabus; the sixth form conference; the SACRE awards 2010;\nand, the SACRE lecture.
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RESOLVED – That the report\nbe received.
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Any Other Business
\nMinutes:
\n\n\nb) \nChasetown Specialist Sports College – SACRE were informed of\ncurrent difficulties in offering the short course RE at Key Stage 4\nand the temporary measures taken to overcome these problems in the\nshort term. (Mr T.V. Finn and Mr E.R. Drinkwater declared an\ninterest in this item.)
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Date of next meeting
\nThe next meeting of SACRE is scheduled for\nWednesday 18 November 2009, 2.00 pm, Kingston Centre, Stafford.
\nMinutes:
\nRESOLVED – That the next\nmeeting of SACRE is scheduled for Wednesday 18 November 2009, 2.00\npm, Kingston Centre, Stafford. \nThis would include an optional professional development activity\nfor members, subject to confirmation.
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