Minutes:
The Chairman advised that the NASACRE conference and AGM had taken place at Fishmongers’ Hall on Monday 22nd May 2023 – the theme had been ‘Celebrating 30 years: SACREs for the Future’. The first keynote address had been received from Dr Kathryn Wright, Chief Executive of Culham St Gabriel’s Trust, which focussed on education in religion and worldviews – assessing the current situation and her hopes going forward. A copy of the summary transcript and presentation were available via the following links:
https://nasacre.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Kathryn-PPT-May-2023.pdf
The second keynote address, regarding the role of SACREs in the emerging educational landscape, had been delivered by Charles Clarke, Patron of NASACRE. The strengths of SACREs had been identified as having a moral high ground, building community cohesion, and having a passion for education. SACREs were identified as a direct force in bringing different faith communities together and in most Local Authorities was the only group that did so. A weakness of SACREs was considered to be finances, which varied across the country, and it was noted that legislation had previously been suggested for ensuring that all Local Authorities acted in a similar way. The SACRE RE Adviser echoed these comments and highlighted that, nationally, funding was sporadic. The Department for Education (DfE) had recommended that 2% of the Central Services School Block (CSSB) funding received by local authorities be allocated to a SACRE in order for their statutory duties to be carried out, and 1% as a minimum. It was noted that Bromley had responded to the Freedom of Information (FOI) request and the Chairman and SACRE RE Adviser expressed their gratitude for the funding that was provided to the SACRE. The Chairman advised that another weakness identified for some SACREs in this second keynote speech was that the relationship with their local authorities could be weak – the SACRE was a statutory Committee, and often wanted to do far more than it was able to, but the funding and support was not always provided. It had been suggested that SACREs therefore consider accessing funding outside of the education budget. The SACRE RE Adviser noted that SACREs were able to bid for specific funding – Bromley had previously been successful twice in bids to receive a Westhill grant, and would continue to apply for any relevant funding.
The Chairman advised that according to this keynote speech, there had been an obvious decline in RE over the last 15 years and, in Mr Clarke’s opinion, central government was culpable in schools seeing it as having less importance. It was felt that SACREs were a key stakeholder in reversing this decline and should lobby for more power to do the things they were responsible for. The Church of England was also considered in this speech to be culpable in failing to recognise the importance of its role in RE and collective worship. It was noted that NASACRE were looking to reengage with the Church of England Education Office.
The Chairman highlighted that there were two key questions to take away and consider – how could SACREs be more effective; and what the future role of SACREs could, and should, be. In response to a question regarding the SACREs role with academy trusts, the Chairman said that this was difficult as almost all Bromley schools were no longer under the control of the Local Authority. The role would be to advise, seek to ensure that all schools were compliant with legislation, and challenge them if not. The SACRE had previously visited schools by invitation – they had encouraged and praised what was good, and offered advice and support in terms of areas that could be improved. The SACRE RE Adviser stated that academies were still legally obliged to teach RE using the locally agreed syllabus unless their funding agreement with the DfE named another syllabus. It was highlighted that a number of academy schools were engaging with the teacher networks, and they were continuing to work to make these inclusive. Members were advised that national organisations had recently established a programme of regular meetings with the RE leads in Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs). The first meeting had been held on 1st March 2023 and attendees represented 30 MATs – nationally, work was ongoing to engage with academies on discussions around RE. It was noted that some MATs were faith groups and in Bromley a number were associated with the Church of England. The SACRE RE Adviser said she was looking to engage with the RE lead for the Diocese to undertake a joint piece of work to further support each other.
In response to a question regarding the national curriculum and locally agreed syllabus, the SACRE RE Adviser said that the national curriculum did not include RE as a subject – this had been decided back in 2013, and the decision was also taken to exclude RE from the Baccalaureate. Each borough was legally obliged to review its own agreed syllabus every 5 years. Bromley’s agreed syllabus had been reviewed and released in 2020 – it had been devised using the latest research and Ofsted guidance, which promoted a worldviews approach. This approach acknowledged that even if someone followed a particular religion their worldviews would be influenced by a number of other factors. This understanding had been reflected in the agreed syllabus and they had worked with a number of schools to create the curriculum materials. The SACRE RE Adviser noted that a document, which suggested a national RE entitlement, had been published and groups had been established to consider what this should look like. The SACRE RE Adviser informed SACRE Members that she was involved in one of these groups and they were in the process of drafting a document outlining a national picture for RE. However there was no indication that the legal situation would change and, even if this was further developed, would remain optional. The Chairman highlighted that the Bromley schools within the Aquinas Trust were part of the Diocese of Rochester and had taken the decision to use the same syllabus as the rest of the schools within the Diocese. The SACRE RE Adviser noted that this also took a worldview approach and supported the Bromley agreed syllabus.
In terms of raising the profiles of SACREs, a representative of the other faiths group enquired if representatives attended other related conferences and suggested that this could be an idea for further consideration. The Chairman agreed that this was something that could be fed back. It was noted that the Head of BBC Religion, and other media representatives, had attended previous NASACRE conferences. The SACRE RE Adviser said she was aware that several national organisations were working more cohesively – this was thanks to Dr Kathryn Wright, who was bringing together the elements of RE and engaging in conversations with the Chairs of these types of organisations to ensure messages regarding priorities were being shared. There was also a termly meeting for the Chairs of national RE organisations, and invites to attend had been extended to the organisations mentioned.
The Chairman advised that a national analysis of SACRE annual reports had been presented by Dr David Hampshire at the NASACRE Conference. At the end of the presentation two key elements had been identified for consideration. The first was in relation to Local Authority support for SACREs and what Group D (Councillors) could do to advocate for the SACRE and inform colleagues of its work. A Member highlighted that the SACRE Annual Report was provided to Full Council each year. It was suggested that it could also be presented at the Children, Education and Families Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee (CEF PDS), or a slot should be allocated once a year at Full Council for the SACRE Chairman to provide an update. Another Member agreed that it would be beneficial for a presentation to be made at Full Council. The Chairman advised that he was a Church Representative on the CEF PDS, and would also be very happy to discuss the SACRE at a future meeting. The SACRE RE Adviser noted that everyone had a worldview, and all SACRE Members could be involved in conversations and any projects delivered by the SACRE.
The second element mentioned in this NASACRE presentation was for SACREs to consider their role as an ‘advisory’ body – who it was advising, and how well this was being done. The Chairman noted that, in terms of the SACREs role as an advisory body, it held a statutory responsibility to ensure compliance with the legislation around RE and collective worship. One of the SACRE’s roles was to challenge and hold the Local Authority to account if it felt it was failing to support schools in respect of this. In response to a question regarding whether there were any consequences if a school did not follow the agreed syllabus, the SACRE RE Adviser said that SACREs could provide advice and guidance to schools and educate them as to why it was best to do so. An action the SACRE could take was to write to the DfE and/or Ofsted to ask them to investigate a particular school if deemed necessary. The Chairman highlighted the need to be mindful of SACREs legal responsibilities – a SACRE was legally obliged to inform its local Director of Education if it discovered that a school was not complying with legislation in respect of RE and collective worship. It was then their responsibility to contact the school.
With regards to the conference workshops, the SACRE RE Adviser informed SACRE Members that Bromley SACRE would be delivering an online workshop about the REal Resources: Interfaith Dialogue Conference the following evening. This was a project undertaken after Bromley SACRE had won a NASACRE and Westhill grant in 2021-2022. Two Interfaith Dialogue Conferences had been held, during which SACRE Members provided responses to key questions and this was recorded to create videos that could be used as resources in schools. The videos had been trialled by some of the SACRE teacher representatives. These had received positive feedback – pupils had been really engaged, asking to watch them again, and had appreciated hearing a real person talking about their faith. Teacher representatives said viewing the videos was much more effective than reading about the subjects raised; they could guarantee that the resources were correct; and pupils loved the fact that it was real people talking about their lived experiences. The SACRE RE Adviser noted that discussions had taken place during the teacher network meetings about how the resources might be used – through the networks they hoped to continue to build resources and activities that pupils could engage with. A representatives of the other faiths groups said that being involved in the Interfaith Dialogue Conference had been fascinating, and they had been left wanting to know more about the other people involved and the items being discussed. It was valuable to hear that pupils had found the videos interesting. These comments were echoed by another member of the other faiths group – it was a session that the SACRE as a whole could benefit from, even if held informally. The Chairman agreed, and suggested that in the future an informal meeting, or sections of the meetings, could be held to allow SACRE Members the opportunity to get to know each other better.
The Chairman advised that he had attended an online workshop which expanded on the details provided by Dr Kathryn Wright and how Culham St Gabriel's Trust could support SACREs. The other workshop on SACREs role in promoting community cohesion had been postponed and a new date was still to be confirmed. The SACRE RE Adviser noted she had also attended a workshop which focused on funding.