Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made by Councillors in accordance with the code of conduct.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 7 July 2014.

Agreed that the minutes of the meeting held on 7 July 2014 are confirmed as a correct record.

To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

There were no items of Chair’s urgent business.

The Chair will welcome new members and provide an update on membership.

The Chair advised members that Pam Shelmerdine was standing down as the Baptist Church rep in Group A after seven years, and welcomed Shelley Catchpole who was her replacement.  He also expressed his thanks to Helena Mitchell for arranging the venue and refreshments.

Jonathan Marshall, RE Adviser, advised that -

It was suggested that Pete Grainger, the PASH rep in Group C, be contacted to determine if he wished to remain a member of SACRE.

Agreed that a letter is sent to Pete Grainger to determine if he wished to remain a member of SACRE.

Members are asked to consider the SACRE annual report and will receive a report on Religious Education examination results for summer 2014.

Jonathan Marshall, RE Adviser, discussed the SACRE annual report.

Members were advised that –

Members were asked to identify any errors or omissions, and several were highlighted.  Following a discussion regarding some slight amendments, Jonathan Marshall proposed that he would make the suggested amendments and agreed to send it to the four house reps to check.

Jonathan Marshall, RE Adviser, discussed the Religious Studies Examination Statistics 2001 – 2014.  Members were advised that the results fluctuated from year to year, and this year’s results were very commendable as a result of the high calibre of teachers. 

Proposed changes in the format of A Level and GCSE exams could impact on future results.  The Adviser reminded members that two large cohorts of students from the Plymouth Roman Catholic schools had to sit GCSE Religious Studies in Year 11.  This year had been a successful year for A Level results, with 100 per cent of candidates achieving A*-E.  Religious Studies was a matter of concern for Ofsted; however the value of the subject was now recognised, especially in light of recent reports on some schools in the Midlands.

It was noted that there was an overwhelming number of girls who studied the subject, opposed to boys.  Following a discussion, it was suggested that one of the reasons for this was due to pupils being encouraged towards STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects, as opposed to Humanities subjects.

Members are asked to consider the proposed development plan 2015 – 2018.

Jonathan Marshall, RE Adviser, explained that a development plan was a way to highlight the key priorities and work of SACRE over the next three years.  This could change and be amended to take account of changes in national or local RE issues.  An annual budget of approximately £5000 was available for this work.

A small group of SACRE members met at the beginning of October to review the current plan and to identify key areas/priorities which were felt would support the future development of RE across the city.

It was important to be realistic about what was possible as SACRE met only three times a year and there was reduced support available from the RE Adviser.

The development plan highlighted three areas of importance –

·         support for teachers to develop some new, creative and interactive schemes of work to support the new syllabus and the new emphases of heritage, diversity and spirituality, to include a review of the syllabus across Plymouth schools during the summer term;

·         SACRE to make available some curriculum project funds for schools to support innovative RE projects with links to and in collaboration with local faith communities, highlighting the importance of local understanding and good quality RE;

·         SACRE to support promotional events and celebrations of RE, including Holocaust Memorial Day.

Members were advised that there was money remaining in the SACRE budget, some of which was allocated to Holocaust Memorial Day.

Suggestions for the remainder of the budget included –

·         funding for Hyde Park School to achieve the RE Quality Mark at gold level;

·         production of a level book for pupils to track their progress from primary school through to secondary school;

·         production of a directory which listed all religious groups in the city.

Agreed that a meeting between Jonathan Marshall, Mark Andrew Dearden and, if required, Liz Hill is arranged in order to discuss the remaining SACRE budget.

Members will be provided with an update on the LearnTeachLeadRE project and possible SACRE support.

Katie Freeman gave members an update on the LearnTeachLead RE Project.  Members were advised that –

Agreed to invite Linda Rudge, Project Director of LearnTeachLead RE to the next SACRE meeting in March 2015, to provide more details of the current funding levels and partnership arrangements and to explore the possibility of SACRE funding the Plymouth hub in future as this offered unique support and innovative approaches for RE teachers.

(Alison Bradley left the meeting after this item)

Members will be provided with the plans for Holocaust Memorial Day 2015, on 27 January 2015.

Jonathan Marshall, RE Adviser, advised members that –

Following a discussion, members raised the following points –

Members will be provided with updates on Religious Education developments.

Jonathan Marshall, RE Adviser, advised members that –

Following a discussion, members raised the following points –

Members will be provided with details of the 2015 SACRE conference, details of which have already been circulated.

Members were advised that the 2015 South West SACRE conference (details of which had already been circulated) would once again be held at Dillington House.  Jonathan Marshall, RE Adviser, advised members that funding was available for several members to attend, and anyone interested in attending was to advise Lynn Young, Democratic Support Officer.

The next meeting will be held on 9 March 2015 at a time and venue yet to be confirmed.

Following a discussion amongst members, it was agreed that the next meeting would be held on Monday 9 March 2014, 10 am – 4 pm in the Council House, Plymouth.  The full day meeting would allow extra time in the morning for SACRE to consider the very important and related issues, now coming to the fore and with considerable implications for Religious Education; ‘Promoting British Values’ and ‘preventing young people from being drawn into radicalisation and violent extremism’.

Linda Rudge, Project Director of LearnTeachLead RE, will also be invited to join SACRE for the usual meeting in the afternoon.

To consider passing a resolution under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it (they) involve(s) the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph(s) of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

There were no items of exempt business.