(a)

the report was a key document for RE and the findings had been conducted over three years with over 180 schools across 70 local authorities being visited;

(b)

the report re-stated that RE was a statutory subject and that the findings provided a mixed picture, these included –

the teaching of RE in primary schools had stayed much the same as the previous three year report;

the standard of RE teaching in some secondary schools had deteriorated; it was reported that changes to the Key Stage 3 curriculum had been detrimental to RE and this was the reason for the decline in some schools;

teachers appeared unclear about what they were supposed to achieve and, in particular, the teaching of Christianity appeared to be of greatest concern. There was also confusion around the teaching of non-religious perspectives, eg  Humanism;

(c)

the weakness in how Christianity was taught had previously been identified by SACRE and was part of the SACRE Development Plan 2008 - 2011;

(d)

following the change of national government the Rose Review had been withdrawn;

(e)

SACRE had been invited to provide a response to the findings of the OFSTED report.

(f)

in order to provide a more conclusive response to OFSTED it was important to know how the teaching of RE in Plymouth schools compared to the national average;

(g)

the value of promoting short course RE GCSE (as it did not count towards a GCSE score) was potentially counter-productive for the enhancement of RE as a full subject at full GCSE level;

(h)

as RE was not a core subject and lacked a high profile it was important to have strong leadership from school heads to ensure that the subject had the backing it required. Additionally national leadership was required to put pressure on schools to improve the teachings of RE;

(i)

SACRE can help in supporting schools to teach RE and the services offered by SACRE should be promoted to teachers and schools; with an improved budget SACRE could potentially make a big difference in  offering support to teaching staff and improving RE;

(j)

it was agreed that the Department for Education should carry out a review and note the role of SACRE;

(k)

there should be an improvement in the assessment of attainment in RE, this could help in making the teachings of Christianity more appropriate.

(1)

a recommendation be sent to the Department of Education stating that SACRE believe that there should be a review of the current statutory arrangements for the local determination of the RE curriculum to ensure that these provide the best means of promoting high quality and consistency of RE in schools, and they also define the role and power of SACRE’s;

(2)

all future recommendations agreed by SACRE be sent to the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, the Director for Services for Children and Young People, the Chief Executive of Plymouth City Council and the Chair of the Children and Young Peoples’ Overview and Scrutiny Panel asking them to provide a response to the next meeting of SACRE;

(3)

the SACRE budget should be improved and increased to allow supply cover to enable teachers to attend approved training opportunities. This should be referred to the Schools Forum review;

(4)

the concerns in the report about the inadequacy and confusion around teaching of Christianity were reflected in the SACRE Development Plan 2008 – 2011. It was hoped that the local authority would work with SACRE to address this problem;

(5)

the Chair and the RE Advisor would respond to the OFSTED report on behalf of SACRE highlighting the concerns and feelings raised by members.