There were apologies received from Miss Saul, Ms Kaur Takhtar, Rev Coaker, Ms Thompson and Councillor Chukwu.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Educationmeeting held on 8 January 2025.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 January 2025, were approved as a correct record.

To receive additional items that the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no items of urgent business.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Associate Adviser for Religious Education introduced the report as outlined within the agenda. Members heard SACRE conducted and discussed a survey at the Spring 2022 meeting and this report was based on that survey which was conducted as part of the launch of the new agreed syllabus (2022).

It was therefore proposed to review and update of the questions asked with a view to repeating the survey in the summer term of the 2024 academic year.

During discussions it was highlighted there were no questions around Collective Worship and this should be included. Members also commented on the importance of keeping the questions the same as to be able to identify any trends within teaching the subject.

That SACRE Members:  

1. Consider the questions and findings of the survey report in Appendix A  
2. Propose any clarifications or amendments necessary to improve the outcomes 
3. Ask the LA officer to set up the revised survey on the ‘Have your say’ portal and issue it to school. 

4. Instruct the adviser to publicise the survey in the Headteacher Newsletter and via Headteacher groups 

The Associate Adviser for Religious Education presented the update to Members as outlined within the agenda and commented on the following headers:

• NATRE responds to the DfE Call for Evidence for the Curriculum Review 
• Jerusalem Trust Applications – RE Grants for Schools 
• Understanding Humanism 

RESOLVED:

SACRE noted the update.

The Associate Adviser for Religious Education advised SACRE since the publication of the agenda the Chairs Foreword had been circulated for Members information.

Mr Anderson Chair of SACRE highlighted that some of the schools within Thurrock were higher than the national average for Religious Education and for this he offered his congratulation. During discussions it was explained that at times a call to Schools was required as they may not call the subject Religious Education and if this was the case then it would affect the census completed by the Department for Education each November.

Councillor Heath stated she was happy to present the report to Full Council on behalf of SACRE.

RESOLVED:

1.  Accept this report as an accurate record of its work for the period September 2023 – July 2024 

2. Requests that the Assistant Director Education and Skills continues to include discussions about RE provision in the scheduled discussions with senior leadership teams 

3. Requests that the school effectiveness team include a review of schools’ provision for RE and Collective Worship as part of their annual conversations.  

• the reasons why so many schools are not offering GCSE RS as a qualification or failing to attract sufficient numbers for a viable group.  

• Why schools previously offering GCSE have stopped doing so 

• The reason why two schools are still not reporting RE in their census data 

• The reason why time for RE has been cut in one school 

4. More broadly, that they consider:  

• whether the level and quality of provision in academy schools is similar in breadth and ambition to that provided in LA maintained schools (i.e. through compliance with the Thurrock Agreed Syllabus including the knowledge, understanding specified and the standards for each key stage. This is the expectation of the DfE and Ofsted 

• If timetabling of RE in secondary schools ensures that those delivering RE are suitably trained/qualified to do so. 

• Whether RE is treated differently from other subjects on the secondary curriculum, such as being offered in tutor time, drop down days, taught by teachers who mainly teach other subjects etc. 

• the impact on pupil outcomes of the combination of subjects such as RE, RSE, Citizenship and PSHE 

• the level of training provided to those teaching RE in all phases especially when they have no previous experience of teaching the subject 

This is a verbal item. The updated Terms of Reference are included for information.

The Chair of SACRE introduced the item, explaining at the previous meeting on 8^th January 2025 Members spoke about updating the Terms of Refence this had since been completed and in particular included the following topics:

• Membership of Committees
• Chair and Vice-Chairs of Committees
• Quorum
• Voting

Members welcomed the amendments and commented it was good to have clarity within the terms of reference and for them to coincide with current practise.

RESOLVED:

SACRE noted the updated Terms of reference.

It was suggested that when scheduling future meetings, religious holidays should be taken into account and avoided.