Agenda, decisions and minutes

Prayer or quiet reflection

The meeting was opened with a prayer from Councillor Judith Humphreys.

To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Cathryn Davey, Dashu, Cllr. Selwyn E Griffiths

To receive any declaration of personal interest

No declarations of personal interest were received.

To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration

The Chair made reference to an e-mail that had been received from WASACRE regarding nominations to the Executive Committee, with a closing date of the 8 April, and it was agreed to circulate the e-mail. 

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meetings of this committee held on the 8th June, 2021 and 23rd November 2021 be signed as a true record

In the absence of a quorum, the Chair was unable to confirm the minutes of the two previous meetings of this Committee, held on 8 June and 23 November as a true record.  The minutes would be signed at the next meeting.

To discuss the forthcoming Agreed Syllabus Conference

As there was no quorum, it was not possible for the Committee to make a decision but the information about the conference which is to be held jointly with Anglesey, led by Phil Lord of GwE, was shared.

The Chair outlined the need for every Education Authority to establish a Conference as a separate entity to the SACRE meeting for the above. It was reported that the Conference, that was to be held jointly with Anglesey, had been arranged for the 15 February 2022 under the leadership of Phil Lord from GwE. The importance of the Conference and this opportunity to agree on the syllabus could not be over emphasized. It was confirmed that there was a need for the local Committee to consider the Welsh Government’s Guidelines, and then for schools to take into consideration the agreed syllabus. 

Reference was made to the guidelines that had been prepared by the Government, along with the legal status. No observations had been submitted on the guidelines and as many Members as possible from SACRE Gwynedd were encouraged to attend the Committee.

RESOLVED: As there was no quorum, it was not possible for the Committee to make

a decision but the information regarding the conference which is to be held jointly with

Anglesey, led by Phil Lord of GwE, was shared.

To consider the SACRE Annual Report for 2020/2021

As there was no quorum, it was not possible for the Committee to make a decision but members expressed their thanks for the draft report, and a few suggestions were made.  Concern about the number of vacant seats on SACRE was expressed, and the need to ask again for nominations for these seats was noted.

The members were reminded that the report considered the academic year from September 2020 to August 2021, and followed the same pattern as the previous years.  As a result of the pandemic, there were some matters that had not been completed, as highlighted in the report.  It was noted that the membership needed updating. The Members were reminded that there were a number of important matters discussed in SACRE meetings during the period, including the future of Religious Education at Bangor University, co-opting students on the SACRE committee and the wellbeing of students during the period.  The concern that it was not possible to discuss consultation documents at committees was reported, but instead that the work of collecting responses had to be done electronically.

The recommendations of the report were looked at and it was agreed to adapt them by removing the reference to WJEC and the examination situation, to include a reference to subject guidance, and to remove the sentence discussing inviting SACRE Members to collective worship at schools, as it was not possible for this to happen.

In response to the question regarding the need for books for the new syllabus, it was noted that they were being commissioned through WJEC, and the hope was that the Welsh and the English versions would arrive together. The need for additional caution was noted and to be vigilant of resources created outside of Wales as the syllabus was different.

In response to the observation regarding the Membership, and the fact that this was the second time for the Committee to meet without a quorum, it was confirmed that the Membership would be discussed at the next Teachers Union Forum and at the Headteachers Forum in due course, with the hope of extending the membership. In terms of representation of different religions, it was confirmed that contact had been made with many other religions to try to obtain nominations if there had been no response. It was agreed to continue with the work and contact the University for support.

The Chair expressed his disappointment that there was no quorum again at this meeting, despite the efforts to inform members of the Committee about the meeting, but despite this it was a beneficial discussion. Everyone was reminded of the Syllabus Conference to be held on the 15 February, 2022.

RESOLVED As there was no quorum, it was not possible for the Committee to make a decision but members expressed their thanks for the draft report, and a few suggestions were made.  Concern regarding the number of vacant seats on SACRE was expressed, and the need to ask again for nominations for these seats was noted.

                        The meeting commenced at 2:15pm and concluded at 2:50pm

CHAIR.