Agenda, decisions and minutes

Quiet Reflection or Prayer

The meeting was opened with some words from Councillor Menna Baines and an opportunity for reflection. 

To Elect a Chair for this Committee for 2023/2024

To re-elect Councillor Menna Baines as Chair of this Committee for the 2023/24 period.

Councillor Menna Baines was re-elected as Chair of the Committee for the 2023/2024 period

To Elect a Vice-Chair for this Committee for 2023/2024

To re-elect Councillor Meryl Roberts as Vice-chair of this Committee for the 2023/24 period

Councillor Meryl Roberts was re-elected as Vice-chair of the Committee for the 2023/2024 period

To Receive any Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from Councillors Elin Walker Jones, John P Roberts, Angela  Russell, Beca Brown and Eirian Bradley-Roberts (The Catholic Church)

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

No urgent items were received.

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on the 14th March, 2023 be signed as a true record

RESOLVED to accept the minutes of a meeting of this Committee held on 14 March 2023 as a true record, and they were signed by the Chair. 

To consider the Draft SACRE Annual Report for 2021 - 2022

Accept the Draft SACRE Annual Report 2021-2022 subject to revising 3.1 to include a reference to the Cabinet's decision in 2019 to adapt the constitution to expand the representation of religions on SACRE and to reflect the changes in the names of Teachers' Unions.

Thanks was expressed for the draft report, and the following was noted:

3.1 – Membership - addition of the details of the Cabinet decision (2019 meeting) to amend the constitution to extend representation of other religions as this was an important constitutional addition, and check the names of the Teaching Unions

Attention was drawn to a typing error in the English version, and the use of the term "Determination" in the Report.  It was confirmed that "Determination" was used in relation to collective worship, which was broadly a Christian service, although it could vary from school to school, but no schools had requested to vary this during the period of the Report

It was confirmed that Cyngor Gwynedd's Cabinet had accepted Welsh Government Guidelines as an agreed Syllabus in a previous meeting, but that Gwynedd needed to create its own Plan, based on the Guidelines. Once the Plan was approved by SACRE it became the Final Plan.  It was noted that it was hoped that schools had the essential resources, especially in Welsh, in order for the Plan to succeed.

The Group approved the Annual Report, subject to the above additions.

RESOLVED:  To accept the Draft SACRE Annual Report 2021-2022 subject to

Revising 3.1 to include a reference to the Cabinet's decision in 2019 to amend the constitution to expand the representation of religions on SACRE and to reflect the changes in the names of Teaching Unions.

An Update on the Present Collective Worship Guidelines that were discussed in the previous meeting

It was not possible to receive enough nominations to establish a Working Party to update the Current Collective Worship Guidelines (in accordance with the decision in the SACRE meeting on 14 March, 2023).  As a result it was decided to accept Reverend Nick Sissons offer to look into the guidelines and report back at the next meeting.  Another name was put forward to undertake the work jointly, but said member was not present.

The Chair referred to a discussion held on the guidance at the previous meeting, when it was concluded that it required updating as it only referred to Christianity, and that the language was no longer inclusive. At the meeting, SACRE agreed to form a Working Group to examine the existing Guidance. It was reported that, despite a request, only two names had been proposed for this task, and consequently the Working Group had not been convened, and nobody had been appointed to lead this work.

It was reported there were relatively frequent requests for the document, although it was dated, and it was not considered to be a live document.  It was noted that the Legislation remained the same, that it was the language of the document that had dated, and that information about religions apart from Christianity needed to be added. 

Reverend Nick Sissons offered to examine the document and to contact the other Member who had volunteered for the task, and report back with initial ideas at the next meeting.  An enquiry was made about whether it would be possible to contact experts in this field, outside SACRE, to provide input to this work?

RESOLVED: To accept Reverend Sissons' offer to examine the guidelines and report back at the next meeting. As another name had been proposed at the last meeting to sit on the Working Group, it was agreed to contact that Member as she was not present.

A discussion on the Specialist Support to the SACRE

Following an update from the Head of Education, the committee decided to give their seal of approval for the Head to discuss the possibility of commissioning specialist support for the SACRE through GwE, and to move the matter forward as soon as possible.

Everyone was reminded that the GwE Officer's specialist support had been withdrawn in 2018, which had been a source of concern and had highlighted a lack of expertise in this field.

The Head of the Education Department reported that he had been seeking a resolution and that he was now in discussions regarding the possibility of commissioning specialist support for SACRE through GwE, in order to make progress, subject to GwE's approval.

RESOLVED: To give approval for the Head of Education Department to discuss the possibility of commissioning specialist support for the SACRE through GwE, and to progress the matter as soon as possible.

i.          Guidance for School Visits

ii.         New Professional Learning Opportunities for Religion, Values and Ethics

iii.        Qualifications Wales Consultation: The Full 14-16 Qualifications Offer

iv.        WASACRE Meetings : 19 June 2023

v.         Results of the WASACRE Executive Elections

The correspondence was accepted whilst noting

i.    Guidelines for Visiting Schools : a very comprehensive and useful document

ii.   New Professional Teaching Opportunities for Religion, Values and Ethics : ask GwE to hold a discussion regarding the new model and its suitability for giving Religion, Values and Ethics the due attention, whilst considering the provision of resources through the medium of Welsh.    It was also decided to write a letter regarding the provision of Welsh Language Resources (to ensure that they'll be available the same time as the English resources) in the name of  SACRE, the Head of Education and the Cabinet Member for Education to WJEC's Chief Executive, Head of WJEC Resource Department, The Education Minister and the Welsh Subcommittee 

iii.    WASACRE Draft Minutes 21 March, 2023 : note from the papers that WASACRE has work to update a number of documents such as the Joining SACRE Booklet to do in due course

iv.    Qualifications Wales Consultation: support the WASACREs response

It was noted that the Guidelines for Visiting Schools was a very comprehensive and useful document.

In relation to the New Professional Teaching Opportunities for Religion, Values and Ethics, it was noted that it was desirable for the English and Welsh language materials to arrive at the same time. The Head of the Education Department reported that this was an important step, and that SACRE had an important contribution to make, and that there were many opportunities to teach Religious Education within the humanities.  He also referred to a presentation by Lea Crimes on curriculum development, which was a good example of how to develop the curriculum. 

It was noted that different presentation methods must be offered, by focusing on initial teacher training, and that it was crucial to keep an eye on the situation.  The need to consider what would happen with GCSE was noted.  There may be more than one platform to voice an opinion. 

It was felt that it would be beneficial to ask GwE to hold a discussion regarding the new model and its suitability for giving Religion, Values and Ethics due attention, whilst considering the provision of resources through the medium of Welsh. It was also decided to write a letter regarding the provision of Welsh Language Resources (to ensure that they were available the same time as the English resources) in the name of SACRE, the Head of Education and the Cabinet Member for Education to the WJEC, the Education Minister and the Welsh Sub-committee. 

It was noted that it may be possible in due course to use the force of the words in the White Paper as a further opportunity to voice an opinion.

In relation to WASACRE Draft Minutes 21 March, 2023 and the relevant papers, it was reported that WASACRE had work to update a number of documents, including changing the format of reports as the guidance had dated.

In relation to the Qualifications Wales Consultation:  The Full Proposal of Qualifications 14-16, it was confirmed that WASACRE had submitted strong arguments, and had received the support of SACRE.

RESOLVED:

i.    Guidelines for Visiting Schools : a very comprehensive and useful document

ii.   New Professional Teaching Opportunities for Religion, Values and Ethics : ask GwE to hold a discussion regarding the new model and its suitability for giving Religion, Values and Ethics due attention, whilst considering the provision of resources through the medium of Welsh. It was also decided to write a letter regarding the provision of Welsh Language Resources (to ensure that they would be available the same time as the English resources) in the name of SACRE, the Head of Education and the Cabinet Member for Education to WJEC's Chief Executive, Head of WJEC Resource Department, the Education Minister and the Welsh Sub-committee 

iii.    Draft Minutes: note that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.