Venue: Siambr Hywel Dda, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, LL55 1SH
Contact: Eirian Roberts 01286 679018
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PRAYER Minutes: The meeting was opened with a prayer from Councillor Paul Rowlinson. |
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ELECTION OF CHAIR To approve
the previous meeting’s recommendation to elect Councillor Paul Rowlinson as
Chair of this committee for 2018/19. Minutes: To elect Councillor Paul Rowlinson as Chair of this Committee for 2018/19. |
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ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIR To approve
the previous meeting’s recommendation to elect Councillor Elin Walker Jones as
Vice-Chair of this committee for 2018/19. Minutes: To elect Councillor Elin Walker Jones as Vice-chair of this Committee for
2018/19. |
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APOLOGIES Minutes: The above-mentioned apologies were received.
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST Minutes: There were no declarations of personal interest. |
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URGENT ITEMS Minutes: No urgent items were received. |
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The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meetings of this committee held on 8 November 2017 and 20 June 2018 be signed as true records. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair signed
the minutes of the previous meeting of this Committee that took place on 8
November 2017 and 20 June 2018, as a true record. |
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GWYNEDD'S AGREED SYLLABUS CONFERENCE PDF 23 KB Note from the SACRE
meeting of 20 June 2018 It was intended to
hold an Agreed Syllabus Conference following the CYSAG meeting to determine
whether or not to retain the Gwynedd Agreed Syllabus until more information is
received from the Government regarding the new curriculum deriving from Professor
Donaldson's report. As the meeting was
not quorate it was recommended that a discussion should be held at the start of
the next meeting of CYSAG which is to be held on 7 November 2018. Additional documents: Minutes: Miriam Amlyn expressed her disappointment as the
material continued to be unavailable in Welsh, despite it being available in
English. It was noted that this was a problem in other subjects as well. It was
confirmed that a letter had already been written to Kirsty Williams, noting the
above concern. Concern was
expressed amongst the Members again as the material was only available in
English. It was suggested that the Chair should consider writing another clear
and strongly worded letter for the attention of the Cabinet Member, Kirsty
Williams, the Language Commissioner, Siân Gwenllïan, Garem Jackson, with a
copy to be sent to Dyfrig Siencyn,
Eluned Morgan and Dilwyn Williams. In was noted that there could possibly be further changes in 2020 and in
light of this, consideration should be given to adhering to the exemplar Framework
for the time being. Recommended: To ask the Chair
to write to the above to express the concern of SACRE about the lack of
Welsh-medium materials, and to keep to the current Framework for the time
being. |
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Background information to the item: Link to Circular 10/94 published by the
former Welsh Office in 1994: http://www.wasacre.org.uk/publications/wag/E-circular10-94.pdf Additional documents:
Minutes: (a) A request had been
received from the Humanists to serve as voting members on the Gwynedd
SACRE. (b) The Senior
Solicitor explained that local authorities had a statutory responsibility to
create SACREs and the Constitution was the responsibility of the Cabinets of those
Authorities; however, the SACRE could co-opt members. Reference was made to a letter dated 3 May
2018 from Kirsty Williams, noting that Welsh Government's current view
was: "to ensure compatibility with the Human Rights
Act 1998 the provisions relating to the constitutions of SACREs and ASCs in the
1996 Act are to be interpreted as permitting the appointment of persons who
represent holders of non-religious beliefs in the same way as they permit the
appointment of persons who represent holders of religious beliefs..."
She went on to note, "an appointment
is dependent on the relevant local authority's opinion as to whether such a
representative would help ensure that the relevant traditions in the local
authority's area are appropriately reflected in Group A." (c)
It was noted that the membership / constitution had
not been reviewed since 1996. It was questioned whether the relevant traditions
of the area were being reflected appropriately in Group A, and views were
sought on the Humanists' request to be members of Group A. (ch) The following
points were raised when discussing the above: i.
What happened in other
Authorities? ii.
The guidance in the GCSE course was that Humanists
could be invited to schools to speak. iii.
Was Humanism a belief system, rather than a
religion? iv.
Shouldn't we welcome as much diversity as possible
in Group A, bearing in mind the recent situation where
there was no quorum at a meeting? Reference was also
made to the following observations - -
The Committee would benefit
from hearing the voices of various religions in their discussions which was
essential for the Religious Education Learning Field curriculum. -
It would promote contact
between Headteachers, Teachers and Pupils of various
beliefs directly face-to-face. -
It would be an opportunity to build bridges and
promote a society that is more tolerant of various beliefs. - It was confirmed that
Humanism was introduced in some of Gwynedd's schools It was confirmed that the Wales Association of SACREs had appointed a
Humanist on its Working Committee and shouldn't SACRE reflect what was being
taught? There was a need to be careful in case of giving priority to some beliefs
and such requests needed to be managed carefully. Were there any
criteria? This was an opportunity to learn and share expertise. Recommended: That the SACRE Committee would be
favorable to evidence-based requests, with the condition that non-religious
beliefs be taught in Gwynedd Schools. Referring to
the specific application, it was confirmed that the inclusion of the Humanists
to Group A. It was reported that a discussion had arisen at the previous meeting regarding the possibility of inviting school pupil(s) to be a part of the current membership in order to hear the ... view the full minutes text for item 9. |
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GWYNEDD SCHOOLS SELF EVALUATION PDF 52 KB Verbal
report by Mr Rhys Glyn, Head of Ysgol Cefn Coch, Penrhyndeudraeth. Minutes: Mr Rhys Glyn (Headteacher of Ysgol
Cefn Coch, Penrhyndeudraeth), was welcomed to the meeting to discuss
the relationship he had developed between the curriculum, personal education
and religious education. He shared examples
of the pupils' work and he confirmed that Religious Education was not taught as
a subject, however, the school developed children holistically, with Religious Education filtering into
this naturally. Very positive comments were received from the Committee and Rhys Glyn was
congratulated for the work. It was noted that it was burdensome to do
everything separately and that multi-sensory experiences with children led the
work. He noted that the role of governors had been developed with the governors
taking part in all aspects, including scrutinising the work once the portfolio
had been collected. It was noted,
since Donaldson, that there was a need to develop in every field, but that the
creative element, the voice of the children and the emphasis on experiences was
to be welcomed. |
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OVERVIEW OF GWYNEDD SCHOOLS' SELF EVALUATION PDF 90 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Recommended:
To note and accept the contents of the Report. |
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PROFESSIONAL RE OFFICER FOR SACRE PDF 38 KB Minutes: The content of Libby Jones's letter,
requesting a representative from Gwynedd, was noted. Miriam Amlyn
was asked to consider this. Recommended:
To give Miriam Amlyn an opportunity to
consider the request. |
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ASSEMBLY WORKSHOPS TO CONSIDER RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND THE NEW WELSH CURRICULUM PDF 257 KB Minutes: It was confirmed
that the Primary, on the whole, was looking forward to the new period, however,
major concern had been expressed from the Secondary. An outline was given
of the new recommendation such as combining Religious Education, History,
Geography and Business to the humanities field, with one lesson for each
subject; however, it was not currently clear how many hours this would entail.
A question was raised immediately about how SACRE would monitor the humanities? If changing by 2020 was the intention, it
was noted that there would be a lot of preparatory work - the current document
was vast but only referred to concepts and skills that required collaboration
between departments. At present, it was noted that it was not clear whether the
course would combine or whether the subjects would be treated as five separate
subjects? Another concern noted was that individuals without expertise in the
specific subject would possibly give one of the lessons. A question was asked about whether each of
the five subjects would have equal status, in particular if the Headteacher saw no value in a specific subject. The number
of hours earmarked for each subject was also questioned. It was questioned what SACRE would be able
to do as the process was going ahead.
Libby Jones was the only Religious Education advisor in Wales. Recommended: To
accept and note the above. |
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BANGOR UNIVERSITY OFFER - RE-CONNECT Minutes: A concern was raised following a recent
report regarding the lack of teachers and the issue of bilingual teaching in
Gwynedd. A real concern was expressed about the merger between the Universities
of Bangor and Chester. It was suggested that perhaps the Chair could send a
letter to the University to enquire about the following: i.
Was there a missing link? - real concern had been
expressed by SACRE regarding the shortcomings in the field of Religious
Education, and the link with the University of Chester, as well as the break
between GCSE and a degree course. Also
there was a need to note that an English only letter had been sent by the
University. A question was asked
about whether an A Level in Religious Education was being offered in Gwynedd.
Did the College offer Religious Education?
What about Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor? Recommended: To ask the Chair to write to the
University in line with the above. To ask the Assistant Education Resources Officer to look into the Religious
Education A Level provision in Gwynedd. |
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AGM WASACRE ANGLESEY 6 July 2018 - FOR INFORMATION PDF 231 KB Minutes: Recommended: To
accept and note the content. |
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DIVERSITY OF RELIGION AND BELIEF PDF 1 MB Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted - for
information, a copy of the above-mentioned document that had been published
recently. Recommended: To
accept and note the content. The meeting commenced at 2.00 pm and concluded at
4.10 pm. |