The Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) of Havering Council met on Tuesday 2 July 2024 to discuss various aspects of Religious Education (RE) and Collective Worship in the borough's schools. The meeting agenda included updates on local and national RE developments, evaluation of current practices, and planning for future initiatives.

Update on School Activity

The council was scheduled to receive and discuss a local update report on school activity for Summer 2024. This report would have provided information on recent RE initiatives and training within Havering schools. The previous meeting's minutes indicated that a CPD session for primary RE teachers had focused on creative teaching methods, and an annual development day for RE Subject Leaders had covered topics such as the intent and aims of RE, Ofsted updates, and diversity within worldviews.

National Developments in Religious Education

A report on national developments in RE was also scheduled for discussion. This would have covered significant recent events, including the publication of Ofsted's subject report on Religious Education, titled Deep and Meaningful? . This report highlighted concerns that many schools were not meeting statutory requirements for RE teaching and that pupils were not always gaining sufficient understanding of diverse religious and non-religious views. The report also noted challenges with teacher qualifications and training in RE.

Additionally, the council was to be updated on the RE Council of England and Wales' launch of a new curriculum toolkit designed to help schools develop high-quality RE curricula using a religion and worldviews approach. The report was also expected to cover the NATRE Primary Teachers' Survey, the 'REady for Work' campaign, and the ongoing challenges and popularity of Religious Studies at GCSE and A-level, including a fall in A-level entries. The closure of the Interfaith Network was also noted as a national development.

Evaluation and Monitoring

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to reviewing progress against the SACRE Self-Evaluation Form (SEF) from March 2023. The council was to discuss how to evaluate and monitor RE in Havering moving forward. The SEF highlighted key objectives for SACRE, including supporting and monitoring the quality and standards of RE, monitoring Collective Worship, and improving SACRE's impact and effectiveness. The SEF document itself outlines a framework for SACREs to evaluate their performance across five key dimensions: management and partnership, standards and quality of RE provision, effectiveness of the locally agreed syllabus, collective worship, and contribution to community cohesion.

Determination Process

The council was scheduled to receive feedback from a working party regarding progress made in developing a determination process for Havering. This process relates to applications from schools seeking to disapply the requirement for Collective Worship to be wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character.

Youth Project

A local project for schools was to be discussed, along with agreeing next steps regarding a potential Youth SACRE. This initiative aims to engage young people in discussions about faith and worldviews. The previous meeting's minutes mentioned that establishing a youth project might be an alternative to a previously discussed art competition, with suggestions to visit Newham to observe their Youth SACRE and Young Ambassadors programmes.

Training Feedback

The council was to receive any feedback following training undertaken by members. This included a NASACRE webinar for new SACRE members and various training courses offered by NATRE for RE teachers.

Other Business and Next Meeting

The agenda also included a slot for any other business and the confirmation of the date for the next meeting, which was to be scheduled for the autumn term.