Agenda and minutes

To receive declarations of interest from any members with respect to an item of business

There were no declarations of interest.

To determine whether any items on the agenda require the exclusion of members of the public or press

There were no matters of business for which it was deemed necessary to exclude members of the public or press.

To review and approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 30 September 2021 as a true and correct record of the proceedings

Tricia Williams asked that the minutes be corrected to record her apologies for the previous meeting. The minutes of the last meeting held on 30 September 2021, as corrected, were then approved as a true record of the proceedings.

To consider and approve new member nominations

Following discussions at the previous meeting, new member nominations were presented to the SACRE for confirmation. During this item, Salma Yasseen gave a brief presentation about herself and her roll at Thornhill Primary School. It was confirmed by Salma that all Members of the SACRE were welcome to visit Thornhill Primary. All visits could be arranged by contacting the School.

Resolved:-

That the following nominations be approved and that the new membership of Rotherham SACRE be confirmed:

Group A:        Rupasree Tewari

                        Frada Wilenski

                        Salma Yaseen

Group C:        Emily Nicholls

                        Liza Melvin

To discuss progress and activities in respect of an updated Development Plan for Rotherham SACRE

The Rotherham SACRE Development Plan was discussed at the meeting. Hannah and Vanessa continue to meet with lead RE subject leaders every half term. The aim of these meetings is to upskill the subject leaders. Work was also ongoing on the roll out of the agreed syllabus and related training. The agreed syllabus conference had taken place and it was agreed that a day conference be held in October 2022. Lat continued work on the syllabus units which would be available from after Easter, cost depending on RoSiS subscription.

The Chair requested that SACRE members put together a short PowerPoint on the key aspects of their faiths. This should be about 3 minutes in total and would be formatted by Forge.

The SACRE were keen to review and carry out determinations for collective worship. Tricia confirmed that she had been looking at two schools prior to the COVID-19 outbreak and would pick those up again.

The fourth objective on the Plan was to increase SACRE membership. Progress to date on this objective had been positive.

A further objective was to develop links with Sheffield and Doncaster SACREs. A meeting of the Chairs had been arranged for Summer 2022 with Huw Thomas. It was agreed that Barnsley SACRE should be invited to these meetings and the Development Plan updated to reflect that change.

It was also agreed that an additional objective be included related to maintaining the link with the National Association of SACREs. The Clerk agreed to circulate the log in and password for NASACRE to all Members.

A further objective that was agreed was the recommencement of the REwards scheme for the new school year 2022/23.

Resolved:

1.    That the SACRE agree that a day conference be held in October 2022 in relation to the new syllabus.

2.    That the SACRE Members put together a short PowerPoint on the key aspects of their faith.

3.    That Barnsley SACRE be invited to regional meetings.

4.    That the Development Plan be updated to include objectives relating to the National Association of SACREs and the REwards scheme.

5.      That the updated Development Plan is approved.

To discuss a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of Rotherham SACRE

The Chair presented the Reporting and Evaluation Toolkit. It was requested that Members fill the Toolkit in so that any feedback could be fed into the Development Plan for 2022/23.

Resolved:-

1.    That the Reporting and Evaluating Toolkit be circulated and that Members complete the Toolkit by Friday 17 June 2022 to allow for its inclusion on the next SACRE agenda.

To receive feedback on the Agreed Syllabus Conference held on 21 January 2022

Vanessa provided an update on the Agreed Syllabus Conference that had taken place in January. The meeting had been virtual and had been well attended. A further training was planned for October 2022 following approval from SACRE at the meeting.

To determine any items which the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency

There was no urgent business to consider.

The next virtual meeting of the Rotherham Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education will be held on Thursday 30 June 2022, commencing at 4.00pm.

The next meeting of the Rotherham SACRE would be held on Thursday 30 June 2022, commencing at 4.00pm. It was agreed that this meeting would take place on Microsoft Teams.