Agenda item

To receive an update on the recent Agreed Syllabus Conference meeting and progress made on the review of the Local RE Agreed Syllabus.

The Chair provided a verbal update on the recent activities of the Agreed Syllabus Conference (ASC) following the meeting held on the 18^th November 2025.

The Chair explained that they had met with the RE Advisor and together they had gone through the current ASC Syllabus on a line-by-line basis, working out where amendments and improvements could be made. The Chair reminded members that it had been previously agreed that this review of the Agreed Local Syllabus would not be a full overhaul of the document but a lighter touch update and refinement where required.

The Chair took Members through the following issues that had been discussed and agreed at the ASC meeting:

Main updates proposed and agreed:

·       To add “Together for Tomorrow” theme to the subtitle and introduction.

·       To amend the Executive Summary to stress guidance and flexibility for schools.

·       To expand inclusion of non-religious world views (Atheism, Humanism, etc.)

·       To strengthen the world views approach to teaching RE.

·       To reorder the aims diagrams and remove a redundant table for clarity.

·       To update Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural guidance and align it with the current OFSTED framework.

·       To keep the Cultural Capital section but make it more concise.

·       To add references to collective worship and update related guidance.

·       To recommend weekly RE lessons over block teaching.

·       To update census data (2011 ? latest ONS figures) with tables and pie charts.

·       To insert hyperlinks for useful resources and RE visits.

·       To remove the outdated “Skillsbuilder” diagram and instead, emphasise theologian/sociologist/philosopher skills.

·       To strengthen the section on SEND inclusion and adaptive teaching approach.

·       T add a section on critical engagement and analysis in response to AI concerns.

·       To include an acknowledgment list and incorporate more recent artwork examples from Rotherham schools.

Other Discussions:

·       Interfaith activities to be encouraged but not fully embedded.

·       Collective worship guidance to be refreshed.

·       Increased coordination with RE Hub for better school speakers.

·       Consider Madam Mayor’s involvement in January event.

Agreed next steps:

·       Chair & RE Advisor to redraft syllabus, incorporating feedback from wider ASC members.

·       Tricia Williams to provide updated census data and charts.

·       Revised syllabus to be presented at ASC meeting on 2 March 2026, then presented to full SACRE meeting in June for approval, prior to implementation in schools from September 2026.

Members went on to further discuss whether the teaching of Islam should be made more prominent across the key stages, especially bearing in mind the demographic and religious census data in Rotherham. The Chair expressed caution due to the amount of work involved in creating a new unit of materials for teachers to deliver. However, teaching Members pointed out that a lot of schools use the ASC as a guide but obtain their lesson plans and materials from elsewhere and that there would be an abundance of resources on Islam available.

The Assistant Director for Education and Inclusion expressed the view that it would be a pragmatic approach to start compiling this information now, with a view to creating a unit on Islam at a later date. Currently, almost 1 in 5 children in Rotherham are from an Islamic background so the Assistant Director for Education and Inclusion agreed that Islam should be introduced as early and as often as possible, but was mindful of placing any additional pressure on the Chair and the RE Advisor, who need to finalise the ASC by June.

D. Homer felt strongly that effort should be made to introduce Islam earlier in children’s education, in order to encourage a broader understanding of the religion, particularly in light of increasing incidences of Islamophobia, both with the Rotherham area and nationally. D. Homer volunteered to assist in collecting together materials on Islam for each key stage to help signpost teachers to the good resources that are available. The Chair mentioned RE Today, which has recently produced an excellent resource called “Understanding Islam”.

There was further discussion about the complexities of teaching Islam when there are certain elements of the culture and religion which could be controversial, such as misogyny. It could be very difficult for teachers to have the strength and confidence to address these difficult issues. Members who were staff at secondary schools reported that they had often had discussions on these topics with the Asian teenage males at their schools. The Chair commented that given the existing expertise within SACRE, there could be a future piece of work for SACRE to put together some advice to schools on how to raise and address the challenging complexities of Islam.