To receive an update on the recent Agreed Syllabus Conference meeting which took place on 2 March 2026 and progress made on the review of the Local RE Agreed Syllabus.
Minutes:
The Chair provided a verbal update on the recent activities of the Agreed Syllabus Conference (ASC) following the meeting held on 2March 2026.
The Chair explained that they had made a good start on making the amendments to the Agreed Syllabus agreed at the previous meeting. However, the Chair’s capacity to complete this on her own, given that the RE Advisor had recently stepped down, was limited. As a result, the Chair informed Members that the Agreed Syllabus was unlikely to be finalised for approval in SACRE’s meeting in June, for roll-out to schools in September 2026. However, the Chair was hopeful that the Agreed Syllabus could be finalised over the summer months and put forward to SACRE Members for approval in September 2026.
The Chair would look to arrange a separate sub-group meeting of secondary school staff members of SACRE ASC, as their input was required for the amendments to the “Program of Study” sections for Key Stages 3, 4 & 5.
The Chair informed Members of discussions that had taken place at the ASC meeting with Angela Duncan, SEND School Representative from The Willows School, regarding the production of further RE lesson plans for use by SEND specialist teachers. Whilst SEND teachers accessed the current Key Stage 1 units available, it was suggested that some of the content from further up the curriculum could be incorporated to expand these units and make them suitable for SEND students for longer. The Chair would add this project to the SACRE development plan.
D. Homer commented that the needs of SEND students were so diverse that it was very important to equip SEND teachers with enough resource to be able to find appropriate materials that were relevant to their students. The Chair commented that a more sensory and visual approach would be required for SEND students.
N. Devlin, the Service Director for Education and Inclusion (Service Director) put forward a proposal to Members that the Chair’s school should be recompensed for the increased amount of time that the Chair had spent in completing the review of the Agreed Syllabus. As the post of RE Advisor to Rotherham SACRE was now vacant and was likely to remain so for the rest of the academic year, the Service Director felt that it should be recognised by SACRE that the Chair had been taken away from their usual duties as Headteacher in carrying out this task, largely alone. The Service Director recommended that this be an ongoing arrangement until such time as the work on the Agreed Syllabus was complete.
The Service Director asked the Chair to provide an estimate of the number of hours they had spent to date on the review of the Agreed Syllabus and provide an invoice to the Council to enable their school to be reimbursed. The Service Director asked the Chair to provide an invoice before 31 March 2026 in order that this payment could be paid out of the 2025-2026 SACRE budget.
Members confirmed their agreement to this proposal on an ongoing basis, until such time as work on the Agreed Syllabus was completed.
Resolved:-
· That SACRE note and endorse the Chair’s action plan with regard to completion of work on the Agreed Syllabus; and
· That SACRE agree to the proposed reimbursement of the Chair’s school for the time the Chair had spent in undertaking the review of the Agreed Syllabus, and that this arrangement should continue until work on the Agreed Syllabus was complete.