To receive an update on plans for the RE Awards Ceremony.
Minutes:
Members discussed the organisation of the previous RE Awards event and the challenges experienced in the logistics of arranging it. The Service Director suggested that there should be a dedicated line within the SACRE budget for the RE Awards, as an annual commitment, which would cover refreshments, printing, room hire etc. Members agreed that this would be sensible moving forward.
Liza Melvin commented that it would be good to widen the reach of the RE Awards and get more schools involved. The Service Director suggested that SACRE utilise the school contacts that the Council held through Fiona Radford and consider setting aside a portion of money within the budget for “Communications”.
There was discussion over the most appropriate time of year to hold the RE Awards. General consensus was that end of June would be most appropriate, once GCSEs were over and Y11s had left. At that time of year, secondary teaching staff would have more time available to engage with the event.
It was suggested that the event could be tied into the “Together for Tomorrow” project and re-named “RE & Community Awards” to recognise community spirit and cohesion. Members discussed organising communications to schools informing them of the date of the event and asking for nominations, possibly via Microsoft Forms.
Potential venues for the event were discussed, including; the Town Hall, the Rockingham Centre, the New York Stadium, Gullivers Valley & Magna. The timing of the event was also discussed, and Members agreed that after-school/ evenings would work best to maximise attendance for parents.
Fiona Radford commented that a recent Together for Tomorrow Celebration Ambassadors event had been held online and had been a very successful virtual event, where children had joined alongside their parents. Fiona Radford offered SACRE the support of her team at the Council to assist in arranging the event. It was also suggested that the Chair consider attending the next Primary & Secondary Heads meetings to raise the profile of SACRE and promote the event.
Members discussed the possibility or arranging a competition for secondary school students to design a logo for Rotherham SACRE and for the RE Awards event, with prizes to be awarded upon judging by SACRE at December’s meeting. It was decided that the SACRE logo competition would be open to all schools across the borough, and the RE Awards logo competition would be open to Graphics pupils at Liza Melvin & Emily Nicholls’ school, Oakwood High School.
Tricia Williams made a request that pupils were asked to consider making any logo disability friendly, paying particular attention to font and colour combinations. Tricia Williams offered to provide guidance with regard to colour discrimination issues.
It was agreed that a budget line of approximately £1,000 should be inserted into the 2026-27 budget for “RE Awards Planning”, with the event to take place in June 2027, in the 2027-28 financial year. This would enable the spend for the event to be spread across two financial years.
The title of the Awards was queried – was it “RE Awards” or “REwards”? Members agreed that it should be “REwards”.