Agenda item

Further to Minute No. 5 of the meeting of the Rotherham SACRE held on 24th October, 2017, the Rotherham SACRE meeting received a report of discussions between the Chair and the Curriculum Consultant about the future operation of the SACRE. It was noted that there had also been discussions on this matter with senior management of the Local Authority’s Children and Young people’s Services. These discussions and emphasised the need for the role of the Curriculum Consultant and Local Authority support, especially in terms of :-

- SACRE meetings, including agenda and reports preparation, briefings and post-meeting actions;

- specific preparation of the SACRE annual reports, development plans, the annual Rewards Ceremonies and the annual Religious Education conferences;

- arranging maintenance of the Internet web site and responding to enquiries;

- guidance on Collective Worship;

- consideration of requests from Schools for determinations;

- every five years, revision of the Religious Education syllabus and arrangement of appropriate training for school staff.

It was reported that the Local Authority had allocated a small sum of money to the Rotherham SACRE, which would have to be utilised during the current, 2017/18 financial year. This funding could be utilised in part for the costs of the Curriculum Consultant and in part for the SACRE development work. Members questioned the annual budget allocations to SACRE being made by comparable local authorities.

Agreed:- (1) That the contents of the report of the discussions with the Curriculum Consultant and the Local Authority be noted.

(2) That the funding being provided by the Local Authority in the current financial year (to 31 March 2018) be utilised both for the costs of the Religious Education Curriculum Consultant and for the costs of SACRE development work.

(3) That the newly-elected Chair and Vice-Chair, together with the current Chair of the Rotherham SACRE undertake further discussions with the Curriculum Consultant and with the Local Authority concerning the future arrangements for SACRE, with specific reference to:-

(a) future support from the Local Authority for SACRE, both in terms of officer time and resources, as well as the allocation of recurrent funding to be reviewed on an annual basis and whether the carry-forward of any unspent balance is permissible;

(b) recruitment to the role of Religious Education Curriculum Consultant and whether the previous incumbent is to be re-engaged or an alternative person recruited;

(c) further to (b) above, if the previous incumbent is be re-engaged, there should be a formal, written agreement with the employing School/Academy, including the allocation of a sufficient amount of time to fulfil the requirements of the role effectively and also the arrangements for the annual review of the role;

(d) agreements on (i) the use of any profit or excess of income over expenditure which may result from SACRE events; and (ii) the funding of any losses incurred at such events;

(e) the provision of additional funding specifically for the review of the Religious Education syllabus and the delivery of necessary training for school staff (such review, training and need for funding usually occurring at intervals of five years).

(4) That the response of the Local Authority be reported to the next meeting of the Rotherham SACRE, scheduled to be held during June or July, 2018.