The Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) met to discuss a range of issues relating to religious education in the borough's schools, including the approval of 'determinations' for two schools' religious education syllabuses, plans for the next year, local updates and the membership of the council.

Determinations

The council considered two applications from schools for determinations, which would allow them to teach religious education according to a syllabus that is different to the locally agreed syllabus. The two applications were from Alexandra School and Hounslow Heath schools. The meeting had been convened specifically to consider these applications as previous attempts to decide on them during the meeting on 18 November 2024 had been abandoned because the meeting was inquorate.

Plans for the Next Year

The council had previously agreed to review the Agreed Syllabus for religious education in Hounslow's schools and had allocated a budget of £13,000 for this. £750 per day of this budget was to be paid to an advisor, Lisa Kassapian, to help with the review, leaving enough for 5 days of the advisor's time. The council discussed the budget for the review, noting that the previous advisor had not made many charges for her time and advice and that the council may need to request further funding from the council.

As part of the Agreed Syllabus review, the council noted that it was required to consult with stakeholders on whether they felt Wider Horizons should be changed. Wider Horizons is the name of the current Agreed Syllabus for religious education in Hounslow¹. The council planned to send a survey, possibly using Google Docs or Microsoft Forms to gather the views of stakeholders towards the end of 2024.

The council also discussed its plan to publish a series of exemplar lesson plans to help teachers deliver the Agreed Syllabus.

Also discussed were plans for the council's annual lecture, which had been moved to Spring 2025. No speaker had yet been appointed, and the council was still open to suggestions. The council noted that the lecture must be non-prejudicial and that the RE element must be inclusive and diverse. The council also noted that previous attempts to book a speaker had failed due to the cost or the availability of potential speakers, and that online speakers may need to be considered.

Finally, the council discussed the annual report, which was nearly complete. The council was waiting for GCSE results from the local authority.

Membership Update

The council noted that membership was declining and that a number of seats on the council were vacant. It was suggested that faith groups may need to do more to ensure that they are appropriately representing the communities they claim to.

Freedom of Information

The council noted that it had not received any Freedom of Information requests.

Finance

The council discussed the budget for religious education. The council noted that it had spent less than half of its allocated budget for the year and that the local authority had queried this. It was suggested that the local authority might not fully understand the council's role, and that council members should attempt to raise awareness of the council's work with councillors.

Local Updates

The council received an update on training and feedback from the Primary and Secondary RE Networks. No detail was provided on the content of this update.