The SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education) meeting on Wednesday, 12 June 2024, focused on filling committee vacancies, the ASC membership, and updates on various initiatives and reports. Key decisions included the co-option of Bernardo Kerr as the representative for the Baháʼí community and the removal of specific sub-titles from the membership list.

Committee Vacancies and Membership List

Shell Sullivan and Rebekah Guy suggested that SACRE should aim to fill the vacancies in the committee membership within the next year. They offered to visit relevant groups to encourage participation. Additionally, the committee agreed to edit the membership list to show Rhona Burfield as the Congregational Church representative and to remove the sub-titles ‘Baptist’ and ‘Evangelical’ from the Other Christian Denomination group. The committee also agreed to accept the co-option of Bernardo Kerr as the representative for the Baháʼí community.

ASC Membership

Shell Sullivan informed the committee about the upcoming ASC pre-meeting and the main ASC meeting scheduled for 24 April 2024. The purpose of the ASC meeting is to review and revise the RE syllabus every five years. Committee members were encouraged to submit their expressions of interest in ASC membership. Pauline Dodds mentioned she had put forward Louise Jenkins for ASC membership but had not received confirmation. Clarifications were provided regarding the membership and attendance expectations for the ASC pre-meeting.

Faith and Belief Worker

Shell Sullivan announced that Somerset Council had awarded GLADE Centre with funding to develop the work of the Somerset Interfaith & Belief Network. She encouraged SACRE members to support the role of the interfaith worker. Pauline Dodds inquired whether the GLADE representative would liaise with the Diocese, and Jessica Witchell offered to introduce Pauline to the representative.

Symposium/Newsletter/Website Update

Shell Sullivan and Rebekah Guy provided updates on the Curriculum Symposium held on 24 September 2023 at Holyrood Academy. The event was successful in forming networks between RE teachers and leaders. The transition from a world religions approach to a world views approach was well received. Rebekah also informed the committee that the new Somerset SACRE website was in place, but the old website had not yet been taken down.

Annual SACRE Report

Rebekah Guy presented the Annual SACRE Report, summarising the activities over the previous year, including SACRE resource boxes, Learn Teach Lead RE hubs, and the Curriculum Symposium. Shell Sullivan highlighted the efforts of schools to increase the number of students taking RE qualifications at the secondary level.

Diocesan Report

Pauline Dodds presented the Diocesan Report, explaining the Statutory Inspections of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) and its impact on RE within Church Schools. She noted that Ofsted did not always comment on RE due to SIAMS, resulting in skewed Local Authority data. Pauline encouraged committee members to attend the RE Conference in Wells on 22 April 2024.

For more details, you can refer to the SACRE Minutes 13th March 2024 - ModGov Version.