This meeting was scheduled to receive reports from the attendees and discuss the council's progress on its website monitoring of local schools, as well as receiving updates on a proposed primary RE conference. It was also scheduled to receive a report on the national developments in RE, and a report on Collective Worship¹ in the borough. A draft of the 2023-2024 annual report was also scheduled to be received.

Update on the Primary RE Conference

The report pack included an update on a planned Primary RE conference which was scheduled to be discussed at the meeting.

The conference will have the theme 'How do people express their faith through the arts?'. It is intended for Year 5 pupils from schools across the borough and will take place at the Salvation Army building in Romford.

The meeting attendees were scheduled to discuss the proposed date, workshop hosts and content, and the purchasing of refreshments. The update included the proposed timetable:

9:30 Arrival and refreshments 10:00 Formal start, with an introduction by the Mayor/Deputy Mayor of Havering (WBT to approach the Mayor’s Office) and then Julia Diamond-Conway to give a brief outline of the day. 10:15 Children to split into two groups (A & B) of roughly 25 children (and adults). Group A: Workshop Carousel (15 minutes per station). Members of SACRE to be approached initially to facilitate the workshops:  Workshop 1: Baháʼí Faith (John Lester)  Workshop 2: Judaism (Harvey Lexton and wife)  Workshop 3: Hindu Dharma (Om Dhir)  Workshop 4: Sikhism (Sansar Narwal) Group B: Creative Workshop – choice of either Christianity or Islam  Christianity workshop to be led by Karen Van Coevorden and Wendy Brice-Thompson (and others TBC)  Islam workshop to be led by Sidra Naeem and Tariq Mahmood 11:15 Group A moves to the Creative Workshop while Group B participates in the Workshop Carousel. 12:15 Finish

School Website Monitoring 2024-2025

The meeting was scheduled to discuss the council's progress on its annual website audit, which assesses the quality of online information provided to parents about RE and Collective Worship in the borough's schools. The report pack included a spreadsheet showing that each school had been assigned to a member of the council, and that only some schools had been assessed.

The council were also scheduled to consider a new version of the form used to assess the schools' websites.

National Developments in Religious Education

The council was scheduled to receive a report on national developments in Religious Education. This report included information about recent calls by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, and the National Association of Teachers of RE, for the government to create a national plan for the subject.

The report also included information about the new Open University 'Religion, Belief and Worldviews Hub' which is intended to provide support to teachers and school leaders delivering RE, the annual NATRE conference, the RE Today training courses that will be available in the Spring term, an ethics discussion competition for Secondary School pupils called the Ethics Cup, the 2024 OCR review of the 11-16 curriculum, a summary of data showing that only 44% of RE teachers have a post A Level qualification in the subject, and data about GCSE and A Level entries.

Collective Worship

The report pack included a summary of the minutes of all of the school governing board meetings that had taken place in the Spring Term of 2024, in which Collective Worship had been discussed. The report was scheduled to be received by the council.

The report showed that many schools had confirmed that they are meeting their legal duty to provide Collective Worship for pupils, and some of them had scheduled training for governors and staff.

Draft Havering SACRE Annual Report 2023-2024

The report pack contained a draft of the council's annual report for 2023-2024. This report summarises the work undertaken by the council, including:

• A summary of the three meetings that had taken place during the reporting period.
• Information about the council's work monitoring Religious Education provision in the borough's schools.
• Information about the council's work monitoring Collective Worship provision in the borough's schools.
• A summary of the training that had been provided for RE Subject Leaders in the borough.
• A summary of the council's engagement with other national and local bodies.
• A breakdown of the council's membership, including the number of meetings each member had attended.

The report was scheduled to be received by the council.