Helen was an active Chair during her time in the role and helped drive forward the work of SACRE. We are grateful to her for her contribution to its work, both as Chair and, prior to that, as a Member.

After Helen stepped down, Chris Devanny kindly agreed to take the Chair for the remaining meeting, in June 2022. The position of Vice-Chair has been unfilled all year. A new Chair and Vice-Chair will be in place for 2022/2023.

Once again, the school year saw some disruption, due to the various restrictions necessary to deal with the Covid-19 Pandemic and, once again, all those involved in education across North Yorkshire showed tremendous dedication to enable an excellent educational experience for all our children and young people. This year, saw a return to Religious Education Examinations in person. SACRE will look forward to an analysis of these results during 2022/2023.

SACRE met four times during the year, with each meeting being held remotely. It is likely that in 2022/2023 hybrid meetings will be held ie some Members attending in person and others joining remotely. This would reflect the wishes of those Members who wish to continue to meet remotely and those who wish to physically be in attendance to meet and catch up with other Members and officers in person.

The professional support to SACRE has remained unchanged throughout the year. In addition to myself, this has comprised Olivia Seymour, Professional RE Adviser; Heather Russell, Senior Education Adviser and Daniel Harry and Patrick Duffy from Democratic Services.

There have been a number of changes to Membership, which I am setting out below.

In Group A, in addition to the departure of Helen Sellers:-

- Brian Berry joined as the Jewish Representative

- Tom Clayton joined as the Methodist Representative, replacing Sian Henderson

- Sarah Beveridge joined as the Society of Friends Representative. It was good to welcome back Sarah, who had previously been a Teacher Representative

- Dave Haddock joined as Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Representative, replacing Bill Kimberling

- Sarah Leach, the Buddhist Representative, is no longer a Member.

The Membership of Group B remained the same.

In Group C, Stuart Anslow joined. However, there are still a number of vacancies in this Group, which it is hoped will be able to be filled in 2022/2023.

In Group D, following the Council elections in May 2022, the Council appointed Councillors Alyson Baker and George Jabbour to join Councillors Annabel Wilkinson and Robert Heseltine. The Council has decided to just have four representatives - rather than the previous five. We said goodbye to Councillors Janet Jefferson, Andrew Lee and Patrick Mulligan.

I would like to acknowledge the contribution of all of the outgoing Members and wish them well. Overall, the departures do leave SACRE with a less experienced Membership than previously. Therefore, the development of Members is something that SACRE may need to consider going forward

A key element has been the development of a new Development Plan for 2022/2024, which was approved at the June 2022 meeting. The previous Development Plan, which ended this School Year, is appended to this report. Good progress has been made against the priorities identified and officers will, with the support of Members, aim to ensure that the new Plan sees similar progress.

SACRE Members received training on the NASACRE Self-Assessment Tool. This was particularly useful and opportune in relation to the afore-mentioned Development Plan.

With meetings having been held remotely, it is important that SACRE hears about some of the good work going on in the community and in its Schools. To this end, SACRE considered interesting presentations on Craven Education Development Centre; Jamyang Buddhist Centre in Leeds; and the Welcome School Accreditation Scheme. Tara Askew, a Teacher Representative, kindly updated Members on the Religious Education undertaken at her School, Tadcaster Grammar.

I am very grateful to Members for their commitment to SACRE and the support that they give to me and my colleagues.

Adrian Clarke

Principal Education Adviser (Support)

1.Introduction

SACRE met four times in the academic year 2021/2022.

The attendance, by Committee, is set out below:-

Committee	20 Oct 2021	7 Dec 2021	1 Feb 2022	21 June 2022	Possible maximum attendances at each meeting
Committee A	5	4	5	6	12 (includes 4 vacancies)
Committee B	2	3	3	1	4 (includes one vacancy)
Committee C	2	2	1	1	5 (includes 3 vacancies)
Committee D	3	4	3	3	5 (except for June meeting as representation decreased to 4 from May 2022)
Total members	12	13	12	11	26

Professional RE Adviser	1	1	1	1	1
Local Authority Officers	2	2	1	2	2

NOTE: The attendance should be taken in the context of the number of vacancies. For example, whilst there are 12 Members of Committee A, to compare the attendance to that figure of 12 makes the attendance appear worse than it is. This is because there have been a number of vacancies throughout the year.

Each meeting contains updates from Local Authority Officers and the Professional Religious Education Adviser. Through the latter’s reports, the Committee has been appraised of various national updates. The Committee has also received updates on (not an exhaustive list):-

British public values an understanding of worldviews and role of RE
Inter Faith Week 2021
Holocaust Memorial Day
Training

· Religion and Worldviews Project

· White Paper on Education and Religious Education

· REThinkRE Media Release and Report Card on Religious Education

· NATRE (National Association of Teachers for Religious Education) Report on Religious Education in Secondary Religious

· NASACRE Annual Conference

Meetings have continued to be held remotely. In 2022/2023 it is likely that meetings will be hybrid in nature.

2. RE Statutory responsibilities

The Local Agreed Syllabus

The number of schools within North Yorkshire is as follows

	Nursery	Primary	Secondary	Special	Pupil Referral Service	Total
Academy		105	27	3	1	136
UTC			1			1
Community	3	91	15	7	4	120
Foundation		1				1
Free		2				2
Voluntary Controlled		81				81
Voluntary Aided		22				22
Total	3	302	43	10	5	363

There are 23 primary academies, 6 secondary academies, 2 special academies and 1 foundation school who have adopted the North Yorkshire Locally Agreed Syllabus.

Separate regulations covering maintained special schools require them to ensure that, as far as practicable, a pupil receives opportunities to explore RE. Most Special Schools use the North Yorkshire Locally Agreed Syllabus, at least partially, and adapt it to meet the needs of the pupils. Some Special Schools use the ‘Equals’ curriculum package, which is designed specifically for RE in special schools.

Standards and monitoring of RE

SACRE has been limited in its ability to actively monitor the agreed syllabus across the schools in North Yorkshire for the academic year 2021-2022. This has been due to the Covid 19 pandemic. However, SACRE has monitored the agreed syllabus and RE in schools through monitoring of: teacher voice at termly professional practice groups, teacher representation of SACRE Group C and the new annual school questionnaire.

The questionnaire was developed by the Professional RE adviser in consultation with SACRE Group C and approved by SACRE in January 2021. This is the second year the questionnaire has been used as a mechanism to monitor RE in NYCC schools. 59 primary schools and 15 secondary schools completed the questionnaire and it is a useful mechanism to support SACREs responsibilities in monitoring RE in our schools.

An overview of questionnaire data

· 58% of Primary RE subject leads who responded have been in role for less than 3 years

· 50% of Secondary RE subject leads who responded have been in role for less than 3 years

· 89% of Primary RE subject leads who responded reported that their school curriculum meets the expectations of the NYCC Agreed Syllabus

· 47% of Secondary RE subject leads who responded reported that their school curriculum meets the expectations of the NYCC Agreed Syllabus

· 75% Primary RE subject leads who responded reported that the resources available are sufficient to support their RE delivery

· 87% Secondary RE subject leads who responded reported that the resources available are sufficient to support their RE delivery

· 9% of Primary RE subject leads who responded graded the quality of RE provision (including quality and standards achieved by pupils) in their school as outstanding

· 0% of Secondary RE subject leads who responded graded the quality of RE provision (including quality and standards achieved by pupils) in their school as outstanding

· 76% of Primary RE subject leads who responded graded the quality of RE provision (including quality and standards achieved by pupils) in their school as good

· 80% of Secondary RE subject leads who responded graded the quality of RE provision (including quality and standards achieved by pupils) in their school as good

· 15% of Primary RE subject leads who responded graded the quality of RE provision (including quality and standards achieved by pupils) in their school as requires improvement

· 20% of Secondary RE subject leads who responded graded the quality of RE provision (including quality and standards achieved by pupils) in their school as requires improvement

· 0% of Primary RE subject leads who responded graded the quality of RE provision (including quality and standards achieved by pupils) in their school as inadequate

· 0% of Secondary RE subject leads who responded graded the quality of RE provision (including quality and standards achieved by pupils) in their school as inadequate

A fuller analysis of the questionnaire is presented to SACRE Members. Responses received enable SACRE to direct advice and support as appropriate and identify possible areas for improvement.

Following bespoke training for Senior Education Advisers (SEAs) in Spring 2022 and discussion in the June 2022 SACRE meeting, a wider programme of monitoring has been agreed by SACRE and will be built in to the 2022-24 Development Plan.

KS4 and KS5 results

Data to be compared with previous data – data will be released in October

In 2020 and 2021 national exams were cancelled and the DFE have not released the pupil or school level dataset. In 2020 exams were cancelled in the light of school and college closures for most students and uncertainty over whether exams could take place safely. In 2021 the government concluded that it would not be fair for exams to go ahead as planned once schools and colleges closed to the majority of students again in January 2021.

Therefore, SACRE has not used external data to support its monitoring for 2020-21.

In 2020-2021 the new Professional RE Adviser, in partnership with the Local Authority, set up termly professional practice groups (PPG) for primary and secondary school subject leaders.

This training has included a focus on developing an effective curriculum using the North Yorkshire County Council Agreed Syllabus, subject knowledge and engaging with the recent Ofsted research review in religious education. A leadership course for new subject leaders was held in spring 2021. All these events were delivered through on-line systems.

Resources to support the Religious Education are accessible at https://secure2.sla-online.co.uk/v3/Resources/Page/14145 once logged into https://www.nyeducationservices.co.uk

North Yorkshire schools also have had access to a range of regional training events coordinated by the NATRE Regional Ambassador for RE. A programme of visits and visitors, particularly in more rural parts of the county, continues to be a challenge. SACRE has therefore continued to signpost schools to local resources and opportunities through the professional practice groups and the newsletter.

In 2020-2021 SACRE introduced a termly newsletter, accessible to all schools, providing resources, local and national updates, and information about the work of SACRE.

SACRE has received no formal complaints regarding RE provision or quality this year.

The Professional RE Adviser has supported North Yorkshire schools through communications of advice and support where requested.

SA SAC

3. Collective Worship

SACRE encourages all schools to comply with their legal duty to provide a daily act of Collective Worship for their pupils. This may take place at any time of day and in class, year group, or whole school settings. North Yorkshire SACRE believes that acts of collective worship or spiritual reflection should be meaningful and relevant to all those present. In order for this to be the case, SACRE has identified six principles which schools should apply with regard to daily collective worship. Collective worship should:

1. Promote a sense of community;

2. Be educational;

3. Promote spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development;

4. Be a special time;

5. Enable participants to be actively involved;

6. Be of high quality.

Further information on this is available in the document, “Guidance to schools on Collective Worship”, which may be accessed by schools via https://nyes.info/religiouseducation

Schools may apply to SACRE for a determination in order to provide Collective Worship of a non-Christian or other form. No schools have done so during this academic year.

There were no complaints registered with the local authority or SACRE in 2021/2022 in respect of collective worship. As in previous years, no determinations were requested by schools.

Updating guidance on Collective Worship and providing training for schools has been identified as a development point for SACRE.

4. Links with other bodies

North Yorkshire SACRE is a member of the National Association of SACREs (NASACRE). Through the year, SACRE members were informed of developments in RE from NASACRE, The National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) and The Religious Education Council of England and Wales (REC), through the Professional RE Adviser, report to SACRE.

The Professional RE Adviser attended the Summer 2022 NASACRE Conference and reported back to members.

5. SACRE involvement locally

North Yorkshire SACRE provided advice to the Local Authority on Ramadan in schools.

A Newsletter is published and circulated termly to schools.

The Professional RE Adviser met School Improvement Advisers in the Local Authority on two occasions to provide briefings on the role of SACRE, the Agreed Syllabus and the role of RE and Collective Worship in schools.

6. SACREs own arrangements

Finance

During the school year 2021-2022 the Local Authority has financially supported SACRE through the allocation of officers and other resources.

Staffing costs have been covered to provide officers from Democratic Services to fulfil the administrative preparation and clerking of SACRE meetings. Additional officer and technology resource has also been allocated to ensure that SACRE meetings could be held via video conference and live streamed, as required under Council’s meeting arrangements.

Staffing costs have also been covered to ensure that two officers from the School Improvement Service have been able to attend SACRE, SACRE Core Groups, other meetings and developmental work.

The costs of the Professional RE Adviser, an external consultant, are met through Local Authority funds.

Officers and support

An officer in the Local Authority’s Democratic Services Section acts as Clerk to SACRE; advising on governance matters and acting as a link between the Local Authority and SACRE. The officer facilitates the SACRE Core Group, which comprises the Chair, Vice-Chair, the Professional Religious Education Adviser and officers from the Local Authority. The Core Group discusses the content of the agenda for SACRE and related issues.

In addition, the Democratic Services Team Manager provides professional support and advice to SACRE, principally on matters of governance and matters relating to the work of the Council and its Committees. The Democratic Services Team Manager also attends Core Group meetings.

Membership

Membership of each of the four Groups which constitute the North Yorkshire SACRE in the academic year 2021-2022 was:

Group A – Faith Group Representatives (12)

Professor John Adams, Humanist

Sarah Beveridge, Society of Friends (joined June 2022)

Sarah Leach, Buddhist (left February 2022)

Chris Devanny, Catholic

Sian Henderson, Methodist (left February 2022)

Tom Clayton, Methodist (joined February 2022)

Bill Kimberling, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (left June 2022)

Dave Haddock, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (joined June 2022)

Nasr Moussa Emam, Muslim

Helen Sellers, Baptist (left April 2022)

Mohinder Singh Chana, Sikh

Vacancy Baptist

Vacancy Buddhist

Vacancy Hindu

Vacancy Salvationist

Group B – Church of England Representatives (4 - two each nominated by the Anglican Diocese of Leeds and the Diocese of York

Reverend Simone Bennett, Diocese of Leeds

Gill Simpson, Diocese of Leeds

Philippa Smith, Diocese of York

Vacancy Diocese of York

Group C - Teachers of Religious Education (5)

Tara Askew

Stuart Anslow

Vacancies (3)

Group D – Local Authority (5) - elected Members of the County Council

County Councillor Robert Heseltine

County Councillor Janet Jefferson (no longer a Member from May 2022)

County Councillor Andrew Lee (no longer a Member from May 2022)

County Councillor Patrick Mulligan (no longer a Member from May 2022)

County Councillor Annabel Wilkinson

County Councillor Alyson Baker (joined May 2022)

County Councillor George Jabbour (joined May 2022)

NOTE: For most of the period in question there were five Local Authority Representatives. This was reduced to four, following the Council Elections in May 2022,

Co-opted Member: Academic Expertise in Religious Education

Vacancy

A number of vacancies in Group A were filled but others have arisen during the course of the year. Groups B and D have operated at, close to, full complement. The main area of challenge this year has been recruiting to vacancies for Group C.

All meetings have been quorate and generally well attended.

Training for Members was provided online, by the Professional Adviser for Religious Education in February 2022 around the NASACRE/DfE Self-Assessment Tool.

Circulation

This report is circulated to:

· NASACRE

· Department for Education

· North Yorkshire County Council, Children and Young People Overview Scrutiny Committee

· North Yorkshire County Council, Children and Young People’s Leadership Team

· North Yorkshire schools

· SACRE members representative bodies

APPENDIX 1

NORTH YORKSHIRE SACRE: DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2020 – 2022

Priority 1: Implementation of the Locally Agreed Syllabus
Target: RE teachers throughout the LA are confident in their delivery of the syllabus; good RE is taught and learned throughout the LA
Intended Impact: Schools understand the value of good RE in the personal development of their pupils and their understanding of society
Action	Timescale	People involved	Costs	Monitoring and Evaluation	Progress made September 2022
Support is put in place to ensure full implementation of the Agreed Syllabus throughout the LA	2020 -2021	Local Authority Officer Teachers’ networks Members of SACRE	Cost of providing training	Schools will have implemented the new syllabus by September 2020; and in 2021 it will be developing within classrooms and good practice will be shared	Training through networks is ongoing each term, plus additional leadership course – on line
Monitor the effective teaching of RE throughout the LA and explore ways to model best practice in RE	2020-2022	Local Authority Officers Members of SACRE have opportunities to visit examples of best practice	Costs of visits to schools and of providing training	Monitoring of RE is built into LA systems and processes SACRE will have clear and up-to-date information on how RE is taught in schools and academies	Professional RE Adviser supported SEAs in how to monitor and evaluate RE curriculum in schools - with supportive resources

Priority 1 Continued
Action	Timescale	People involved	Costs	Monitoring and Evaluation	Progress made September 2022
Scrutinise relevant OFSTED reports and data	2020-2022	Local Authority Officer Members of SACRE		SACRE members will be more aware of how schools in the LA are improving	Ofsted regularly discussed- North Yorkshire School Ofsted – Primary and Secondary lessons learned
Receive teacher feedback on areas to improve for the next syllabus update	2021-2022	Local Authority Officer Members of SACRE Teachers of RE	Teacher travel expenses for attending SACRE meetings	Teachers to be invited to bring reports to SACRE meetings in person or through electronic means, enabling greater awareness of their views in preparation for the next syllabus	Teacher representative has given overview of learning in schools - this is an ongoing agenda item
Pupil feedback on RE	2020-2022	SACRE members Teachers and pupils	Travel expenses	SACRE members receive first-hand evidence of pupil response through visits to SACRE meetings, SACRE meetings held in schools, or through electronic means	Pupil voice is part of Senior Education Adviser safeguarding focus days, which can include discussion of RE curriculum and collective worship focus

Priority 2 starts on the next page

Priority 2: To operate effectively as a SACRE
Target: Clear and positive collaboration between the LA and SACRE, within SACRE, and between SACRE and schools
Intended Impact: The work of North Yorkshire SACRE is meaningful and valued as it works effectively to fulfil its brief
Action	Timescale	People involved	Costs	Monitoring and Evaluation	Progress made September 2022
Undertake a skills audit of all SACRE members	2020	Members of SACRE Clerk to SACRE		The relevant skills of SACRE members will be used to good effect	Training has taken place
Provide training for SACRE members	2020-2022	LA officer Members of SACRE NASACRE	Costs of training programmes if bought in, costs of bringing speakers to SACRE meetings	Members of SACRE will gain new skills so that all contribute to the effective working of the body	Ongoing training is part of membership
Build capacity within SACRE	2020-2022	LA officer Chair of SACRE NASACRE		Attendance at meetings is regular and vacancies are filled; all committees are well represented	Membership still an area to focus
Develop our systems and procedures through the LA to ensure we meet statutory duties	2020-2022	Local Authority Adviser Chair of SACRE		Effective communication and regular liaison between SACRE, democratic services and Children’s services	SACRE has the full complement of Local Authority Officers working with us.

Priority 2 Continued
Action		Timescale		People involved	Costs	Monitoring and Evaluation		Progress made September 2022
SACRE Members regularly have opportunities to experience RE and Collective Worship in schools		2022- on-going		Chair of SACRE Local Authority Officers Members of SACRE	Travel expenses?	Schools are aware of, and make use of, the resources of SACRE; monitoring is more effective throughout the LA		Intention to start focus on website reviews Evaluation responses shared and results to be shared with SACRE Members
SACRE to respond to recommendations of key partners and identify key priorities for NYCC		2020-2022		Clerk to SACRE Chair of SACRE		SACRE is in step with current recommendations		We now have a clear line of communication with the Local Authority and have more links with the wider Council.
Revise and improve the format and content of the Annual Report		2020-2021		Chair of SACRE RE Adviser Members of SACRE		Partners will receive a fuller picture of the work and scope of SACRE each year and will be able to engage more easily with the work of SACRE		The new format has been implemented
Priority 3: Active links between SACRE and the LA
Target: The LA recognises and supports the work of SACRE
Intended Impact: SACRE is more able to fulfil its brief; the LA provides the means of support for SACRE to do so
Action	Timescale		People involved		Costs	Monitoring and Evaluation	Progress made September 2022
Active and regular Local Authority representation in SACRE meetings	2020-2022		Local Authority Officer Other Local Authority representatives as appropriate			Members of SACRE are aware of relevant LA policies, greater evidence of a supportive relationship between the LA and SACRE	Local Authority Officers meet half termly with Professional RE Adviser and with wider core group Members, prior to SACRE full membership
Ensure Local Authority support in staffing and funding	2020-2022		Local Authority Officer Other Local Authority representatives as appropriate Clerk to SACRE		Staffing costs Funding for wider SACRE work and officers as necessary	SACRE is represented at NASACRE and other relevant conferences; SACRE meetings are clerked; school-based actions are funded; SACRE is appropriately funded as per DFE expectations	SACRE is fully staffed by the Local Authority Funding has been provided for officers (part-time for the Professional RE Adviser) and a report has been received from the Principal Education Adviser (Support), which has informed the latest Annual Report. NASACRE 2020 Conference was cancelled. However, the Chair attended the online EGM in November 2020. In May 2021 the Chair, Professional Adviser and Local Authority Officer attended the online NASACRE conference.