North Yorkshire County Council
North Yorkshire Standing Advisory Council
on Religious Education (SACRE) –
22nd June 2021
Update from Professional RE Adviser
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1.0
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Purpose of the Report
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To inform Members on training and support given to schools since the last SACRE meeting. To inform Members of national updates in Religious Education. |
2.0 Communication and resourcing
2.1 The Local Authority Officer and Professional RE Adviser are working with the clerk to update and improve both the public facing and school facing website pages relating to SACRE, Religious Education and Collective Worship. Further work to audit and update resources for schools will begin in September 2021.
2.2 As mentioned previously it is hoped that future editions of our termly newsletter will include features on SACRE members and the work of SACRE to support a wider understanding of the work of SACRE. The next edition of the newsletter will feature an introduction to the Chair of SACRE, Helen Sellers. I would be grateful for volunteers who would be willing to write a short piece about themselves and their involvement in SACRE.
3.0 Training
3.1 In the summer term 9 Primary Schools booked on to the RE professional practice group. The training section of the network focussed on the Ofsted research report and also looked at teaching diversity in Christianity. A range of local and national resources were also shared.
3.2 We are still working on being able to share information from the new online feedback form
in a useful way and will ensure we have something in place for next academic year. Informal feedback from the training included:
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· Thank you - I'm feeling more confident! · Thankyou for all the resources and thought provoking information. · Informative as always - thanks Olivia · Love the resources shared...thank you · Really useful Ofsted info too. Thank you. · In the future could we talk about how we assess and how we know that the curriculum is working in our school? |
3.3 As with the autumn and spring term the Secondary professional practice group did not run. The Professional RE Adviser is working with Local Authority Officers to develop a yearlong programme for primary and secondary networks that can be advertised and shared via school advisers and leadership events.
3.4 The training programme is being finalised for 2021-2022 but will include two remote professional practice groups each term for primary RE leads, one remote professional practice group each term for secondary RE leads, a subject leadership day course and input for senior leaders and governors.
4.0 Support for Senior Leaders and Governors
4.1 As reported previously the Professional RE Adviser is working with Local Authority Officers to explore mechanisms to ensure senior leaders and governors have access to guidance and support on matters relating to RE and Collective Worship. A feature on RE and the role of governors will be included in the summer term Governor newsletter and training slides for governor training are being developed for September 2021. The Professional RE Adviser and Local Authority Officer are also planning a briefing for all NYCC school advisers on the role of SACRE, the legal framework for RE and the locally agreed syllabus.
5.0 Monitoring of RE
5.1 As reported at our last meeting the Professional RE Adviser is working with the LA to send the questionnaires to schools in the summer term and collate the information. It has been agreed that the questionnaires will go out at the end of June in an electronic format and school advisers will communicate this to their schools. This information will provide an important baseline for SACRE in considering its next steps in undertaking its responsibility for monitoring standards in RE. The information will also provide important information for the annual report and the new expectations from DFE within this report.
Olivia Seymour
Professional Adviser to North Yorkshire SACRE
County Hall, Northallerton
9th June 2021
Report Author: Olivia Seymour
Background documents: None