Agenda item

Annually Camden SACRE uses the national criteria to assess where it is in the development as a SACRE. At the meeting members will work through the toolkit together and develop and agree the SACRE annual plan for this academic year.

Consideration was given to the SACRE Annual Self-evaluation Toolkit and Actions item.

The Professional Advisor asked members to review each key area within Section 1 (Management of the SACRE and partnership with the Local Authority (LA) and other key stakeholders), between 1a-1g (pages 53-58 of the agenda), asking for feedback and their views on how Camden SACRE was performing against the criteria.

The following was discussed for each section:

1a – Funding: Professional and financial support

·       The Professional Advisor said that in their view Camden placed between ‘established’ and ‘advanced’ level in this area. The meeting was well supported by councillors and officers.

·       In response to members asking if there was a dedicated budget, the Head of Governor Services, Camden Learning (Owen Rees), said there was a notional amount of funding for SACRE but not a specific allocation. SACRE spending included the cost of the Head of Governor Services and the Clerk’s time supporting the meeting. If there were further resources desired by members, they were welcome to make a request.

·       It was noted that for SACRE to move to ‘advanced’ level, they would need a strategic costed development plan, which could be developed this year looking ahead and shared with the LA.

1b – SACRE meetings

·       Members said Camden was ‘established’, not ‘advanced’ level in this area.

·       Members said they would like to hold meetings in different venues, but it was noted that hybrid capacity may not be possible in some other venues, but schools and faith venues could be explored.

1c – Membership and training

The Professional Advisor said in their view Camden had good systems of training and induction. The membership had also developed to a good level.

1d – Improvement/development planning

·       In response to members saying that it would be useful to see the figures of LA spending and a record of previous years, the Professional Advisor said that information was already included in the SACRE Annual Report.

·       Members said that it was hard to see how SACRE was influencing LA plans. The Professional Advisor replied that it may not be clear to members, however Camden was investing in the interfaith network work and SACRE wanted to be feeding into that. The Head of Governor Services said Camden Learning did not have an improvement plan and did not operate on those terms so the wording on the toolkit did not easily translate over, however the Professional Advisor worked with subject networks who linked to school improvements and termly meetings for network leads. There was a strategy which Religious Education (RE) was linked into. It was noted that there was possibly work to do in making this connection clearer to members and there could be a standing item introduced to update members on the network meetings to demonstrate the professional development. The Professional Advisor said in drafting a costed development plan for SACRE that links could be made clear on that document.

·       In response to a member suggesting introducing an action tracker or an effective way of showing improvements, the Professional Advisor said that could form part of the development plan.

1e - Information and advice 

·       The Chair and the Professional Advisor said that in their view Camden was ‘established’ level in this area.

·       There would be a monitoring form in the summer term which would be used when the new syllabus was implemented. A survey would be given to teachers which would provide more detailed information about each school. This step would progress Camden to ‘advanced’ level.

1f - Partnerships with key stakeholders 

·       The Professional Advisor said in their view Camden had elements of ‘advance’ level due to being nationally connected, had representation at conference, newsletter circulation, Faith Forum collaboration, and LA collaboration.

·       In response to a member asking how SACRE heard the voice of young people, the Professional Advisor said that the new monitoring form would collect their views.

·       Noted by the Professional Advisor, the Chair said that it would be good to invite teachers to SACRE to hear about their experience of the curriculum and an opportunity to hear directly from students.

1g – Relations with the Academies sector

The Professional Advisor said they had invited UCL academy representative, Craig Hall. It was noted that there was a good relationship between the LA and academies, but they only represented 4/57 Camden schools.

A member stated that it would be useful for some agenda items to cross-reference the self-evaluation toolkit throughout the year. This would provide a good guide to members on what their aims were.

It was agreed this paper would report again to the next meeting in February 2025 for members to discuss each section and to agree an action plan to further develop Camden SACRE.

Action By – Professional Advisor

RESOLVED –

THAT the draft document be noted.