Hampshire County Council

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Wards: 76

Committees: 49

Meetings (2026): 57

Meetings (2025): 155

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Meeting

Name: Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education
Start: 2025-07-01T13:00:00Z
End: 2025-07-01T17:00:00Z
Location: Ashburton Hall, EII Court, Winchester

Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education - Hampshire

Agenda

Published

Minutes

Published

Meeting Times

Scheduled Time

Start:
Tuesday, 1st July 2025
2:00 PM

End:
Tuesday, 1st July 2025
6:00 PM

Meeting Status

Status:
Confirmed

Date:
01 Jul 2025

Location:
Ashburton Hall, EII Court, Winchester

Meeting Attendees

Committee Member

Maria Ackland

Group B - Church of England

Present, as expected

Committee Member

Maureen Barnes

Group C - Hampshire Teachers' Liaison Panel

Absent

Committee Member

Rachel Jackson

Group C - Hampshire Teachers' Liaison Panel

Present, as expected

Co-opted Member

Gill Heron

Co-opted Member - Academy Schools

Absent

Deputy

Mary Wallbank

Group A - Humanists

Not required

Committee Member

Father John Chandler

Group A - Roman Catholic Church

Absent

Committee Member

Rhian Jones

Group A - The Salvation Army

Absent

Committee Member

Jeff Williams

Group B - Church of England

Absent

Liberal Democrats Deputy

Councillor Jackie Porter

Liberal Democrat

Not required

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Committee Member

Baha'i Representative - Vacancy

Group A - Baha'i

Not required

Committee Member

Chris Hughes

Group A - Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches

Absent

Committee Member

Group B

The Rev'd Dominik Chmielewski

Group B - Church of England

Absent

Conservative Deputy

Councillor Juliet Henderson

Conservative

Not required

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Chairman

Councillor Chris Donnelly

Conservative

Present, as expected

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Committee Member

Councillor Steven Broomfield

Conservative

Present, as expected

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Committee Member

Baptist Representative - Vacancy

Group A - Baptist

Not required

Committee Member

Hindu Representative - Vacancy

Group A - Hindu

Not required

Committee Member

Chris Robinson

Group A - Humanists

Present, as expected

Committee Member

Danny Habel

Group A - Jewish Community

Present, as expected

Committee Member

Sheikh Fazle Abbas Datoo

Group A - Muslim

Apologies

Committee Member

Yasmeen Hussain

Group A - Muslim

Absent

Committee Member

Sikh Representative - Vacancy

Group A - Sikh

Not required

Committee Member

Mary Fair

Group A - United Reform Church

Present, as expected

Committee Member

Jane Kelly

Group B - Church of England

Present, as expected

Deputy

Sue Bowen

Group B - Church of England

Not required

Deputy

Robert Sanders

Group B - Church of England

Not required

Committee Member

Group C - Vacancy

Group C - Hampshire Teachers' Liaison Panel

Not required

Co-opted Member

Alasdair Richardson

Co-opted Member - Higher Education

Present, as expected

Committee Member

Society of Friends Representative - Vacancy

Group A - Society of Friends

Not required

Committee Member

Buddhist Representative - Vacancy

Group A - Buddhist

Not required

Committee Member

Revd Peter Rayson

Group A - Methodist

Absent

Deputy

Captain Victoria Crawford

Group A - The Salvation Army

Present, as substitute

Committee Member

Carson Elday

Group C - Hampshire Teachers' Liaison Panel

Present, as expected

Co-opted Member

Rhiannon Love

Co-opted Member - Higher Education

Present, as expected

Agenda

1 Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes Apologies had been received from Sheikh Fazle Abbas Datoo, Reverend Peter Rayson, Jeff Williams and Chris Hughes.

2 Declarations of Interest

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to Part 3 Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore all Members with a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider, having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 4 of the Code, whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, consider whether it is appropriate to leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

No declarations were made.

Minutes Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

3 Minutes of the Previous Meeting

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

Attachments:

Document Minutes , 28/01/2025 Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education 23 Jun 2025

Minutes The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed as an accurate record.

4 Deputations

To receive any deputations notified under Standing Order 12.

Minutes There were no deputations recieved.

5 Chairman's Announcements

To receive any Chairman’s announcements.

Minutes The recently appointed Chairman thanked Councillor Still for her tenure as previous Chairman of SACRE and welcomed the new Vice Chair and new members.

6 Feedback on SACRE Activities

To invite SACRE members to provide verbal updates on any recent activities, events, or engagements undertaken in their capacity as SACRE representatives, which may be of interest or benefit to the wider membership.

Minutes Members provided feedback on recent activities for the wider Committee on the below topics:

· Supporting children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in Religious Education (RE): There was a discussion around enhancing the engagement of children with SEND in RE within educational settings. It was suggested that a topic be added to the agenda for the SACRE Agreed Syllabus Conference in November, focusing on making reasonable adjustments to ensure these young learners can fully benefit.

· Antisemitism awareness and education: Members noted the recent publication of a report highlighting antisemitic hostility faced by Jewish students across UK universities. Members’ attention was also drawn to a local initiative in Winchester, which aimed to deliver school workshops for teachers to raise awareness and provide guidance on addressing this issue.

· Association of University Lecturers in Religion and Education (AULRE) and Association of Religious Education Inspectors, Advisers and Consultants (AREIAC) Joint Conference: Some members noted that they had attended the annual conference which had incorporated seminars and workshops over a two days period in June.

7 Monitoring Group

To receive a report from the Director of Children’s Services regarding the activities and discussions of the monitoring group in relation to the monitoring of RE and the implementation of Living Difference IV.

Attachments:

Document Monitoring group report July 2025 23 Jun 2025

Minutes The Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education received a report from

the Director of Children’s Services providing an update on the activities of the

Monitoring Group at its most recent meeting on the 29 April 2025.

Members noted a summary of the following areas discussed by the Monitoring

Group including:

• Professional Education Opportunities

• Monitoring the effectiveness of RE

• GCSE results

• Locally Agreed Syllabus Review

• Youth Voice Conference

• Review of the SACRE advice document on RE and Collective Worship

RESOLVED:

That the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education notes the Monitoring Group report.

8 Key National and Local RE Matters

To receive a report from the Director of Children’s Services on developments in relation to the work of the Religious Education Council, RE Research and other key national and local RE matters.

Attachments:

Document Key National and Local Matters report July 2025 23 Jun 2025

Minutes The Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education received a report from the Director of Children’s Services setting out key national and local RE matters.

Members noted the following as part of the discussion:

· RE:Online continued to offer a list of useful websites, RE providers, and Ofsted links for primary RE teachers. The resource also includes a film regarding teaching parables and interpretative thinking.

· RE Hubs has provided new resources on planning visits and using school speakers with downloadable advice videos.

· NASACRE presentations on the Agreed Syllabus Conference and information for new members were available online. Members noted that Justine Ball had been elected onto NASACRE executive to support their training programme work.

· AULRE webinars were continuing through 2025 exploring research and ideas from current RE teachers.

· The Hampshire SACRE Youth Voice event was scheduled for 4 July 2025 and students had signed up to attend.

RESOLVED:

That the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education notes the report on key national and local re matters.

9 SACRE Membership Update Report

To receive a report from the Director of Children’s Services providing an update on SACRE’s membership.

Attachments:

Document Report - SACRE Membership Update Report 23 Jun 2025

Minutes The Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education received a verbal report from the Director of Children’s Services providing an update on the membership of SACRE.

RESOLVED:

i. That SACRE notes the composition of Group A.

ii. That SACRE notes the current vacancies within Groups A & C.

iii. That SACRE notes the current co-opted members.

Previous Meetings

27th Jan 2026