Agenda item

To receive a presentation on Estyn’s Report published in July 2014 (copy enclosed) which focused on education for sustainable development and global citizenship.

The Systems Lead for GwE (SL) presented Estyn’s report published in July 2014 (previously circulated) which focused on education for sustainable development and global citizenship.

The SL provided some context to the report explaining that promotion of ESDGC was a key objective of the Welsh Government who aimed to encourage schools to provide opportunities for teachers and pupils to consider those issues.  It described the progress schools had made since the last report in 2006 and the SL discussed with members a number of the findings relating to RE as follows –

·        a significance difference between the 2006 and 2014 reports was the improvement in global citizenship which was now on a par with sustainable development in terms of understanding and awareness

·        the report found that pupils in schools with a high proportion of ethnic minority pupils generally had a better understanding of the effect of discrimination and prejudice on individuals that pupils in other schools.  It also found that few pupils at key stages 3 and 4 had a good understanding of identify and culture, including complex concepts such as the link between culture, faith and individual value systems and beliefs.  The SL reported upon a Key Stage 3 text book he was writing with Gavin Craigen examining this point and belief systems.  Members noted the responsibility of RE departments in this regard, including linking belief systems, which was undertaken well.  It was also noted that for North Wales in particular there was a lack of ethnic minority pupils but it was suggested that links could be made with other schools with a greater ethnic mix in order to explore that diversity.  SACRE agreed that a recommendation be made in that regard to Denbighshire’s Head of Education

·        the report had also found that in schools where ESDGC was well established or where there was a high percentage of pupils from an ethnic minority background, almost all Foundation Phase pupils were able to recognise the potential impact of discrimination and prejudice on individuals.  However in schools where this was not the case, few pupils understood that concept at that early stage.  It was not expected that pupils in the Foundation Phase would understand that cultural values and religious beliefs shape the way people live but the issues were discussed – this understanding develops as pupils progressed through Key Stage 2

·        reference had been made in the report to few pupils in secondary schools having a strong understanding of more complex concepts such as the link between culture, faith and individual value systems and beliefs.  This was disappointing to note because the RE community had worked hard to promote those issues

·        Ms. Ali Ballantyne drew attention to the leadership, management and support for ESDGC and the findings that where training had not been a priority, teachers lacked confidence in teaching the more complex concepts and most schools visited would benefit from further training in specific aspects of ESDGC.  She felt that this issue was common across the county and was keen for training to be progressed at county level.  The SL advised that this finding was at odds with Estyn’s Report on RE in secondary schools (published in June 2013) which found that non-specialists teaching RE in secondary schools did not have a negative impact on standards in most schools

·        members noted that, where a school had written its own policy with teachers having a direct input into its content (rather than adapting a policy provided by the local authority), there was a positive impact on standards and pupils’ understanding of the key elements of ESDGC – this was an important point to be applied to all policies – for RE policies to be effective they should be written from the individual school’s point of view rather than imposed and that message could be taken back to schools by members

In concluding the debate members were interested to see schools’ responses to the report and discussed the practicalities of ensuring that the recommendations were implemented within schools, including the co-ordinators role within that process.  Reference was also made to Governing Bodies and the SL confirmed it would be good practice for a member of the governing body to have particular responsibility for ESDGC.  In terms of training it was likely that provision would become part of GwE’s responsibility in future.

RESOLVED that, subject to members’ comments above, the report be received.