Dorset Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) Constitution

SACRE's have a range of functions, some of them advisory, some of them executive.

Advisory functions

To advise the council on matters connected with:

• religious worship in community schools, which are not of a religious character
• the Religious Education to be given in accordance with the Agreed Syllabus
• matters the council may refer to the SACRE or the SACRE may itself think fit, including teaching methods, the choice of teaching materials and the provision of training for teachers

Executive functions

• to consider and determine in accordance with section 394 of the Education Act 1996 applications from head teachers of community schools to dis-apply the requirement of broadly Christian collective worship to apply to their school
• to consider whether or not to require a review of the Agreed Syllabus
• to publish an annual report

The SACRE shall include representative members and may include co-opted members.

Representative members

The SACRE shall determine from time to time the number of representative members of the SACRE and the individual appointments shall
be made by the SACRE after taking reasonable steps to assure itself that the individual is representative of the faith group or association concerned.

The guidance provided by circular 1/94 is that there shall be 4 groups of representative members appointed by the authority. These are to be
constituted as follows:

1. Committee A - 3 Representatives of the LEA (Councillors).
2. Committee B - 3 Representatives of the Church of England, 2 from the Diocese of Salisbury and 1 from the Diocese of Winchester.
3. Committee C - Representatives of those associations of teachers as, in the opinion of SACRE, ought to, having regard to the circumstances of Dorset, to be represented. At least one of these shall be a primary teacher, one a middle school teacher, one a secondary school teacher, one a teacher in a special school.
4. Committee D - Representatives of other such Christian denominations (other than the Church of England) and other religious faiths as will appropriately reflect the faith communities in Dorset. These are determined as a result of consultation.

The representative members of groups B, C and D, other than the elected LEA representatives, shall hold office for a period of 4 years in the
first instance, and for periods of 4 years thereafter.

An individual representative or co-opted member shall be removed from membership of SACRE if it is the opinion of SACRE that she/he ceases:

• to be representative of the faith community or association she/he was appointed to represent
• to represent the faith community or association she/he was appointed to represent through non-attendance at three consecutive meetings

On any SACRE matters that require a vote each committee has a single vote. GROUP A, LEA members, may not vote to require a review of the
current agreed syllabus. Any question to be decided by a representative group shall require a majority of the votes cast by those present and entitled
to vote. Each member of a representative group shall be entitled to one vote.

Co-opted members

There shall be no more than 8 co-opted members on SACRE. Co-opted members may only be drawn from:

• representatives of recognised non-religious worldviews that are appropriately represented in Dorset and have a recognised interest in Religious Education in Dorset
• representative students and learners in full time education in LEA maintained schools in Dorset LEA
• representatives of ethnic and cultural traditions appropriately represented in Dorset
• officers and consultants able to provide specific advice and expertise to SACRE as required

The co-opted members shall be appointed by those members of SACRE who have not themselves been co-opted (the representative members).

The co-opted members shall hold office for a specific purpose, on such terms, and for a period of time determined at the time of co-option by the representative members and shall hold office at the pleasure of, and may be removed at any time by, the representative members.

Co-opted members shall not be entitled to vote.

No representative group shall be entitled to co-opt additional members.

The Chair and Vice Chair of SACRE shall be appointed for 4 years from among the representative members.

The Chair shall preside at meetings of SACRE. The Vice Chair of SACRE shall preside at meetings of SACRE during the absence of the Chair. In the
absence of both the Chair and Vice Chair at the meeting of the SACRE, the members of SACRE shall elect one of their number, who is a member of a
representative group, to preside at the meeting during such absence.

A meeting of SACRE shall be convened by the Chair or in their absence the Vice Chair.

A meeting of SACRE may be requisitioned in writing specifying the business to be transacted by a representative group, with the agreement of
the Chair.

Every member of SACRE shall be given, not less than 7 days before the meeting written notice of the meeting and a copy of the agenda.

The attendance of the general public and representatives of the news media at meetings of SACRE are subject to Religious Education (Meetings of Local Conferences and Councils) regulations 1994.