The Board met at the REC Offices from 12 noon until 5pm.
Formalities were first conducted, including:
- The co-option of Deborah Weston and Dave Francis as specialist members of the Board for 12 months.
- The correction and then approval of the minutes of the 19 October meeting and discussion of a few matters arising.
- Declaration of potential conflicts of interests
Then I gave my oral report of my activities as Chair. This included invitations for our AGM speaker in May, and various activities in relation to fund-raising and the Commission on RE. It was also noted that Dave Francis has carried out a 360 appraisal on me as Chair since I am coming to the end of my three-year term of office and will be standing for another three years at the May 2018 AGM. I also explained how I am supporting our CEO’s studies for a professional doctorate.
The CEO commented on his written report, particularly his work in supporting the Commission on RE and some technical aspects relating to the membership of the Board and REC committees.
The Treasurer then presented his report monitoring the budget in the first three months of the financial year. All is as expected at this point. This meeting then focussed particularly on the RE Quality Mark and the proposal from Linda Rudge as the REQM Manager that a review should be undertaken into its future operation. The Board supported this proposal.
The Company Secretary then presented his report which focused on a) arrangements for the forthcoming EGM on 9 February, when the new Articles will be presented to the Council and b) an application for membership of the Council.
The final item of administrative business was a discussion of the Risk Management document that had been prepared by the Governance Committee.
The remainder of the meeting was devoted to two items. First there were three brief discussions: a) a review of the SRGM on 1 November noting the great venue and the special contribution of the visiting PGCE students; b) the new Big Ideas for Religious Education document which was introduced by Dave Francis; and c) the procedures for complaints against non-compliant schools in relation to RE was noted. Secondly, there followed an extended discussion of the potential future work of the Council. It was agreed to set up a working group to bring proposals to a future meeting of the Board.
Professor Trevor Cooling, Chair of REC