SACRE

Here you will find information about the standing advisory council on religious education.

Every local authority must have a SACRE. They advise the local authority on matters connected with collective worship in maintained schools, or community schools, and on the religious education to be taught in accordance with an agreed syllabus.

The main function of SACRE is to advise the local authority on matters related to the teaching of religious education which follows the agreed syllabus, and on collective worship in schools. To achive this SACRE will:

Monitoring standards of RE and collective worship
Requiring the review of an agreed syllabus for RE adopted by the local authority
Considering complaints about the provision and delivery of RE and collective worship referred to it by the local authority
Supporting schools through advice on methods of teaching, choice of materials and provision of teacher training
Making a determination on collective worship when requested
Advising the local authority on matters connected with RE and collective worship
Publishing an annual report of its work

The Northumberland agreed syllabus for religious education 2022-2027 was adopted from RE Today.

It is the syllabus to be used by all community schools and is recommended for, academies and free schools. Schools that attended the launch day in June 2022 received a hard copy.

Schools that still require a hard copy should contact Dave Cookson (Lead Officer for SACRE)

An extract from the agreed syllabus is available here. Schools are welcome to add this extract to their websites.

To comply with copyright requirements the agreed syllabus licensed for use in Northumberland schools must not be distributed to schools or teachers working outside of/beyond the local authority.

The policy was updated in 2021, with minor changes from the original version. The legislation determining the nature of collective worship in community schools has not altered since the Education Reform Act 1988, with the corresponding guidance offered in Circular 1/94. However, understanding of how to make the legislation meaningful in increasingly multifaith but predominantly secular school communities has changed considerably. There is now far greater agreement among teachers, educationalists and others about what constitutes good practice in relation to collective worship.

The policy is available here.

The SACRE newsletter is available here. It is updated as soon as articles of interest become available.

The current action plan will be available here (link to follow).

The current annual report is available here.

Please see latest SACRE newsletter for current representative list.

The structure of the Northumberland SACRE is defined by law, and is made up of four groups or committees:

Committee A – Christian denominations and other religions reflecting the principal religious traditions of the area
Committee B – The Church of England
Committee C – Professional Associations and RE networks (primary, secondary, special/alternative provision)
Committee D – The local authority

Other individuals can be co-opted onto SACRE to support its work.

For further information about Northumberland local authority and their work regarding SACRE, or if you require an alternate version of any of the units, please contact:

Dave Cookson
Head of School Improvement, and Lead Officer for SACRE
Tel: 01670 622717
Email: Dave.Cookson@northumberland.gov.uk