SACRE (Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education)

The Sheffield SACRE (Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education) is a statutory body which is constituted to provide advice in relation to religious education and collective worship, including convening a locally agreed syllabus. Each SACRE prepares an annual report to the National Association of Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education. For more information about Sheffield SACRE, including access to the agreed syllabus, key documents and links to resources and organisations, use the links below.

Learn Sheffield works closely with Sheffield SACRE and last year jointly organised two RE Conferences, one for primary and the other for secondary. In 2017/18 we will again make a joint offer to the city to ensure that RE professional development is available to Sheffield practitioners.

Click on the links below to learn more.

Purpose Membership RE Agreed Syllabus RE Resources RE Organisations Key Documents Training & Projects

The Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) is constituted by law to advise Sheffield City Council. It has the following duties:

To convene an Agreed Syllabus Conference to revise and recommend to us a local Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education (RE) for all maintained schools age 4 to 19 in Sheffield.
Monitor the provision of RE in Sheffield schools, preparing an annual report to us and the National Association of Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education.
Advise Sheffield schools on Collective worship and consider requests from Head teachers for a determination to lift the requirement for it to be in the main Christian.
Advise Sheffield Schools on matters related to Religious Education and Collective Worship that arise from time to time
Support Community Cohesion within the city.

SACRE meets three times each year, at various venues around the city. It is composed of four committees (see below) each with one vote with a casting vote held by the Chair. It may co-opt members from time to time who have no vote.

Faiths represented in the city, including Christian Denominations other than Church of England
The Church of England
Teachers representatives
Councillors and School Governors

The public has access to meetings, agendas and minutes. These can also be found on the Sheffield City Council website.

SACRE Members Januray 2018
Download the Membership Document - July 2016

RE Resources

Christianity

This website is a resource whose key purpose is "to support pupils in developing their understanding of Christianity, as a contribution to their understanding of the world and their own experience within it."

This website describes itself as a "toolkit for teaching about Christianity in RE". The RE:QUEST section contains secondary resources and the RE:START section contains resources for primary and SEN pupils. There is also a section for teachers.

Humanism

This website aims to "provide teachers with the resources necessary to teach accurate, high-quality lessons about Humanism and to assist them with the development of their own subject knowledge, in order that every young person has the opportunity to learn about Humanism". It contains a wealth of high quality resources for pupils at all key stages.

Philosophy and Ethics

EthosEducation.org publishes free resources for teachers to help students explore spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues through contemporary media. This includes a lot of free lesson plans for secondary pupils (see RELessonsOnline.com).

All Religions

Videos, lesson plans and assemblies for RE, PSHE and Citizenship (aimed at key stages 3 and 4). Schools can upload films and post comments, but everything is moderated before it appears on the site to ensure the content is appropriate.

The website of an organisation that seeks to support the development of teaching about world religions. Of interest to teachers may be the annual calendar detailing religious festivals that they produce and also the advisory service and audio glossary available on their website.

Local Support

Sheffield Buddhist Centre
Sheffield Jewish Congregation and Centre
Sheffield Cathedral - School Visits

Other Resources

This free handbook is designed as a resource for teachers wishing to develop their subject and professional knowledge.

Two Cathedrals Tour Summary

Education Visits at Sheffield Cathedral

RE Organisations

A website "supporting school-based teachers in every part of their professional lives". It includes a wealth of material that covers policy, leadership, teaching, assessment and it even has a list of upcoming TV and Radio programmes that are relevant to RE.

The National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) website has a large number of resources for teachers and includes information about their various projects (e.g. teaching RE using music, Spirited Arts, etc.)

The Religious Education Council of England and Wales is an umbrella organisation for a large number of professional RE associations and faith and belief organisations.

The website for the National Association of Standing Advisory Councils on RE (NASACRE) is a tool for designed for all involved in supporting RE through a SACRE.

Key Documents

Religious education in English schools: Non-statutory guidance 2010

A Review of Religious Education in England

The outcome of a review of RE carried out by the REC. It produced a non-statutory national curriculum framework for RE to complement the new national curriculum programmes of study (2013) resulting from the DfE’s review of the school curriculum, (in which RE was not included).

Religious education: realising the potential

The Ofsted report published in 2013.

Materials used to Teach about World Religions in Schools in England

A seminal report on the use of resource in RE.

A New Settlement: Religion and Belief in Schools

A report arising from the research and debate carried out by the Westminster Faith Debates and the Religion and Society Research programme which gave rise to them.

RE for REal

This report is the outcome of a project undertaken "within the Religious Literacy Programme in the Faiths and Civil Society Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. With funding from Culham St Gabriel’s Trust, an educational charity committed to excellence in RE, RE for REal examines future directions for teaching and learning in schools about religion and belief."

RE: The Truth Unmasked

The first report produced by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Religious Education

RE and Good Community Relations

A summary report produced by the APPG.

Improving Religious Literacy: a contribution to the debate

A report published by the APPG in July 2016

Living with Difference: community, diversity and the common good

"In September 2013 the Woolf Institute convened an independent commission to undertake over a two-year period the first systematic review of the role of religion and belief in the UK today and to make policy recommendations." This report is the outcome of that consultation.