The Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) met on Wednesday 17 June 2026 to discuss safeguarding updates, national developments in Religious Education, and the council's annual report. Key discussions included revisiting safeguarding guidance in more depth at a future meeting and the draft SACRE Annual Report 2025 being presented for circulation after minor amendments.

Safeguarding Update

Anthony Doudle, Director of Education representative, provided an update on the key changes introduced in Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026¹. These include a stronger emphasis on early intervention, updated terminology for Family Help, and expanded guidance on children who are repeatedly removed from class. Permanent part-time timetables are no longer permissible, and any reduced timetable must be exceptional, time-limited, and subject to regular review.

Safeguarding risks have also been updated, with revised terminology for self-generated intimate images and videos (replacing sexting), a greater focus on cyber security, and strengthened guidance on child-on-child abuse, covering support for both victims and those displaying harmful behaviour. Mr. Doudle observed that reducing children's exposure to harmful social media content could help protect them from individuals promoting harmful attitudes.

The guidance continues to highlight the links between mental health and safeguarding concerns, with expanded information on financial exploitation, coercion, scams, child sexual exploitation, criminal exploitation, and indicators of serious sexual violence. Additional guidance has been issued regarding children questioning their gender, stating that parents should normally be involved unless doing so would place the child at risk of harm. The document also emphasises professional curiosity, information sharing, and safeguarding responsibilities.

There was discussion regarding wider changes to Relationships, Sex and Health Education guidance, which include an increased emphasis on online safety, artificial intelligence, misogyny, violence against women and girls, healthy relationships, and age-appropriate teaching about pornography and sexual health. While these curriculum changes are separate from Keeping Children Safe in Education, they complement the safeguarding guidance. The guidance also contains updated references to the Equality Act², biological sex, and gender reassignment, advising schools to approach contested issues in a balanced and age-appropriate manner. Greater emphasis is also placed on serious violence, knife crime, and personal safety.

Councillor Fergus Navaratnam-Blair noted that support for LGBT and trans children is a priority in the document. Mr. Doudle clarified that LGBTQ+ issues are integrated across the curriculum, noting that this community is uniquely affected in various spheres, including the economy and health. It was noted that this subject would be revisited in more depth in future meetings.

National Developments in Religious Education

Dr. Vanessa Ogden delivered a keynote address at the NASACRE AGM on the role of Religious Education (RE) in addressing social division, antisemitism, and anti-Muslim prejudice, and highlighted the ongoing work towards a national programme of study for RE. Dr. Ogden acknowledged the challenges faced by schools but stressed themes of hope and responsibility. She expressed a strong belief that SACREs should continue to play a vital role even if RE is included in the National Curriculum, as the personnel and the challenges that SACREs help to address would remain. It was noted that her keynote speech would be shown at the next Agreed Syllabus Conference (ASC) meeting.

Shaun Burns, Deputy SACRE Chair and CofE Diocesan RE Adviser (Primary), provided initial feedback from the NASACRE conference, which focused on SACREs – Bringing Communities Together. The keynote presentations emphasised the importance of RE in building understanding between communities. Amy Ark explored how positive encounters between people of different faiths and beliefs can reduce prejudice, strengthen belonging, and support social cohesion, encouraging schools to create safe and respectful spaces for dialogue.

The Chair presented a PowerPoint presentation from a recent NASACRE workshop, focusing on the importance of being an inclusive SACRE and promoting religious literacy to help communities live well together. He also drew links to the borough's status as a borough of sanctuary, reminding the committee that inclusion does not happen automatically.

Annual Report and Other Matters

Denise Chaplin, RE School Improvement Officer, reported that the draft SACRE Annual Report 2025 had been presented for circulation after minor amendments. She requested that councillors investigate the appropriate means of presenting the report to the council, suggesting it could be presented at a Mayor and Cabinet or a full Council meeting, with SACRE member councillors in attendance. Councillor Aliya Sheikh proposed that this be a standing annual item in a full council meeting for SACRE member councillors to report to the committee. Councillor Navaratnam-Blair agreed to discuss this further with Ms. Chaplin.

The SMSC³ Self-evaluation tool had been circulated to schools and published on the council website, as agreed in the previous meeting.

Regarding Young Mayor's projects, Nicholas Gunner reported that the Young Mayor's team had been working primarily in secondary schools on Human Rights projects and had been involved in the Young Mayor's Summit, including hosting workshops on enterprise. The Erasmus programme is being revived, and Mr. Gunner will attend an upcoming London meeting. He noted that the programme focuses on training young people and staff working in education, suggesting that SACRE and schools might wish to engage with it. He also reported on work with Radio Lewisham, where groups of young people in schools have been producing podcasts through a six-week training programme, and suggested that religion could be a theme for a future podcast. Ms. Chaplin will inform Mr. Gunner of the date of the next RE subject leaders meeting to arrange for young people's attendance.

Korkor Burnett indicated her intention to apply for Westhill funding on behalf of Lewisham's SACRE for a school's 'interfaith' project. The closing date for the next round of applications is February 2027. Westhill Awards typically fund community-focused projects that encourage local communities to engage positively with RE. Ms. Burnett will keep SACRE updated on the progress of this bid.

In the Information Exchange and AOB section, Denise Chaplin advised that she would circulate additional resources sent by Katya Griffin, in view of current social disharmony domestically and internationally. She also mentioned that Imam Shakeel was developing guidance. Gerald Rose expressed concern that schools were planning visits to the synagogue, but were not proceeding due to perceived safety reasons. Imam Ashraf noted that visits to the mosque appeared unaffected. Anthony Doudle suggested it would be prudent for places of worship to automatically send out a risk assessment document when a school makes a booking. Ms. Chaplin reminded the committee that schools and other establishments are required to demonstrate preparations for attacks/incidents, referencing Martyn's Law⁴. Shaun Burns advised on the need for sensitivity when managing risk to avoid generating fear. Ms. Chaplin added that the crises advice should be circulated to schools in the next Schools Mailing.

Following discussion about the proposed dates for the forthcoming year, the schedule of forthcoming SACRE and ASC meetings was agreed.