The Kingston Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) met to discuss and approve an updated constitution, review the annual report for 2023/24, and discuss ways to monitor standards of religious education (RE) in local schools. The council unanimously approved the updated constitution and the annual report. Members also discussed filling vacancies in the SACRE membership and explored initiatives to enhance RE in schools, such as faith walks and a quality RE award.

Constitution and Working Arrangements

The council unanimously approved an updated version of the SACRE's constitution. The updated constitution includes revisions to bring it in line with current arrangements, statutory requirements, and best practices. According to the report by Herman Kwan, Clerk of SACRE, the updated constitution includes:

• A recap of relevant legislation for the establishment of SACRE, its functions and responsibilities.
• Details of membership composition, aligning with statutory requirements.
• Stipulations for member nomination, appointment, and removal mechanisms.
• Arrangements for meetings, including frequency, substitute members, and quorum.
• Guidelines for the appointment of a chair and vice-chair, their terms of office, and powers.
• Clarification of the clerk's functions.
• Procedures for amending and interpreting the constitution.

The council also agreed that a report should be brought back to SACRE at or before the annual meeting of the 2027-28 academic year to review the constitution's operations and recommend any necessary amendments.

Annual Report 2023/24

The council unanimously approved the Kingston SACRE's annual report for the academic year 2023/24. The report includes an introduction by Charmaine Lee, Chair of Kingston SACRE, overviews the religious makeup of the borough using data from the 2021 census, and details the SACRE's work over the past year.

The report also outlines the statutory responsibilities of the SACRE, including:

• Advising on matters related to religious education and collective worship in schools.
• Reviewing the locally agreed syllabus for RE.
• Considering applications from head teachers for determinations¹.
• Producing an annual report of its work.

The report notes that the current locally agreed syllabus has been in place since September 2018 and was reviewed during 2022-2023. The SACRE decided to extend the current syllabus for another five years from September 2023, with the addition of new units.

The report also highlights training undertaken with teachers by Ian Nicholson, RE Today National Adviser, on topics such as spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development, teaching the Dharmic faiths, and ways of knowing.

Keren Wood, representative for the local evangelical churches, noted that Maria James' name was spelt incorrectly on page 27 of the report.

SACRE Membership Update

Helena Moore from Achieving for Children (AfC) provided an update on institutional matters, including nominations and appointments of members. She noted several vacancies within the membership, particularly for teacher representatives and representatives from various religious groups.

Councillor Alison Holt, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Economic Development & Co-Chair - Place Committee, raised concerns about the lack of Muslim representation on the SACRE, given the percentage of Muslims in the borough.

Ms Moore explained that AfC is responsible for seeking nominations for Representative Groups A, B, and C from relevant organisations and communities. She said that the process of contacting teachers and religious groups to garner nominations has begun, and she hopes to have a more tangible update in the new academic year.

Greta Farian, representative of Humanists UK, asked if three people who had expressed interest in joining the SACRE at the November meeting had been contacted. Ms Moore said she was not sure, but would chase them up.

Herman Kwan reminded members that the terms of the current chair and vice chair would end by the commencement of the annual meeting in October or November, and asked members to let him know if they wished to be nominated for these positions.

Monitoring Standards of RE and Collective Worship in Schools

The council discussed how to monitor standards of RE and collective worship in schools. Ian Nicholson said that data for RE provision in high schools, normally received in October, was delayed this year due to an error by an examination board, but should be available by the end of October. This data will include the amount of curriculum time given to RE from year 7 to 13.

Mr Nicholson noted that the Kingston agreed syllabus for RE recommends five percent curriculum time for RE, based on the 1994 recommendations of Ron Deering, but this is not enforceable by law.

Simon Birch, representing the local Baha'i community, suggested that it might be useful to know how many children are taking up GCSEs in religious education in each school. Mr Nicholson confirmed that this data would be available in the autumn.

Rachel Leventhall suggested that the council consider conducting a survey similar to the one carried out by the Richmond SACRE, and do some follow-up work in conjunction with the data that comes through. Ms Moore said she would ask the client if a copy of the Richmond SACRE survey could be shared.

Tim Neale suggested inviting heads of departments or coordinators from secondary schools to SACRE meetings to showcase their work and promote more meaningful engagement with local schools. Mr Nicholson said that this was a national issue, as secondaries engaging in any form of RE work at the moment is actually quite difficult.

RE Award

Helena Moore and Rachel Phillips presented a proposal on the RE Award, which aims to celebrate excellent work in teaching and learning in RE and raise the quality of RE. Ms Moore explained that the main difference in the updated award was that it no longer has a section A and section B, but instead has a list of things that schools need to do to gain the award. She said that the award is intended to be a celebration of great local RE, reflective of Kingston and Richmond.

Schools' Faith Walks

The council discussed relaunching the Schools' Faith Walks initiative, where primary school children visit different places of worship in the borough to learn about different faiths. Keren Wood, Rachel Phillips, and others expressed interest in taking this forward.

RE Today Update

Ian Nicholson provided an update from RE Today, including information on the curriculum assessment review, BBC Pilgrimage series, NASACRE, RE Hubs, Spirited Arts competition, Jerusalem Trust grants, and World Humanist Day.

Mr Nicholson said that the curriculum assessment review is looking at RE, and that there are discussions around how to support SIAMS² inspections, Catholic inspection service inspections, and Ofsted inspections in schools. He said that the review is expected to make individual recommendations on each subject, including RE, at key stages one, two, three, and early years, as well as at GCSE and A level.

Mr Nicholson also mentioned that the BBC is reviewing all the BBC videos for key stages one and two for RE, and that they will be redone by January. He noted that the Jerusalem Trust grants are reopening again in September, and schools can apply for up to £600 for resources to support the teaching of Christianity.

Members' Updates

Rachel Leventhall said that school visits to the Kingston, Surbiton & District Synagogue are going strong, and that there have been lots of positive feedback.

Shamma Khan said that at a previous network meeting, some teachers asked if there was a shared drive for RE resources, similar to what exists for other subjects. Helena Moore said that there is a shared drive for RE across Kingston and Richmond, and that the QR codes for accessing it have been shared in previous networks. She said that the files are there ready to be filled with stuff, but that it takes time to shift the culture to get people to upload their work.

Meeting Schedule

The council agreed on the following dates for future meetings:

• October/November 2025 at the Guildhall complex
• February 2026 at a place of worship or school
• June/July 2026 online