The Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) is scheduled to meet to discuss a range of issues, including a monitoring report, national and local RE matters, the draft annual report, and the NASACRE self-assessment tool. The meeting will also include updates on membership and training, as well as a review of future agenda items and the workplan.

Draft Annual Report

The council will be considering the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education Annual Report 2024-2025. Councillor Debbie Andre, Chair of SACRE, notes in the introduction to the report that:

The Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) supports the effective provision of Religious Education (RE) and collective worship in schools. SACRE also advises the Local Authority on its provision of RE.

The report includes data from the 2021 census, which showed that 43.9% of the Isle of Wight population had no religion, 47.7% identified as Christian, and the remaining 1.9% identified with other religions.

The report also provides an overview of the standards and quality of Religious Education provision on the Isle of Wight. According to a survey on RE training and Continuous Professional Development (CPD), 90% of schools follow the syllabus recommended exemplar long term plans, 100% use the syllabus end of year expectations to help them plan assessment in RE, and 100% have implemented golden thread concepts across their RE curriculum as required by the syllabus. However, only 18.2% have used the option of pondering time with their children.

With regard to GCSE Religious Studies examination results in August 2024, the report notes that the Island continues to see a gap from the national average, with results at grade 4+ being 13% below national. It also notes that only 176 pupils sat GCSE RS, compared to 223 pupils in 2023 and 461 in 2019, representing a continuing downward trend. The report states that the monitoring group recommended that the chair of SACRE write to all schools to remind them of the importance of RS and to ensure that they are teaching RS right through the school, as well as encouraging them to consider providing the option for students to take GCSE RS if this is not already the case.

NASACRE Self-Assessment Tool

The council is scheduled to complete parts 4 and 5 of the NASACRE ¹ Self-Assessment Tool. Part 4 focuses on how effectively SACRE fulfils its responsibilities for the provision and practice of Collective Worship. Part 5 addresses how effectively SACRE, in partnership with the Local Authority and the faith communities, contributes to promoting cohesion across the community.

The self-evaluation toolkit highlights five key dimensions of SACRE's work and provides exemplification of good practice. A SACRE that uses this self-evaluation guidance should gain a clear picture of its strengths, identify areas for further development, and establish key priorities for action.

Monitoring Group Report

The council will receive a report from the Monitoring Group, which met on 2 June 2025. The group received updates on professional RE education, monitored the effectiveness of RE, and discussed plans for future training.

The adviser reported on CPD for RE leaders and the arrangements for this going forward on the Island, as well as arrangements for the Autumn term RE networks and the Isle of Wight SACRE conference on 10 November 2025 at the Riverside Centre.

The group noted that there were no Ofsted reports that contained comments relevant to RE leading up to the date of this meeting. The different types of Ofsted inspections were identified and discussed and plans for upcoming Monitoring visits were shared for members to consider.

The group also discussed the DfE Interim Curriculum and Assessment Review, including consideration for what this might mean for local RE. The Religious Education Council's 'National Content Standard' framework was identified as one possible direction the review might take.

Members were reminded of the upcoming review of the Locally Agreed Syllabus². The formal process for this will begin in October ahead of the main SACRE meeting.

The monitoring group noted that there was still a national concern about the numbers of specialist RE teachers available for schools to recruit from which has been a concern for some years now. The group discussed this for Island schools and noted that the number of non-specialists teaching RE seemed to be increasing in schools.

National and Local RE Matters

The council is scheduled to discuss key local and national developments in RE.

RE online has produced a free list of comprehensive resources for Primary RE teachers and for all those who support RE in the primary sector. They have also produced a ten minute film clip that will be of interest to primary and secondary teachers which contains excellent resources and suggestions for teaching parables and interpretative thinking.

RE Hubs continues to offer a range of resources and updates for the RE community. Most recently, there is a new set of resources collated on planning visits to places of interest and using school speakers, both of which contain advice for teachers in two film clips available for downloading. SACRE members who host school visits or speak in schools are encouraged to sign up for this kitemark training and be added to the online directory.

The Professional Adviser to the SACRE, Justine Ball, has been elected onto the NASACRE executive as a volunteer to work with others on the training programme available for SACRE members.

The Professional Adviser to the SACRE has worked with the RE leader from the Bay Secondary School and the RE leader from Shalfleet Church of England Primary School to prepare the RE leader meetings for Island RE leaders. The first of these took place after school on 17 June 2025 and 16 RE leaders were present from primary, secondary and special schools. The next meeting will be on 14 October 2025 from 3.45 pm at the Bay Secondary School and the focus will be on assessment, developing vocabulary in RE and using AI in RE.

On 10 November 2025 from 12.30 pm the SACRE will host an RE conference for all Island RE leaders at the Riverside Centre in Newport.

At the meeting in October, the statutory review of the Locally Agreed Syllabus, Living Difference IV, will commence.

Other agenda items

• Minutes The council will be asked to confirm the minutes of the meetings held on 24 March 2025 at Dover Park Primary School and 30 June 2025 at Quarr Abbey.
• Membership and Training Update The council will receive a verbal update on membership and training.
• Brief updates or notifications of items to be brought to future meetings The council will receive updates and notification of future agenda items and consideration of the workplan.
• Date and Venue of next meeting The next meeting will be held on Monday, 23 March 2025 at a venue to be agreed/discussed.