The Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) is scheduled to meet on Thursday 29 January 2026. The meeting will include discussions on national and local updates concerning religious education, as well as the review of collective worship guidance. A key item on the agenda is the convening of the Agreed Syllabus Conference.

Collective Worship Update

The council is set to review an update on collective worship. This follows discussions at a previous meeting where a revised 'Bromley SACRE Collective Worship Guidance' was drafted. The aim of this guidance is to promote, support and encourage pupils so that they are supported to develop spiritually, academically, emotionally and morally in a way that enables them to understand themselves and others and to cope with the opportunities, challenges and responsibilities of living in a rapidly changing, multicultural world through inclusive learning experiences. ¹ The guidance aims to clarify the legal requirements for collective worship, differentiate it from assemblies, and provide a flexible model for schools to follow, incorporating themes relevant to Christianity and other worldviews.

National Updates

Several national developments in religious education are scheduled for discussion. These include updates from NASACRE in Conversation and the upcoming NASACRE Conference. The council will also consider the Curriculum and Assessment Review and the work of the Independent Commission on RE and Social Cohesion. Previous discussions have highlighted national research into the teaching of specific religions, such as Sikhi, and the need for resources to address potential stereotypes in teaching materials, particularly concerning Easter.

Local Updates

Locally, the meeting will cover updates on the Interfaith Calendar Competition, which promotes interfaith dialogue among primary schools. The Jewish Living Exhibition, scheduled to run from 18 January to 1 February 2026 at the Bromley Reform Synagogue, will also be a focus, with the SACRE meeting being held at this venue. Further discussions are planned regarding the Secondary Interfaith Dialogue Conference, which aims to address remembrance and religious persecution, and Holocaust Memorial Day. Additionally, Workforce Data will be presented.

Agreed Syllabus Conference

A significant part of the meeting will involve the convening of the Agreed Syllabus Conference (ASC). The SACRE is legally required to provide a Religious Education (RE) syllabus, which must be reviewed every five years. The current review has focused on enhancing the pedagogical model, known as the 'flower' model, which is based on meaningful 'human' questions categorised as Cosmology, Axiology, Ontology, and Praxeology. The proposed syllabus includes statutory and non-statutory sections to support schools in planning and delivering RE.

SACRE Action Plan

The council will review its SACRE Action Plan for the period September 2025 to September 2026. This plan outlines ongoing activities and priorities, including supporting communication with schools, developing resources, and fostering relationships with local authority initiatives promoting community cohesion. Previous discussions have noted that the link to Local Authority initiatives promoting community cohesion has been listed as 'developing' for several years, and further actions are being considered to strengthen this connection.