The Syllabus
Getting Involved with RE
Monitoring & Understanding RE
The National FrameworkRE in schools
Religious Education was first made compulsory in the 1944 Education Act.
Forty years later, in a very different social and educational climate, the 1988 Education Reform Act underlined RE's place in every school, but the wording of the Act made for controversy. Christianity was identified as a compulsory element in the RE syllabus but with the religious and ethnic make-up of the local area informing the exact balance of teaching in RE.
Each local education authority has a SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education) as the mechanism for ensuring that the syllabus is suitable for the locality. The task of the SACRE is:
- to provide advice to the LEA on all aspects of its provision for RE in its schools (this does not include Voluntary Aided Schools or Academies)
- to decide whether the LEA's Agreed Syllabus for RE needs to be reviewed and, if so, to require that the LEA does so
- to provide advice to the LEA on Collective Worship in its schools (this does not include Voluntary Aided or Voluntary Controlled Schools or Academies)
- to consider any requests from Headteachers to hold Collective Worship that is not of a broadly Christian character
- to advise on matters relating to training for teachers in RE and Collective Worship.
NB Although SACREs are involved with both RE and Collective Worship, Collective Worship is NOT part of the RE Syllabus and is the responsibility of the Headteacher, not the RE department.
This section contains guidance and background information about...